IPBES to launch Global Assessment of Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services report in 2019

A definitive new global synthesis of the state of nature, ecosystems and nature’s contributions to people – the first such report since the landmark Millennium Ecosystem Assessment published in 2005, and the first ever that is inter-governmental — will be presented to representatives of 130 Governments for consideration of approval in May 2019.
Prepared by 150 leading international experts from 50 countries, balancing representation from the natural and social sciences, with additional contributions from a further 250 experts, working with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services will inform better policies and actions in the coming decade.
The report will be discussed, finalized and considered for approval at the seventh session of the IPBES Plenary (#IPBES7), 29 April – 4 May 2019.
A detailed ‘Summary for Policy Makers’ of the report, highlighting key messages, findings and options, is scheduled for public launch at UNESCO world headquarters, Paris, Monday, 6 May 2019, to be webcast live (available at www.ipbes.net)
Three years in development, at a total cost of more than US$2.4 million, the IPBES Global Assessment draws on nearly 15,000 references, including scientific papers and government information. It is also the first global assessment ever to systematically examine and include indigenous and local knowledge, issues and priorities.
Often described as the ‘IPCC for Biodiversity’, IPBES is the global science-policy forum tasked with providing the best- available evidence to all decision-makers for people and nature.
The report will offer an integrated overview of where the world stands in relation to key international goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Paris Agreement on climate change. It examines causes of biodiversity and ecosystem change, the implications for people, policy options and likely future pathways over the next three decades if current trends continue, and other scenarios.
IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson said,”The loss of species, ecosystems and genetic diversity is already a global and generational threat to human well-being. Protecting the invaluable contributions of nature to people will be the defining challenge of decades to come. Policies, efforts and actions – at every level – will only succeed, however, when based on the best knowledge and evidence. This is what the IPBES Global Assessment provides.”
Important aspects of the Global Assessment
Building upon earlier IPBES assessment reports, especially the recently-released Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment and the Regional Assessment Reports for Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe and Central Asia (March, 2018), the Global Assessment:
* Covers all land-based ecosystems (except Antarctica), inland water and the open oceans
* Evaluates changes over the past 50 years – and implications for our economies, livelihoods, food security and quality of life
* Explores impacts of trade and other global processes on biodiversity and ecosystem services
* Ranks the relative impacts of climate change, invasive species, pollution, sea and land use change and a range of other challenges to nature
* Identifies priority gaps in our available knowledge that will need to be filled
* Projects what biodiversity could look like in decades ahead under six future scenarios: Economic Optimism; Regional Competition; Global Sustainability; Business as Usual; Regional Sustainability and Reformed Markets
* Assesses policy, technology, governance, behaviour changes, options and pathways to reach global goals by looking at synergies and trade-offs between food production, water security, energy and infrastructure expansion, climate change mitigation, nature conservation and economic development.