Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

The overall aim of IPBES is to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services with a view to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.

The assessment is entitled "Thematic assessment of root causes of biodiversity loss, drivers of transformative change and solutions to achieve the 2050 Biodiversity Vision". It is in line with Vision 2050 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, adopted in December 2022 by its States Parties.

The Platform's Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019) concluded that there are possible pathways to realizing the Biodiversity Vision 2050 alongside key human development goals. However, these pathways require fundamental shifts in development paradigms and socio-ecological dynamics, leading to societal transformations, taking into account inequalities and governance, using land, water, energy and materials much more sustainably as well as rethinking and appropriately modifying consumption patterns, food systems and global value chains. The assessment sheds light on options for decision-makers to implement transformative change to achieve the Biodiversity Vision 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The assessment also informs sub-national, national, regional and global policies concerning the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, natural resources and nature's contributions to people.

Targets: governments; governing bodies of multilateral environmental agreements; decision-makers within global policy frameworks, sub-national governments and local authorities; scientists; education systems and the media; the private sector and civil society, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities, youth, women and non-governmental organizations.

The assessment takes into account - at different scales around the world - psychological, behavioral, social, cultural, economic, political, governance, institutional, demographic, technical and technological dimensions, all of which have an impact on biodiversity.

What are transformative changes?

For the purposes of the assessment, and in line with previous IPBES work approved by the IPBES Plenary, transformative change is defined as an in-depth system-wide reorganization of all technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values. Deliberate transformative change for a just and sustainable world alters views, structures and practices to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and nature decline.

The assessment of transformative change is divided into five chapters written by five sub-groups of authors. Each chapter has its own specific objectives.

Chapter 1: Transformative change and a sustainable world

• Defines transformative changes and explains why they are necessary.
• Exploration of all the players who influence and impact biodiversity degradation.
• Reflecting on how the spatio-temporal framework complicates or facilitates transformative change.
• Evaluation framework and roadmap.

Chapter 2: Visions of a sustainable world for nature and people

• Reflecting on the challenges that transformative change can present, drawing on science and the diversity of norms and values around the world.
• Presentation of different values and visions for a sustainable world, and the scenarios that illustrate them.

Chapter 3: How transformative changes take place

• Presentation of how transformative change takes place, with a focus on changes that can be intentionally fostered, accelerated and calibrated to achieve a sustainable world.
• Understanding these deliberate changes to highlight ways of generating and nurturing them.

Chapter 4: Overcoming the challenges of transformative change for a sustainable world

• Assessment of obstacles to transformative change.
• Presentation of ways to overcome these obstacles in order to promote global, local and regional visions of a sustainable world for nature and people.

Chapter 5: Achieving a sustainable world for nature and people: transformative strategies, measures and individual roles

• Assessment of strategies concerning institutions, instruments, evaluation and ways of achieving the visions of a sustainable world presented in the previous chapters.
• Elaboration of desirable paths and means to achieve them, including short-, medium- and long-term options and actions.

• 3 co-chairmen: Lucas Garibaldi (Argentina), Karen O'Brien (Norway), Arun Agrawal (United States)
• 15 main coordinating authors
• 61 main authors
• 10 publisher-editors
• 12 young researchers
• 101 authors in total

Management Committee: Markus Fischer, Özden Görücü, Floyd Homer, Madhav Karki, Asia Mohamed, David Obura.

Technical support unit: Laurence Perianin (manager), Camille Guibal (program manager), Anouk Renaud (program assistant)

The assessment was carried out over three years, from 2022 to 2024, with an assessment approval and team selection phase in 2021 and a project closure phase from January to July 2025. The assessment was adopted at the ^11th IPBES Plenary held in Windhoek, Namibia, in December 2024.

2021

• June: Approval of the assessment of transformative change by the 8th IPBES Plenary (decision IPBES-8/1).
• August 26: Opening of nominations for experts by governments and stakeholders.

2022

• July: ^9th IPBES Plenary Meeting in Bonn, Germany - Progress report on the assessment.
• January: IPBES appoints co-chairs, lead coordinating authors, lead authors and review editors for the assessment.
• April: Creation of the technical support unit for evaluation at the University of Montpellier.
• May 9 to 13: First authors' meeting in Montpellier with the entire evaluation team: co-chairs, coordinating authors, lead authors, editor-reviewers, members of the technical support unit and the evaluation management committee.

2023

• February 3 to March 17: First external review (6 weeks) - draft chapters made available for public review on the IPBES website.
• May 22 to 26: Second authors' meeting with the full evaluation team, on the CATIE campus in Costa Rica.
• May 27 to 29: First meeting to draft the summary for policy makers (SPM) with the evaluation management committee and lead coordinating authors (CATIE Campus - Turrialba, Costa Rica).
• May 30: capacity-building webinar live from the CATIE campus, retransmitted to the UM for the scientific community.
• August 22 to September 2: 10th IPBES plenary meeting in Bonn, Germany - Assessment progress report.
• September 27-29: Second meeting to draft summary for decision-makers (Trondheim, Norway).
• December 4, 2023 to February 2, 2024: Second external review (8 weeks) of draft chapters and draft summary for decision-makers made available on the IPBES website for public review.

2024

• February 19 to 23: Third authors' meeting in Montpellier, France.
• February 18, 25 and 26: Third meeting to draft summary for decision-makers (Montpellier, France).
• April 24 to 26: Fourth meeting to draft summary for decision-makers (Montpellier, France).
• July¹ to August 11: Additional review of draft chapters and summary for decision-makers by governments.
• October 15 to November 26: Final external review (6 weeks) - final version of draft summary for decision-makers and chapters made available for review by governments.
• December 10 to 16: The 11th IPBES plenary considers the summary for decision-makers for negotiation/approval and presents the chapters for acceptance.
• April 7: Presentation of the adopted report at an event at the University of Montpellier.
• Post-approval of the assessment: publishing and communication activities following adoption of the assessment.