Joly, Carlos Alfredo

Repositorio da Producao Cientifica e Intelectual da Unicamp

http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br
Biota Neotrop., vol. 13, no. 1, Jan./Mar. 2013
Editorial
The expected role of IPBES
In June 2010, after 5 years of negotiation representatives of approximately 90 countries gathered in Busan, Korea, 
approved the formation of a new entity theIntergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 
Services/IPBES. Specific discussions on IPBES started following the final meeting of the multi-stakeholder international 
steering committee for the consultative process on an International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity 
(IMoSEB) in November 2007. The consultation towards IMoSEB decided to invite the Executive Director of UNEP - in 
collaboration with governments and other partners - to convene an intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder meeting to 
consider the establishment of an intergovernmental mechanism for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The Busan Outcome was welcomed by the 10th Conference of the Parties to theConvention on Biological Diversity/
CBD in Nagoya in October 2010, and was subsequently considered at the 65th session of the United Nations General 
Assembly (UNGA). UNGA passed a resolution requesting UNEP to convene a plenary meeting to fully operationalize 
IPBES at the earliest opportunity. This resolution was then taken on board by UNEP in a decision at the 26th session of 
the UNEP Governing Council meeting, held in February 2011.
The plenary meeting was held in two sessions. The first session was held from 3 to 7 October 2011 in Nairobi. The 
second session of the plenary was hosted by UNEP, in collaboration with UNESCO, FAO and UNDP, in Panama City 
from 16 to 21 April 2012. There, many of the modalities and institutional arrangements for the Platform were finalized 
and 94 Governments adopted a resolution establishing the Platform as an independent intergovernmental body.
“Biodiversity from terrestrial, marine, coastal, and inland water ecosystems provides the basis for ecosystems and the 
services they provide that underpin human well-being. However, biodiversity and ecosystem services are declining at an 
unprecedented rate, and in order to address this challenge, adequate local, national and international policies need to be 
adopted and implemented. To achieve this, decision makers need scientifically credible and independent information that 
takes into account the complex relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and people. They also need effective 
methods to interpret this scientific information in order to make informed decisions. The scientific community also needs 
to understand the needs of decision makers better in order to provide them with the relevant information. In essence, the 
dialogue between the scientific community, governments, and other stakeholders on biodiversity and ecosystem services 
needs to be strengthened” (http://www.ipbes.net/about-ipbes.html).
To this end, a new platform has been established by the international community – the Intergovernmental Science-
Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services/IPBES. was established in April 2012, as an independent 
intergovernmental body open to all member countries of the United Nations. The members are committed to building 
IPBES as the leading intergovernmental body for assessing the state of the planet’s biodiversity, its ecosystems and the 
essential services they provide to society.
IPBES provides a mechanism recognized by both the scientific and policy communities to synthesize, review, assess 
and critically evaluate relevant information and knowledge generated worldwide by governments, academia, scientific 
organizations, non-governmental organizations and indigenous communities. This involves a credible group of experts 
in conducting assessments of such information and knowledge in a transparent way. IPBES is unique in that it will aim 
to strengthen capacity for the effective use of science in decision-making at all levels. IPBES will also aim to address 
the needs of Multilateral Environmental Agreements that are related to biodiversity and ecosystem services, and build on 
existing processes ensuring synergy and complementarities in each other’s work. IPBES will be the first global mechanism 
that brings together information regarding the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services, 
synthesizes that information in a policy-relevant manner, and provides analyses of that information for decision makers.
The first meeting of the Platform’s Plenary (IPBES-1) will be held in Bonn, Germany from 21 to 26 January 2013, 
hosted by the Government of Germany. Regional and stakeholder consultations will take place one day prior to the meeting 
on Sunday, 20 January 2013. The meeting will aim to agree on the remaining rules of procedures for the meetings of the 
platform, consider other rules of procedure for the platform, elect Bureau and Multidisciplinary Expert Panel members, 
and agree on the next steps by which the IPBES work program can become operational as soon as possible.
IPBES role goes far beyond assessments. The new Intergovernmental Platform must, as stated by Hulme et al (2011), 
“move beyond conventional scientific knowledge assessments that legitimize, almost exclusively, only peer-reviewed 
material. Knowledge established across all scales (especially the knowledge of local and indigenous peoples) and validated 
in multiple ways must be eligible for inclusion in IPBES processes. Changes in biodiversity are first experienced locally 
and thus many forms of local expertise have particular relevance for biodiversity issues. Second, we should link IPBES 
assessment results to decision-making at multiple spatial scales (including tackling biodiversity loss at the grassroots 
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Biota Neotrop., vol. 13, no. 1, Jan./Mar. 2013
level). Both of these goals require all aspects of capacity-building, including empowerment of different kinds of actors, 
to be reflected in the structural design of IPBES”.
The intergovernmental body for biodiversity must draw on a much broader range of knowledge and stakeholders than 
the IPCC, say Esther Turnhout and colleagues.
Hulme, M.; Mahony, M.; Beck, S.; Görg, C.; Hansjürgens, B.; Hauck, J.; Nesshöver, C.; Paulsch, A.; Vandewalle,M.; 
Wittmer, H.; Böschen, S.; Bridgewater, P.; Diaw, M.C.; Fabre,P.; Figueroa, A.; Heong, K.L.; Korn, H.; Leemans, R.; 
Lövbrand, E.; Hamid, M.N.; Monfreda, C.; Pielke Jr., R.; Settele, J.; Winter, M.; Vadrot, A.B.M.; van den Hove, S. & van 
der Sluijs, J.P. 2011 Science-Policy Interface: Beyond Assessments. Science 333(6043): 697-698
Turnhout, E.; Bloomfield, B.; Hulme, M.; Vogel, J. & Wynne, B. 2012 Conservation policy: Listen to the voices of 
experience. Nature 488: 454–455.
Prof. Carlos Alfredo Joly
Biology Institute/ UNICAMP - State University of Campinas
Chairman of BIOTA/FAPESP Program


The expected role of IPBES

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The expected role of IPBES

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