Bioversity International/L.Sebastian

IPBES Plenary and assessment launch

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) works to assess the state of biodiversity in the world and of the ecosystem services provided by it to society. Since 2015, experts including WLE researchers have been engaged in drafting a series of regional assessments which will be released following the IPBES plenary event in March.

WLE researchers have contributed to the Africa, America and Asia Pacific Assessments, as well as global assessments of Land Degradation.

The Plenary, which will take place in Medellin, Colombia, is the 6th plenary of the IPBES, and will contribute to the science-policy interface on the topics of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The assessments were begun following the third session of the IPBES Plenary which was held in Bonn, Germany, when governments approved proposals by scientific experts.

The assessments will touch on a number of topics that are central to WLE’s work, including analyses on changes in agricultural biodiversity and the water-food-energy nexus. In doing so, they draw attention to the large, but often under-emphasized, role that agriculture plays in influencing biodiversity and contributing to ecosystem service delivery.