The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an intergovernmental organization established to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. Th ...

. It is intended to serve a similar role to the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) a ...

Establishment and early development

In 2010 a resolution by the 65th session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

urged the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

to convene a plenary meeting to establish the IPBES. In 2013 an initial conceptual framework was adopted for the prospective IPBES plenary. From 29 April to 4 May 2019, representatives of the 132 IPBES members met in Paris, France, to receive the IPBES's full report and adopted a summary of it for

policymakers Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

. On 6 May 2019, the 40-page summary was released. IPBESCF

2020 report

On October 29, 2020 the organization issued a preliminary report through

Zenodo Zenodo is a general-purpose open repository developed under the European OpenAIRE program and operated by CERN. It allows researchers to deposit research papers, data sets, research software, reports, and any other research related digital artef ...

on its workshop, held virtually on 27–31 July 2020, that proposes a plan for international cooperation to lower risks for

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

s. Lowering the frequency and severity of pandemics through implementation of worldwide policies is the objective of the organization. An article on the report was published by

Medical News Today ''Medical News Today'' is a web-based outlet for medical information and news, targeted at both the general public and physicians. All posted content is available online (>250,000 articles as of January 2014), and the earliest available article ...

on November 7, 2020, that explicates information in the report.

2021 report with IPCC

In June of 2021, IPBES and

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) a ...

released a co-sponsored workshop report on biodiversity and climate change. The workshop produced a summary report covering outcomes and a 250 page scientific outcome report.

Awards

Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity in 2022

In October 2022, the IPBES and the

shared the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, because the two intergovernmental organisations "produce scientific knowledge, alert society, and inform decision-makers to make better choices for combatting climate change and the loss of biodiversity".

References

External links

ipbes.netSummary for Policymakers, of the ''Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services'' IPBES. (2019). ''Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services''. (E. S. Brondizio, J. Settele, S. Díaz, & H. T. Ngo, Eds.). IPBES Secretariat.
{{Authority control Biodiversity Nature conservation organisations based in Europe Environmental agencies Environmental organizations established in 2012 Intergovernmental environmental organizations Organisations based in Bonn United Nations Environment Programme Environmental organisations based in Germany