SCB Policy Blog

Panama City, 23 April 2012 – After several years of international negotiations, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was finally established. IPBES aims to accomplish for conservation science what the highly successful IPCC has accomplished for climate science questions. SCB has participated in the negotiations and will continue to focus on IPBES in the future. Carolyn Lundquist, representative of the Society for Conservation Biology, stressed “the need to for IPBES enhance the transparency of the platform through direct involvement of stakeholders and civil society organizations as observers.” The official press release stated:

IPBES aims to tackle head-on the accelerating worldwide loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem service by bridging the gap between accurate, impartial and up to date science and policy-makers. Although many organizations and initiatives contribute to improving the dialogue between policy-makers and the scientific community in this field, IPBES is established as a new platform, recognized by both the scientific and policy communities to address the existing gaps and strengthen the science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services. “Today, biodiversity won”, said the chair of the meeting, Sir Robert Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom. “Over 90 governments successfully established the science-policy interface for all countries. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are essential for human wellbeing. This platform will generate the knowledge and build the capacity to protect them for this and future generations,” he said.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, said, “The creation of IPBES, just a few weeks away from the Rio+20 Conference, is a strong signal, and I congratulate this significant progress towards the conservation of biodiversity.” “I hope that this body will allow biodiversity to be better taken into account in sustainable development strategies, as did the IPCC for climate change over the last 20 years. Biodiversity loss is a key indicator of the changes which are affecting our planet”. She added that IPBES “will provide a more efficient coordination tool between researchers and decision-makers in order to rise to this challenge. UNESCO has supported this process since its inception and will do everything to bring its long experience and to mobilize its scientific networks in the fields of water, oceans and biodiversity in the service of IPBES,” she added.

IPBES will respond to requests for scientific information related to biodiversity and ecosystem services from governments, relevant multilateral environmental agreements and United Nations bodies, as well as other relevant stakeholders. A core trust fund will be established to receive voluntary contributions from governments, United Nations bodies, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), other intergovernmental organisations and other stakeholders, such as the private sector and foundations.

The core functions of IPBES will encompass the following areas:
• To identify and prioritise key scientific information needed for policymakers and to catalyse 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 prioritise 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’s role, mandate and key principles are:
• To collaborate with existing initiatives on biodiversity and ecosystem services, including multilateral environmental agreements, 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;
• 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;
• To ensure the full use of national, subregional and regional assessments and knowledge, as appropriate.

More information is available at: http://www.ipbes.net/