Mon, Jan 28, 2013
First meeting of newly established IPBES
A new international science-policy platform
on biodiversity and ecosystems, set up to
assist governments and citizens to better
understand the state, trends and challenges
facing the natural world and humanity in
the 21st century, has today put in place
many of the administrative and staffing
structures needed to implement its important
work.
M. Zakri, Science Advisor
to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Chairman
of the Malaysian Professors' Council was
"truly honoured and most humbled to
be elected as the first Chair of the Platform".
M. Zakri has extensive experience in biodiversity
governance at the national and international
levels.
The meeting also took
this opportunity to elect an international
group of renowned experts, the Multidisciplinary
Expert Panel (MEP), which will ensure the
scientific credibility and independence
of the IPBES work.
IPBES-1 also decided
that the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) will provide the Secretariat for
the Platform, which will operate from Bonn
in Germany and requested UNEP, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
and the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) to establish an institutional link
with the Platform through a collaborative
partnership arrangement for the work of
IPBES and its Secretariat.
M. Achim Steiner, UN
Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive
Director mentioned in his opening statement
that "the Secretariat of UNEP is privileged
to be at the service of IPBES" and
that it "stands ready to contribute
to the future work of the platform in close
collaboration with its UN partners".
Even before IPBES can
receive formal requests, expectations for
the Platform are high. Braulio Ferreira
de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
when delivering a joint statement of the
six biodiversity-related conventions said
that, "by working closely together,
IPBES and the conventions can support their
common objectives of the conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity and maintenance
of ecosystem services for human well-being."
The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the
CBD has already requested IPBES to contribute
to the preparation of the next global assessment
on biodiversity and ecosystem services,
to be launched in 2018, and to help countries
to implement the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity
2011-2020 and achieve the Aichi Biodiversity
Targets. Similarly, requests have been made
from the Convention on the Conservation
of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
and the Ramsar Convention to support their
work on the conservation and sustainable
use of migratory species of wild animals
and on wetlands respectively.
The meeting also requested
the development of a stakeholder engagement
strategy for IPBES. It is expected that
the scientific community, civil society,
the business and industry sector, as well
as representatives from indigenous peoples
and local communities, will act both as
contributors and end users of the Platform.
Anne Larigauderie, Diversitas'
Director Executive, leading the International
Council for Science (ICSU) delegation to
the meeting and Cyriaque Sendashonga, Global
Director of the Policy and Programme Group
of the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN), speaking on behalf of
a group of more than 100 stakeholders present
at the meeting, stressed that "the
participation of all relevant stakeholders
in IPBES is key for the relevance, impact,
credibility and legitimacy of the platform."
IPBES set-up to provide
scientific support for policy-making to
protect the planet's biodiversity, its ecosystems
and the services they provide to humanity
IPBES was established
in April 2012 in Panama City, Panama, and
currently has 105 Member States.
The Platform is an independent
intergovernmental body open to all member
countries of the United Nations.
Its members are committed
to building IPBES as the leading intergovernmental
body for assessing the state of the planet's
biodiversity, its ecosystems and the essential
services they provide to society.
Biodiversity from terrestrial, marine, coastal,
and inland water ecosystems provides the
basis for ecosystems and the services they
provide that underpin human well-being.
However, biodiversity and ecosystem services
are declining at an unprecedented rate and
the world failed to reach the CBD target
of a significant reduction in the rate of
biodiversity loss by 2010.
In order to address
this challenge, adequate local, national
and international policies need to be adopted
and implemented. To achieve this, decision
makers need scientifically credible and
independent information that takes into
account the complex relationships between
biodiversity, ecosystem services, and people.
They also need effective methods to interpret
this scientific information in order to
make informed decisions. The scientific
community also needs to understand the needs
of decision makers better in order to provide
them with the relevant information. In essence,
the dialogue between the scientific community,
governments, and other stakeholders on biodiversity
and ecosystem services needs to be strengthened.
IPBES was established
to this end. It provides a mechanism recognized
by both the scientific and policy communities
to synthesize, review, assess and critically
evaluate relevant information and knowledge
generated worldwide by governments, academia,
scientific organizations, non-governmental
organizations and indigenous communities.
This involves a credible group of experts
in conducting assessments of such information
and knowledge in a transparent way.
IPBES is unique in that
it will aim to strengthen capacity for the
effective use of science in decision-making
at all levels. IPBES will also aim to address
the needs of Multilateral Environmental
Agreements that are related to biodiversity
and ecosystem services, and build on existing
processes ensuring synergy and complementarities
in each other's work.
Next steps for IPBES
An ambitious agenda
has been set by the meeting, paving the
way for the second meeting of the platform
(IPBES-2), where IPBES's forward-looking
work programme is expected to be agreed.
The IPBES Secretariat
should also be fully staffed and operational
by the end of IPBES-2, provisionally scheduled
for the end of 2013.
Notes for editors
State of the world's
biodiversity and ecosystem services
Alarming figures from
the United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) Global Environment Outlook-5 (GEO-5)
include:
With more than 30 per
cent of the Earth's land surface used for
agricultural production, some natural habitats
have been shrinking by more than 20 per
cent since the 1980s.
The world lost over
100 million hectares of forest from 2000
to 2005, and has lost 20 per cent of its
sea grass and mangrove habitats since 1970
and 1980 respectively.
In some regions, 95 per cent of wetlands
have been lost. Two-thirds of the world's
largest rivers are now moderately to severely
fragmented by dams and reservoirs.
Vertebrate populations
have declined on average by 30 per cent
since 1970; around 20 per cent of vertebrate
species are now under threat.
The extinction risk
is increasing faster for corals than for
any other group of living organisms, with
the condition of coral reefs declining by
38 per cent since 1980. Rapid contraction
is projected by 2050.
The four areas of work
of IPBES are the following:
To identify and prioritise
key scientific information needed for policymakers
and to catalyze efforts to generate new
knowledge;
To perform regular and
timely assessments of knowledge on biodiversity
and ecosystem services and their interlinkages;
To support policy formulation
and implementation by identifying policy-relevant
tools and methodologies; and
To prioritize key capacity
building needs to improve the science-policy
interface, and to provide and call for financial
and other support for the highest-priority
needs related directly to its activities.
IPBES overview - role,
mandate and key principles:
To collaborate with
existing initiatives on biodiversity and
ecosystem services, including Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs), United
Nations bodies and networks of scientists
and knowledge holders, to fill gaps and
build upon their work, while avoiding duplication;
To be scientifically
independent and ensure credibility, relevance
and legitimacy through the peer review of
its work and transparency in its decision-making
processes;
To use clear, transparent
and scientifically credible processes for
the exchange, sharing and use of data, information
and technologies from all relevant sources,
including non-peer-reviewed literature,
as appropriate;
To recognise and respect the contribution
of indigenous and local knowledge to the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
and ecosystems;
To provide policy-relevant information,
but not policy-prescriptive advice, mindful
of the respective mandates of the Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs);
To integrate capacity building into all
relevant aspects of its work according to
priorities decided by the plenary;
To recognise the unique biodiversity and
scientific knowledge thereof within and
among regions, and also recognise the need
for the full and effective participation
of developing countries and for balanced
regional representation and participation
in its structure and work;
To take an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
approach that incorporates all relevant
disciplines, including social and natural
sciences;
To recognise the need for gender equity
in all relevant aspects of its work;
To address terrestrial, marine and inland
water biodiversity and ecosystem services
and their interactions; and
To ensure the full use of national, subregional
and regional assessments and knowledge,
as appropriate.
The six Biodiversity-related
conventions are:
The Convention on Conservation of Migratory
Species (CMS);
The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES);
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA);
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands;
The World Heritage Convention (WHC); and
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
