IPBES

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independent intergovernmental body established by states to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services in the interests of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, long-term human well-being, and sustainable development. On April 21, 2012, 94 governments convened in Panama City to form the Organisation. It isn’t affiliated with the United Nations. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) offers secretariat services to IPBES at the request of the IPBES Plenary and with the authorization of the UNEP Governing Council in 2013.

History of the establishment of IPBES

States accepted the Busan result agreement on biodiversity and ecosystem services in June 2010, which said that “an intergovernmental science-policy platform for biodiversity and ecosystem services should be established.” The General Assembly “[took] note of the Busan conclusion” in resolution 65/162 of December 20, 2010, and asked the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to “convene a plenary meeting…to explore modalities and institutional arrangements for [IPBES].” According to the UN Office of Legal Affairs, the General Assembly did not establish IPBES as a United Nations organisation by taking notice of the Busan decision.

Following that, participating States adopted a resolution in April 2012 at their plenary conference that formed IPBES as a “independent intergovernmental entity,” with the secretariat based in Bonn, Germany. They also resolved that the link between [IPBES] and the United Nations system will be decided at the IPBES Plenary’s first session.”

The IPBES Plenary requested UNEP to supply the IPBES secretariat, which would be entirely accountable to the IPBES Plenary on policy and programmatic concerns, at its inaugural session in January 2013. It asked UNEP to “make administrative arrangements for the [IPBES] secretariat” and to “finalise a host country agreement with the German government for the IPBES secretariat’s presence in Bonn.” The UNEP Governing Council authorised the Executive Director to establish the secretariat and administrative arrangements for the IPBES secretariat within available resources at its 27th session in 2013. UNEP employs the IPBES secretariat’s current personnel. 

Structure of IPBES

1. Plenary: The IPBES governing body, which is made up of representatives from IPBES member states, meets once a year.

2. Observers: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other biodiversity-related conventions; associated UN entities; and many other important organisations and agencies.

3. Bureau: The IPBES Chair, four Vice-Chairs, and five more officers supervise the organization’s administrative operations.

4. Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP): All IPBES scientific and technical functions are overseen by five expert participants from each of the five UN zones.

5. Stakeholders: Users and contributors to the IPBES outputs.

6. Expert Groups & Task Forces: IPBES assessments and other deliverables are carried out by selected scientists and knowledge holders.

7. Secretariat (Includes Technical Support Units): Supports the Plenary, Bureau, and MEP, as well as implementing the Platform’s operational and administrative tasks, to ensure that IPBES runs smoothly. Dr. Anne Larigauderie, the IPBES Executive Secretary, is in charge. The Federal Government of Germany hosts the secretariat’s headquarters in Bonn.

Work of IPBES

IPBES’ work can be divided into four complementary categories:

1. Assessments: On specific topics (for example, “Pollinators, Pollination, and Food Production”), methodological issues (for example, “Scenarios and Modelling”), and at both the regional and global levels (for example, “Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services”).

2. Policy Support: Identifying and supporting the use of policy-relevant tools and approaches, as well as stimulating their further development.

3. Building Capacity & Knowledge: Identifying and addressing our member states’, experts’, and stakeholders’ priority capacity, knowledge, and data needs.

4. Communications & Outreach: Assuring that our work has the greatest reach and impact possible.

Findings of IPBES

• Pollinators are directly responsible for up to $577 billion in annual worldwide food production.

• Agricultural production that relies on animal pollination has expanded by 300 percent in the last 50 years, but pollinator-dependent crops have weaker growth and yield stability than crops that do not.

• Nearly 90% of all wild flowering plants rely on animal pollination in some way.

• With a tendency toward more extinctions, 16 percent of vertebrate pollinators are threatened with global extinction, rising to 30% for island species.

• Pesticides, such as neonicotinoid pesticides, pose a hazard to pollinators around the world, however the long-term consequences remain uncertain.

• To protect pollinators, a variety of measures can be taken, including increasing habitat diversity, promoting sustainable agriculture, supporting traditional practises like habitat patchiness and crop rotation, expanding education and knowledge exchange, reducing pollinator pesticide exposure, and improving managed bee husbandry.

Importance of IPBES

Biodiversity and the benefits of nature to people underpin practically every area of human development and are critical to the new Sustainable Development Goals’ success. They aid in the production of food, the purification of water, temperature regulation, and even disease control. Nonetheless, they are being depleted and damaged at a rate unprecedented in human history. IPBES is unique in that it brings together the brightest minds from all scientific fields and knowledge communities to produce policy-relevant research and catalyse the implementation of knowledge-based policies at all levels of government, business, and civil society.

Opportunities to Engage with IPBES

IPBES offers a variety of ways to become involved, including the following:

• Contributing as an author, editor, or reviewer to our continuing assessments as a nominated expert.

• Contributing skills, data, or other resources to our capacity-building and knowledge-building efforts.

• Serving as a communication and outreach partner at a regional or subregional level.

• Coordination of a sectoral or industry-specific network of IPBES stakeholders.

• Being a part of the IPBES Young Fellows programme.

Conclusion

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was formed to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It will provide a similar function to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution urging the UN Environment Programme to organise a plenary conference to establish the IPBES. An basic conceptual framework for the future IPBES plenary was agreed in 2013.