Sun, Apr 22, 2012
After several years of international negotiations,
the final operational design of the Intergovernmental
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(IPBES) was agreed.
The new body will strengthen the science-policy
interface on biodiversity and ecosystem
services.
Panama City, 23 April 2012 - After several
years of international negotiations, the
final operational design of the Intergovernmental
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(IPBES) was agreed yesterday.
The German city of Bonn,
which hosts such treaties as the UN Environment
Programme's (UNEP) Convention on Migratory
Species, won the bid to host the secretariat
of the new independent body at a meeting
held in Panama City.
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.
UNEP has been requested
to continue to facilitate the platform on
an interim basis, in collaboration with
the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).One or more
of these UN bodies will administer the IPBES
Secretariat, once it is finally established.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said,
"Years of often complex debate and
political negotiations have today reached
a positive conclusion and a milestone in
terms of humanity's future response to reversing
biodiversity loss and the degradation of
ecosystems from forests to freshwaters."
"I would like to
congratulate Germany for having been voted
the host of the Secretariat of this new
science-policy platform. UNEP looks forward
to working with partners within and outside
the UN system to make this new body the
success it undoubtedly will be," he
added.
Elsa Nickel, Deputy
Director General of the German Directorate
of Nature Conservation and Sustainable use
of Natural Resources, thanked the participants
for the confidence in the offer put forward
by Germany, assuring that the government
is committed to supporting the new body.
"We call on governments to work together
very closely, especially the five bidding
countries (South Korea, India, Kenya and
France) to make IPBES a real success story,"
she 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.
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.
According to UNDP Administrator,
Helen Clark, UNDP sees the proposed Platform
as "critically important to support
implementation of the new Strategic Plan
of the Convention on Biological Diversity
and to promote global sustainable development.
We know that healthy ecosystems provide
invaluable services that underpin development,
particularly for the billions of people
worldwide who depend directly on biodiversity
for their livelihoods. We believe that IPBES
can help ensure that developing countries
and communities have access to sound scientific
information to inform development policies,
protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services
in a way that addresses poverty alleviation
and promotes growth with equity".
"Calls have been
made for UNDP, with our strong track record
on capacity development and our significant
portfolio of work on biodiversity and ecosystem
services for development, to engage in the
arena of capacity building for IPBES. We
believe such capacity building can strengthen
the platform enormously, and should be closely
interwoven with the other work streams on
knowledge generation, assessments, and policy
support tools and methodologies", said
Helen Clark.
José Graziano
da Silva, Director-General of the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said,
"Biodiversity is essential for food
security. Thousands of interconnected species
make up a vital web of biodiversity in ecosystems
upon which global food production depends.
With the erosion of biodiversity, mankind
loses the potential to adapt agro-ecosystems
to new challenges like population growth
and climate change. Achieving food security
for all is intrinsically linked with maintaining
biodiversity. We welcome the creation of
this platform and are pleased to be supporting
it."
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.
Various Bodies Welcome
New Institutional Arrangements
Representatives from
the scientific community, non-governmental
organizations, indigenous peoples and the
business sector met in Panama prior to the
intergovernmental meeting to debate the
modalities needed for the establishment
of the new body.
Jane Smart, representative
of the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN), said it was "really
important to build on existing knowledge.
Many of the stakeholders have built up a
wealth of data over several decades which
we would be very pleased to make available
to this new science-policy platform. Such
information comes from a diverse range of
social and biophysical scientific communities".
Carolyn Lundquist, representative
of the Society for Conservation Biology,
stressed "the need to enhance the transparency
of the platform through direct involvement
of stakeholders and civil society organizations
as observers.
Indigenous peoples'
representatives welcomed the inclusion of
indigenous knowledge and diverse knowledge
holders in the work of IPBES. Joji Cariño,
the representative of the Tebtebba Foundation,
highlighted that "Indigenous peoples
and local communities hold in-depth and
time-depth knowledge about biodiversity
and ecosystems, complementary to science
and important for decision-making."
Anne Larigauderie, speaking
on behalf of the International Council for
Science (ICSU) and the United Nations University
(UNU), praised the decision to establish
a Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP) to
perform the scientific and technical functions
of IPBES. "This will ensure scientific
independence, as well as the representation
of the mix of disciplines necessary to address
future requests from the IPBES Plenary".
She also welcomed "the decision to
start implementing IPBES now, through an
ambitious intersessional work programme".
The group of stakeholders
conveyed a joint statement to the government
representatives on the first day of the
meeting. They re-affirmed their "strong
interest in IPBES, both as contributors
of knowledge and end users of IPBES products".
The stakeholders also recommended that "procedures
be established for the independent review
and evaluation of the platform's efficiency,
effectiveness and impact on a periodic basis
and act on its recommendations". The
participants stressed "the importance
of building capacities at international,
regional, sub-regional, national, sub-national
and local levels for the knowledge generation,
assessments and policy support functions
of the platform".
The launch of the IPBES
adds to the gathering momentum for the UN
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)
to be held in June in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It is anticipated that IPBES will become
the key focal point for all agencies and
organisations involved in the conservation
and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term
human well being and sustainable development
and that the Platform will raise the issue
on the political agenda, in the same way
that the IPCC raised the climate change
issue.
Notes for editors
IPBES overview - role,
mandate and key principles:
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.
