Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an intergovernmental organization established to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is intended to serve a similar role to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Establishment and early development

In 2010 a resolution by the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly urged the United Nations Environment Programme to convene a plenary meeting to establish the IPBES. In 2013 an initial conceptual framework was adopted for the prospective IPBES plenary.

From 29 April to 4 May 2019, representatives of the 132 IPBES members met in Paris, France, to receive the IPBES's full report and adopted a summary of it for policymakers. On 6 May 2019, the 40-page summary was released.

2020 report

On October 29, 2020 the organization issued a preliminary report through Zenodo on its workshop, held virtually on 27–31 July 2020, that proposes a plan for international cooperation to lower risks for pandemics. Lowering the frequency and severity of pandemics through implementation of worldwide policies is the objective of the organization. An article on the report was published by Medical News Today on November 7, 2020, that explicates information in the report.

Nature’s contributions to people

IPBES proposed a new term for ecosystem services, calling them “Nature’s Contributions to People” (NCPs). This change was met with immediate objection from some scientists, who worried that the new term would be confusing and that NCPs were not significantly different from ecosystem services.

2021 report with IPCC

In June 2021, IPBES and IPCC released a co-sponsored workshop report on biodiversity and climate change. The workshop produced a summary report covering outcomes, and a 250 page scientific outcome report.

Awards

Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity in 2022

In October 2022, the IPBES and the IPCC shared the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, because the two intergovernmental organisations "produce scientific knowledge, alert society, and inform decision-makers to make better choices for combatting climate change and the loss of biodiversity".

See also

• Convention on Biological Diversity
• Ecosystem service
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting

References

External links

• ipbes.net
• Summary for Policymakers, of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
• IPBES. (2019). Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. (E. S. Brondizio, J. Settele, S. Díaz, & H. T. Ngo, Eds.). IPBES Secretariat.