Mr. Steiner said the formal go-ahead for an IPBES meant much of what had been possible in 2010 had been transformed into a reality. He said the UNGA backing now triggered a series of steps needed to get the work of the new body up and running.
UNEP, as the interim Secretariat, will now organize a plenary or meeting of governments in 2011 to decide on issues such as which country will house the independent IPBES and which institutions will host it alongside other institutional arrangements.
Notes:
IPBES – What is it likely to do?
There have been and are currently a myriad of global, regional and national assessments being carried out from time to time that relate to biodiversity and ecosystem services.
These include the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development; UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook; the Global Biodiversity Outlook and the Global Forest Resources Assessment.
Others include the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture; The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity and the IUCN Red List of threatened and endangered species.
While most, if not all, are important, many of the findings are failing to translate into meaningful and decisive action by governments on the ground and in global and national planning. This is in part due to different methodologies and standards operating across such assessments.
IPBES can bring greater rigor to such assessments while bringing together their findings in order to provide governments with greater clarity and confidence on the conclusions in order to act.
Other areas include bringing to the attention of governments ‘new topics’ identified by science, outlining what is known and also aspects where more research is needed.
Some scientists, for example, claim that evidence that deoxygenated dead zones in the world’s oceans took too long time to migrate from scientific circles into the domain and in-trays of policy-makers. A similar argument is made concerning the pros and cons of biofuels. IPBES could provide better early warning of such new topics to governments before decisions are taken.
While IPBES will support some capacity building in developing countries, its main role will be to catalyze funding to assist developing country scientists and developing country assessments through, for example, harnessing funding via UN agencies; foundations and other sources.
Unraveling the precise role of animals, plants, insects and even microbes within ecosystems and their functions in terms of the services generated-from water purification to soil fertility-could also be a major thrust.
Some experts are convinced that many scientific discoveries, from the identification of new lower life forms to the fast disappearance of others, can often remain within the corridors of research institutes and universities for many years before they reach the wider world. By that time is may be too late to act to either conserve or protect the species concerned whereas early warning might have put the species on the political radar giving it a better chance.
For more information about IPBES, visit www.ipbes.net.
Source: UNEP Press Release dated December 21, 2010.
