IPBES 10th Plenary meeting
Invasive species endanger wildlife, established agricultural practice and health
IPBES successfully serves its mission to provide science-based information and advice to policy makers
The 10th Plenary Session of the Intergovernmental Science- Policy Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (IPBES10) recently took place in Bonn (Germany), from the 28th of August until the 2nd September 2023, and was hosted by the United States of America. The IPBES Secretariat with about 20 staff members is based in Bonn (Germany). IUBS has the status of observer at IPBES Plenary sessions and KJ Dietz represented IUBS by participating in the meeting. The chair welcomed four new members, namely Guinea, Namibia, Palau and Oman. Through this advancement, IPBES nowadays has 143 members corresponding to an increase of >50% since its start in 2012. Assessing, managing and sharing the available knowledge on biodiversity is one of the key and major objectives of IPBES.
Understanding and managing invasive alien species. Scientifically the meeting particularly focused on invasive alien species that represent one of the major challenges to biodiversity and impede successful conservation in times of intense trading, travelling and climate change. The assessment report on invasive alien species was discussed and approved as these species are recognized as major driver of biodiversity loss. It is estimated that invasive species contributed a share of about 60% to global extinction. The spread of invasive species increases and continues to rise in the future. An example is Opuntia spp that became a weed in East Africa. However, biological invasions and their adverse effects can be prevented or mitigated through effective managements. Invasive species from all kingdoms of life not only threaten biodiversity, but also health. It is generally agreed on that measures must be taken to control the spread of invasive species as much as possible and the most effective governance will have to integrate several key strategic actions. IPBES10 accepted the assessment on the 2nd of September which was communicated on the 4th of September. IUBS congratulates the involved experts and authors on compiling such an important reference that will facilitate updating ourselves on this important actor on bidoversity.
Ongoing IPBES activities. In addition to the assessment reports on alien invasive species, three other scientific assessments are on their way. Their work programs and timelines were presented at IPBES10 Plenary. Already the IPBES7 Plenary session in Paris decided on performing a thematic assessment of the interlinkage among Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health (“Nexus”) and according to the presented timeline, the Plenary will decide on the draft at the end of 2024. Also IPBES7 initiated the assessment on the transformative change: Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Losses, Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity. The Methodological Assessment was launched at IPBES9, and is aiming for compiling the globally available knowledge as to how business depends on biodiversity and nature’s contribution.
Various statements of the national members, experts, stakeholders and secretariat emphasized the need to broaden the membership of IPBES and to secure and increase income. In addition, IPBES10 decided to start the comprehensive Second Global Assessment on Biodiversity by initiating the scoping phase until IPBES11. IPBES10 also approved a short track Methodological Assessment on Monitoring Biodiversity and Nature’s Contributions to People. The interaction with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be intensified and actions on climate change aligned with those for protection of biodiversity and securing ecosystem services.
UPDATE: The IPBES secretariat just launched the call for experts for the “Methodological Assessment on Monitoring Biodiversity and Nature’s Contributions to People”. The deadline for nominations is 19 December 2023. If you are interested and need more information on the topic and the procedure or IUBS should get engaged in your nomination, please contact Nathalie Fomproix.
At the beginning of September, the IPBES call for offers to host the Technical Support Unit for the IPBES Monitoring Assessment was announced. Here the deadline is 23 October 2023.
IPBES call for experts
In accordance with decision IPBES-10/1 and the procedures for the preparation of IPBES deliverables, the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel herewith invites Governments and other relevant stakeholders to nominate experts to participate in the monitoring assessment.
The assessment will be conducted in line with the procedures for IPBES deliverables set out in decision IPBES-3/3, annex I (available here) and based on the scoping report for the assessment (available here).
IPBES is seeking experts and practitioners from academia, government, and civil society with expertise in:
- A range of disciplines, including but not limited to, ecology, evolution, social science, economics, statistics and biodiversity modelling;
- Monitoring biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems;
- The use of in-situ and remote sensing measurements, community-based monitoring and citizen science;
- Diverse and new technologies for estimating and monitoring biodiversity, such as environmental DNA, ecological acoustics, camera-traps, hyperspectral imagery and artificial intelligence;
- National and subnational monitoring programmes and systems (including those led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities), global observing systems, and citizen science initiatives;
- Indicators and the use of indicators in policy and decision-making;
- Institutional and financial requirements to strengthen monitoring systems.
Governments and relevant stakeholders are invited to ensure gender balance in their nominations.
All nominated experts (Nominees) need to be available to attend the relevant author meetings, with the first author meeting tentatively scheduled for October 2024.
If you wish to be nominated as an expert, please contact the IUBS secretariat.
