Statement from IPBES about Media Reports on Draft IPBES Global Assessment Report

Media Reports on Draft IPBES Global Assessment Report

BONN, April 23 – The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) notes that news articles have appeared citing a confidential draft version of the Summary for Policymakers of the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

IPBES would like to make it clear that the report is still in draft form, as the review process by governments and experts has yet to be concluded. As such IPBES will not be issuing or commenting on the report until it is finalised – expected to happen during the seventh session of the IPBES Plenary in Paris from 29 April to 4 May 2019.

It is important to note that the text of the draft report may change between drafts and during the Plenary session – which is the final opportunity for feedback from the 132 IPBES member States and the lead scientists of the report.

IPBES requests that this vital intergovernmental process be respected, to allow the authors and governments the necessary time to conclude this exhaustive, 3-year scientific effort.

IPBES will not comment on the draft report while this work is ongoing.

IPBES circulated, under strict confidentiality, the Second Order Draft of the report, including a first draft of the Summary for Policymakers, for expert and government review last year. You can read more about the review process here: https://www.ipbes.net/assessment-reports

This review process is vital to allow IPBES to deliver a report that is exhaustive, rigorous, objective and transparent, whereby our authors must address every comment received. According to our rules and procedures agreed by IPBES member States, reports are only made available to the public after their Summary for Policymakers has been approved and the underlying report accepted. As with the normal practice of peer review, this process is designed to make the report more accurate, comprehensive and objective.

An approved version of the Summary for Policymakers is expected to be released to media under strict embargo on Saturday, 4 May 2019 and the embargo will be lifted at the media launch on Monday 6 May 13:00 (CEST).  

Prepared by 150 leading international experts from 50 countries, balancing representation from the natural and social sciences, with additional contributions from a further 310 experts, 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.

 

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NOTE TO EDITORS

 

About the Global Assessment:

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.

 

For the preview news release see: https://www.ipbes.net/news/ipbes-global-assessment-preview

The IPBES Global Assessment will:

  • Provide an agreed, evidence-based knowledge base to inform policy making for the decade ahead
  • Contribute an analysis of the implications of the loss of biodiversity for achieving the Paris Climate Agreement, global biodiversity targets, the Sustainable Development Goals and other major world objectives
  • Offer a multidimensional valuation of common global assets and how to sustain them
  • Recognize and emphasize the role each actor has in improving conditions for nature and ecosystems, and the importance of aligning efforts
  • Raise awareness of the importance of transformational multi-sectoral policies and governance structures, including the effects that policies and other indirect drivers have at a global scale and options to improve trans-regional policy-making
  • Be a starting point for in-depth analyses of the role of actions and their global implications

 

About IPBES

 

With 132 member Governments, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is the global body that assesses the state of biodiversity and nature's contributions to people, in response to requests from decision-makers, and outlines options for the future based on different socio-economic choices.

 

The mission of IPBES is to strengthen policy and decisions through science, for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

 

The IPBES Secretariat is hosted by the German Government and located on the United Nations campus in Bonn. More than 1,000 scientists and experts worldwide have contributed to the work of IPBES on a voluntary basis. They are nominated by their Governments or organisations and selected by the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel.

 

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