IPBES

|UNITED |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |BES |
|NATIONS | | | | | | | |
| | |IPBES/3/18 |
|[pic] |Intergovernmental Science-Policy |Distr.: General |
| |Platform on Biodiversity and |12 January 2015 |
| |Ecosystem Services |Original: English |
Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Third session
Bonn, Germany, 12-17 January 2015 Report of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on the work of its third session
I. Opening of the session 1. The third session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-
Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was held in
Bonn, Germany, from 12 to 17 January 2015. 2. The session was opened at 10.15 a.m. by the Chair of the Plenary,
Mr. Zakri Abdul Hamid. Calling it a landmark event in the history
of the Platform to date, he said that the session, attended by
representatives of 145 Governments and an equal number of
organizations, was an opportunity both to reflect on achievements
and lessons learned and to continue planning for the years to
come. Recalling the achievements of the first two sessions of the
plenary in establishing the Platform's procedures and structures
and adopting an initial work programme, he expressed satisfaction
at the progress made so far on the 18 deliverables of the work
programme and the number of experts that were with great
enthusiasm contributing their time and expertise to the Platform.
The current rate of decline in biodiversity, 100 to 1,000 times
greater than the natural rate, made plain the critical importance
of the Platform in providing policymakers with sound scientific
information as the basis for policymaking aimed at reversing
biodiversity loss, raising awareness of and fostering appreciation
for the importance of biodiversity and the ecosystem services that
it provided and building the capacity of developing countries to
measure and assess biological and genetic resources and value
ecosystem services. Expressing thanks to those that had already
contributed in cash and in kind, he said that a further
$19 million would be needed to implement the Platform's initial
work programme fully, and he urged all to contribute as much as
possible to the Platform trust fund. Concluding with thanks to all
for the work to date, he wished participants a productive meeting
in the constructive spirit that had prevailed thus far. 3. Welcoming remarks were then made by Ms. Anne Larigauderie,
Executive Secretary of the Platform secretariat; Ms. Jacqueline
McGlade, Chief Scientist and Acting Director, Division of Early
Warning and Assessment, United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP); Ms. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the
Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany;
and Mr. Juergen Nimptsch, Lord Mayor of Bonn. 4. Ms. Larigauderie, expressing thanks for the trust placed in her by
virtue of her appointment as Executive Secretary, said that the
year since the second session of the Plenary had been an active
one. Considerable progress had been made in implementing the
programme of work for 2014-2018, with all of its 18 deliverables
at various stages of progress, and the year had seen the
establishment of 14 expert groups, the conduct of 20 meetings and
the selection of more than 500 experts from among nearly
1,700 nominees. Those experts had already contributed their time
and had expressed the desire to continue their involvement, and
the Platform had been warmly welcomed by the scientific community
and other knowledge holders on whom its success depended. The year
had also seen the testing of the Platform's conceptual framework
and rules of procedure, lessons from which would be discussed at
the current session; the recruitment of all secretariat staff; the
further development of collaboration with the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), UNEP and the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and
the establishment of technical support units in the Netherlands,
Norway, the Republic of Korea and UNESCO. The Plenary would have
much to consider at the current session as a result of those
activities, including seven scoping reports, two guides, two
catalogues and the outcomes of three task forces, and it was hoped
that additional partnerships made possible through the provision
of in-kind support would be announced during the current session.
Thanking the Government of Germany and the City of Bonn for both
financial and logistical support and a warm welcome, she wished
the participants a fruitful meeting. 5. Ms. McGlade, speaking on behalf of FAO, UNDP, UNEP and UNESCO,
said that the partnership between those organizations and the
Platform was emblematic of efforts across the United Nations to
deliver as one. The four organizations were committed to ensuring
that biodiversity and ecosystem services were taken into account
in the broader policy dialogue taking place across the globe
through various means such as national reporting under relevant
multilateral environmental agreements, including ecosystems
accounting and the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership; capacity-
building, including through the Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services Network; inter-agency agreements such as the memorandum
of understanding between FAO and UNEP on food security and
ecosystem-based management; interdisciplinary and
transdisciplinary approaches to data collection and knowledge
management; and links to the Global Environment Facility. Evidence
continued to mount that human activities were causing
unprecedented changes in the Earth's systems, while global leaders
sought to end poverty and transform the economy through a post-
2015 development agenda that included a strengthened science-
policy interface and agreed sustainable development goals, raising
the question whether the Platform community was ready to influence
decision-making by providing high-quality data and frameworks for
tracking changes and progress in the use of resources,
biodiversity and ecosystem services. For their part the four
organizations, already deeply involved in ensuring that
biodiversity and ecosystem services were embedded in the
sustainable development goals, targets and indicators, stood ready
to help the community to do so. 6. In her remarks, Ms. Hendricks said that the Government of Germany
was honoured to host the current session and greatly valued the
trust placed in it as the host of the Platform. Biodiversity and
ecosystem services, she said, were critical to sustainable
development, yet the loss of biodiversity and intact ecosystems
continued unabated. To halt that, policymakers needed the Platform
to provide detailed proposals for action and specific
recommendations on how to achieve the Aichi biodiversity targets
by 2020 and implement the post-2015 development agenda. The
current session would help to determine whether the platform could
become a vital instrument for the environment and sustainable
development in the twenty-first century, and four areas were of
particular importance in that regard. First, the platform needed
to produce assessments of issues for which policymakers had not
yet implemented effective measures, as such assessments could play
a major role in convincing all ministries and sectors to factor
biodiversity into their daily work. In particular, the assessment
on sustainable use should be conducted as an independent
assessment to ensure that it did justice to the importance of the
issue, and it should examine a wide range of issues. Second, the
Plenary should adopt an effective communications strategy aimed at
raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity for prosperity
and well-being. Third, stakeholder participation was critical to
the success of the Platform. Germany had established a national
coordination office aimed at promoting participation by
scientists, policymakers and citizens, and it hoped that the
Plenary would adopt a stakeholder engagement strategy at the
current session. Fourth, the balanced participation of scientists,
policymakers and the public was critical to the position of the
Platform around the globe, and capacity-building was therefore
needed, particularly in the context of development cooperation. To
that end, Germany would give particular consideration to the needs
of partners, for example in the context of