IPBES core glossary

a situation in which individuals with access to a public resource (also called a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource

Flows, interactions, relationships across boundary, in reference to jurisdictions, political units, physical nature features.

Pollution that originates in one country but, by crossing the border through pathways of water or air, can cause damage to the environment in another country.

The capacity to cross thresholds, enter new development trajectories, abandon unsustainable actions and chart better pathways to established targets (Folke et al. 2010).

A change in the fundamental attributes of natural and human systems that reflect strengthened, altered, or aligned paradigms, goals, or values towards promoting adaptation that supports sustainable development, including poverty reduction.

In an organizational context, it refers to profound and radical change that orients an organization in a new direction and takes it to an entirely different level of effectiveness.

See land transformation.

Transformative change is defined in line with previous work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services approved by its Plenary, as a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values, needed for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, good quality of life and sustainable development.

A fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values (IPBES, 2018; IPCC, 2018).

A system wide change that requires more than technological change through consideration of social and economic factors that, with technology, can bring about rapid change at scale.

The IPBES Global Assessment defines transformative change as ‘a fundamental, system-wide reorganisation across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values. We build on this definition through reference to the depth, breadth and dynamics of system reorganisation. Depth refers to change that goes beyond addressing the symptoms of environmental change or their proximate drivers, such as new technologies, incentive systems or protected areas, to include changes to underlying drivers, including consumption preferences, beliefs, ideologies and social inequalities (IPBES, 2019; Patterson et al., 2017; Scoones et al., 2015). Breadth refers to change across multiple spheres, with emerging consensus that transformation requires co-evolutionary change across different spheres of society, including personal, economic, political, institutional and technological ones (Harvey, 2010; O’Brien & Sygna, 2013; Pelling et al., 2015; Temper et al., 2018; Westley et al., 2011). Dynamics and processes refer to the emergent patterns of change across ‘depths’, ‘breadths’ and time that unfold as non-linear pathways. These may be characterised by ‘punctuated equilibrium’ in which more stable periods of incremental change are punctuated by bursts of change in which underlying structures are reorganised into new states (Patterson et al., 2017; Westley et al., 2011).

a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic, and social factors making sustainability the norm

the set of formal and informal (public and private) rules, rulemaking systems and actor networks at all levels of human society that enable transformative change

A Form of pastoralism or nomadism organized around the migration of livestock between mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year. The seasonal migration may also occur between lower and upper latitudes. A traditional farming practice based on indigenous and local knowledge.

Form of pastoralism or nomadism organized around the migration of livestock between mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year.

Form of pastoralism or nomadism organized around the migration of livestock between mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year. The seasonal migration may also occur between lower and upper latitudes. A traditional farming practice based on indigenous and local knowledge.

The action or practice of moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal cycle, typically to lowlands in winter and highlands in summer.

A course of actions and strategies that aim to achieve the vision. They are closely related to policy or target-seeking scenarios.

The human-mediated movement of living organisms from one area, with release in another.

A land cover class that includes any geographic area dominated by natural tree plants with a cover of 10 percent or more. Areas planted with trees for afforestation purposes and forest plantations are included in this class.

All trees excluded from the definition of forest and other wooded lands. Trees outside the forest are located on other lands, mostly on farmlands and built-up areas, both in rural and urban areas.

The general direction in which the structure or dynamics of a system tends to change, even if individual observations vary.

A general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving.

temporal trends are directional long-term changes (i.e., decades to centuries) in numbers of species, populations or individuals introduced, or the spatial extent of colonization (Buckland et al., 2017). In this assessment report, trends are presented as indicators of species numbers (species richness) and rates of accumulation of species (e.g., first records of a species in a given location) over time.

The chain of knock-on extinctions observed or predicted to occur following the loss of one or a few species that play a critical role (e.g. as a pollinator) in ecosystem functioning.

The level in the food chain in which one group of organisms serves as a source of nutrition for another group of organisms (e.g. primary producers, primary or secondary consumers, decomposers).

The level in the food chain in which one group of organisms serves as a source of nutrition for another group of organisms.

The transport of contaminants between two trophic levels (Suedel et al., 1994).

Trophy hunting is defined as the hunting for one or more individuals of a particular species with specific desired characteristics (such as large size or antlers) with the payment of a fee by a hunter for a hunting experience and trophy. The most common trophy is the mounted head with horns or antlers, although other parts of animal body ( skins, tails, teeth, heads) or even the whole bodies can be also appreciated as a trophy.

Turbidity describes the cloudiness of water caused by suspended particles such as clay and silts, chemical precipitates such as manganese and iron, and organic particles such as plant debris and organisms.

Any situation in which the current state of knowledge is such that: the order or nature of things is unknown, the consequences, extent, or magnitude of circumstances, conditions, or events is unpredictable, and credible probabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned. Uncertainty can result from lack of information or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. Uncertainty can be represented by quantitative measures (e.g., a range of values calculated by various models) or by qualitative statements (e.g., reflecting the judgment of a team of experts).

Any situation in which the current state of knowledge is such that (1) the order or nature of things is unknown, (2) the consequences, extent, or magnitude of circumstances, conditions, or events is unpredictable, and (3) credible probabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned.

Any situation in which the current state of knowledge is such that: 1. the order or nature of things is unknown, the consequences, extent, or magnitude of circumstances, conditions, or events is unpredictable, and 2. credible probabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned. 3. Uncertainty can result from lack of information or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. Uncertainty can be represented by quantitative measures (e.g. a range of values calculated by various models) or by qualitative statements (e.g. reflecting the judgment of a team of experts).

Any situation in which the current state of knowledge is such that: the order or nature of things is unknown, the consequences, extent, or magnitude of circumstances, conditions, or events is unpredictable, and credible probabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned. Uncertainty can result from lack of information or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. Uncertainty can be represented by quantitative measures (e.g. a range of values calculated by various models) or by qualitative statements (e.g. reflecting the judgment of a team of experts).

see linguistic uncertainty, decision uncertainty, stochastic uncertainty, and scientific uncertainty.

Any situation in which the current state of knowledge is such that: (i). the order or nature of things is unknown; (ii). the consequences, extent, or magnitude of circumstances, conditions, or events is unpredictable; and (iii). credible probabilities to possible outcomes cannot be assigned. Uncertainty can result from lack of information or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. Uncertainty can be represented by quantitative measures (e.g. a range of values calculated by various models) or by qualitative statements (e.g. reflecting the judgment of a team of experts).