IPBES Report: “A true feat of foresight”

[Article] - Published on February 17, 2025 under Major Programs, International Partnerships

In December 2024, at its^11th plenary meeting, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) approved an assessment and a summary of existing knowledge to help governments and the general public address current ecological challenges. The University of Montpellier hosts the technical support unit that assisted in drafting this report. We spoke with its director, Laurence Périanin.

What are the mandates of the Intergovernmental Scientific and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services?

IPBES was established in 2012, with France’s active support from the very beginning, building on the work done for the IPCC; in fact, IPBES is often referred to as the “IPCC of biodiversity,” but it is much more than that. IPBES has several functions beyond the assessment of existing knowledge. It helps catalyze the generation of new knowledge, supports the formulation and implementation of policies, and strengthens the capacities of its 148 member states. To this end, it incorporates forms of knowledge beyond the scientific, such as indigenous and local knowledge—a feature that is unique to IPBES.

How did the University of Montpellier’s contribution to IPBES’s work begin?

In 2021, UM responded to a call for proposals from IPBES to host the technical support unit for this assessment of transformative changes. Participation in this assessment demonstrates the University of Montpellier’s strong political commitment to engaging in and raising its international profile through meaningful, transformative projects. Through this Technical Support Unit, UM supports the work of a group of approximately 100 international experts in drafting the assessment.

How was this technical support unit established?

There are three of us: Camille Guibal, who is a program manager working closely with the experts; Anouk Renaud, who is an assistant and handles all logistics and administrative tasks; and myself. I am the head of the unit and am responsible for overseeing operations and ensuring deadlines are met, in coordination with the leadership of the structural programs. Although I started out as a hydrobiologist, I later worked as a civil servant at the Ministry of Ecological Transition, where I focused on issues related to transformative change. It was there that I applied to the University to take on the role of head of the technical support unit.

Can you explain how the report was produced?

This assessment of transformative changes examines what needs to be done to achieve the“2050 vision of living in harmony with nature” as outlined by the Convention on Biological Diversity. The release of this report is the culmination of three years of work involving some 100 experts. They examined case studies to assess their transformative potential and propose the strategies needed to overcome the crisis. A total of 7,000 articles were reviewed to produce this groundbreaking analysis, which focuses on forward-looking changes of the scale necessary to address the biodiversity crisis. This work represents a true feat of foresight.

What is the role of this technical support unit in the work carried out by IPBES?

We coordinate and manage the work of scientists and experts, organize their meetings, answer their questions about the drafting process, and assist them in revising the text following the two rounds of public review of the manuscript (nearly 9,000 comments received). All work is conducted entirely in English. We do not intervene in the content, as we must not “influence the report,” but we are responsible for ensuring its quality. We sometimes need to keep the experts on track to prevent them from getting sidetracked and must exercise diplomacy to facilitate the collaborative process.

What challenges did you encounter during this assignment?

The UM went to great lengths to establish a framework that would allow us to see this mission through to the end. We had to be flexible with our schedules in order to communicate with the volunteer experts, who often worked evenings and weekends across a wide range of time zones. We participated in numerous meetings involving international travel, during which we had many responsibilities and long working hours, sometimes for several weeks in a row. Every effort was made to ensure the success of this project, particularly by the DPS, our host organization, and Agropolis, which hosts us in its facilities. Thanks to all of this, the work is done and done well.

IPBES presented this report at a press conference in Namibia on December 18, 2024. Were you there? What’s next for you?

Yes, of course, we were there to brief the experts and help them respond to the media. Our work continues: over the next six months, we need to finalize the report, as many changes were made during this plenary session. We will focus on communicating and promoting this work, in particular by drafting fact sheets to provide a quick overview of certain topics addressed in the report. The UM, in collaboration with the Agriculture–Environment–Biodiversity Cluster, will host a launch event in March. The idea is to encourage various stakeholders to participate in IPBES’s work. At the end of this phase, the unit will be dissolved in the summer of 2025 upon completion of this three-year mission.

Keywords: Biodiversity, Climate, Ecology, International, Research