Today, 6 May 2019, the IPBES will present its Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to representatives of 132 Governments for consideration of approval

This is 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.

A video of this event is shown on our sister website CovCAN.uk

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.

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.

Sir Robert Watson, IPBES Chair, 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.”

A webcast of the media launch will be available for live streaming and watching after the event on the IPBES YouTube Channel.

More information at the IPBES website.