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

The overall objective 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 titled “Thematic Assessment of the Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss, Drivers of Transformative Change, and Solutions to Achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.” It is part of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Vision 2050 and its Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in December 2022 by its Parties.

The Platform’s Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019) concluded that there are viable pathways to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity in tandem with key human development goals. However, these pathways require fundamental shifts in development paradigms and socio-ecological dynamics, leading to societal transformations that address inequalities and governance, use land, water, energy, and materials far more sustainably, and appropriately rethink and reshape consumption patterns, food systems, and global value chains. The assessment provides decision-makers with insights into options for implementing transformative changes to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The assessment also informs subnational, national, regional, and global policies regarding the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, natural resources, and nature’s contributions to people.

Target audiences: governments; governing bodies of multilateral environmental agreements; decision-makers within global policy frameworks, subnational 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 nongovernmental organizations.

The assessment takes into account—at various levels around the world—psychological, behavioral, social, cultural, economic, political, governance, institutional, demographic, technical, and technological factors, all of which have an impact on biodiversity.

What are transformative changes?

For the purposes of this assessment and in line with previous IPBES work approved by the IPBES Plenary, transformative changes are defined as a profound, system-wide reorganization of all technological, economic, and social factors, including paradigms, objectives, and values. Deliberate transformative change for a just and sustainable world alters perspectives, structures, and practices in ways that address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the decline of nature.

The assessment of transformative changes is organized into five chapters written by five subgroups of authors. Each chapter has specific objectives.

Chapter 1: Transformative Changes and a Sustainable World

• Defines transformative changes and explains why they are necessary.
• An examination of all the factors that contribute to and influence the decline in biodiversity.
• Reflections on how the spatio-temporal context complicates or facilitates transformative change.
• Framework and roadmap for evaluation.

Chapter 2: Visions of a Sustainable World for Nature and People

• Reflection on the challenges that transformative change can present, drawing on scientific evidence and the diversity of norms and values around the world.
• An overview of various values and visions for a sustainable world, along with scenarios that illustrate them.

Chapter 3: How Transformative Changes Take Place

• An overview of how transformative changes occur, with a focus on changes that can be intentionally fostered, accelerated, and calibrated to achieve a sustainable world.
• Understanding these deliberate changes in order to identify ways to bring about and sustain them.

Chapter 4: Overcoming the Challenges of Transformative Change for a Sustainable World

• Assessment of the barriers hindering transformative change.
• Presentation of strategies for overcoming these obstacles in order to promote global, local, and regional visions of a sustainable world for nature and people.

Chapter 5: Building a Sustainable World for Nature and People: Transformative Strategies, Actions, and Everyone’s Role

• An assessment of strategies regarding institutions, instruments, evaluation, and pathways for realizing the visions of a sustainable world presented in the preceding chapters.
• Development of desirable pathways and the means to achieve them, including short-, medium-, and long-term options and actions.

• 3 co-chairs: Lucas Garibaldi (Argentina), Karen O’Brien (Norway), Arun Agrawal (United States)
• 15 lead authors
• 61 lead authors
• 10 editors and proofreaders
• 12 young researchers
• A total of 101 authors

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

Technical Support Unit: Laurence Perianin (Head), Camille Guibal (Program Officer), Anouk Renaud (Program Assistant)

The assessment took place over three years, from 2022 to 2024, with a phase for approving the assessment and selecting the team in 2021 and a project closure phase from January to July 2025. The assessment was adopted at the^11th Plenary Session of IPBES, held in Windhoek, Namibia, in December 2024.

2021

• June: Approval of the assessment of transformative changes by the 8th Plenary Session of IPBES (Decision IPBES-8/1).
• August 26: Call for nominations of experts by governments and stakeholders.

2022

• July:^9th IPBES Plenary Meeting in Bonn, Germany – Progress update on the assessment.
• January: IPBES appoints the co-chairs, lead coordinating authors, lead authors, and peer reviewers for the assessment.
• April: Establishment of the Evaluation Technical Support Unit at the University of Montpellier.
• May 9–13: First meeting of the authors in Montpellier with the entire evaluation team: the co-chairs, coordinating authors, lead authors, editorial reviewers, members of the technical support unit, and the evaluation steering committee.

2023

• February 3 to March 17: First external review (6 weeks) – draft chapters made available for public review on the IPBES website.
• May 22–26: Second meeting of the authors with the entire evaluation team at the CATIE campus in Costa Rica.
• May 27–29: First meeting to draft the Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) with the assessment steering committee and the lead coordinating authors (CATIE Campus – Turrialba, Costa Rica).
• May 30: Capacity-building webinar broadcast live from the CATIE campus and streamed to the University of Montreal for the scientific community.
• August 22–September 2: 10th IPBES Plenary Meeting in Bonn, Germany – Progress update on the assessment.
• September 27–29: Second meeting to draft the summary for policymakers (Trondheim, Norway).
• December 4, 2023, to February 2, 2024: Second round of external review (8 weeks) of the draft chapters and the draft summary for policymakers, which have been made available on the IPBES website for public comment.

2024

• February 19–23: Third authors’ meeting in Montpellier, France.
• February 18, 25, and 26: Third meeting to draft the summary for policymakers (Montpellier, France).
• April 24–26: Fourth meeting to draft the summary for policymakers (Montpellier, France).
• July¹ –August 11: Additional review by governments of the draft chapters and the summary for policymakers.
• October 15 to November 26: Final external review (6 weeks) – final draft of the summary for policymakers and chapters made available for review by governments.
• December 10–16: Review by the 11th IPBES Plenary of the Summary for Policymakers for negotiation/approval and submission of chapters for acceptance.
• April 7: Presentation of the report adopted at an event at the University of Montpellier.
• Post-approval of the evaluation: publishing and communication activities following the adoption of the evaluation.