Summary
IPBES-6 delegates met briefly in plenary in the morning to take stock of progress and finalize several operational decisions.
The Co-Chairs of the contact groups on the regional assessments provided updates and outlined next steps towards finalizing the negotiations in the contact groups. Budget contact group Co-Chair Spencer Thomas reported that the Secretariat had provided clarity on the three budget scenarios to the group.
Delegates then resumed negotiating the summaries for policy makers (SPMs) of the regional assessments in four contact groups.
The day’s highlights included the following:
- France offered to host the next session of the Plenary in Paris in May 2019.
- The contact group for the Africa regional assessment discussed means of implementation as well as governance issues to ensure effective follow-up to the assessment’s findings in the region.
- The contact group for the Americas regional assessment discussed how to best display and explain the scenarios used to outline different possible pathways to sustainability.
- The contact group for the Asia and the Pacific regional assessment discussed whether to use the concept of nature’s contributions to people exclusively or in tandem with the concept of ecosystem services and what the implications of using both concepts would be.
- The contact group for the Europe and Central Asia regional assessment discussed how to balance achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the scenario archetypes.
- An informal group met over lunchtime to discuss cross-cutting issues and harmonize the use of terms, such as biocapacity, ecological footprint, nature’s contributions to people, and ecosystem services.
For more about the day’s events, read the Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital coverage and daily reports from IPBES-6. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has produced a summary and analysis report of IPBES-6, which is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
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Plenary
Emmanuelle Matras Swynghedauw, France, presents her country's offer to host #IPBES7 in Paris, France, in May 2019
IPBES Chair Robert Watson, United Kingdom (UK)
Participants during plenary
Ana María Hernández Salgar, Colombia
Africa Regional Assessment Contact Group Co-Chair Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, Ghana
Maria Manguiat, IPBES Legal Advisor
Europe and Central Asia Regional Assessment Contact Group Co-Chair Ivar Andreas Baste, Norway
Americas Regional Assessment Contact Group Co-Chair Brigitte Baptiste, Colombia
Asia and Pacific Regional Assessment Contact Group Co-Chair Youngbae Suh, Republic of Korea
Keiichi Nakazawa, Japan
Delegates from Morocco
Europe and Central Asia Regional Assessment Contact Group
The dais during the contact group. L-R: Maximilien Gueze, IPBES Secretariat; Felice Van Der Plaat, IPBES Secretariat; Amor Torre-Marin Rando, IPBES Secretariat; Contact Group Co Chair Ivar Andreas Baste, Norway; Assessment Co-Chair Markus Fischer; Assessment Co-Chair Mark Rounsevell, UK; Assessment Coordinating Lead Author Paula A. Harrison, UK; and Assessment Coordinating Lead Author Jennifer Hauck, Germany.
Torbjörn Ebenhard, Sweden
Antonin Vergez, France
Gabriele Obermayr, Austria
Horst Korn, Germany
Assessment Coordinating Lead Authors Paula A. Harrison, UK, Jennifer Hauck, Germany
José Romero, Switzerland
Africa Regional Assessment Contact Group
Participants during the contact group
Eefje den Belder, IPBES Technical Support Unit (TSU) Scenarios and Modelling, the Netherlands, and Anicia Maoela, TSU Africa
Vita Onwuasoanya, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS)
Prudence Tangham Galega and Ibrahim Linjouom, Cameroon
Ahmed El Khouly, Egypt
A small drafting group during the afternoon meeting of the contact group
Hatem Ben Belgacem, Tunisia
Agnès Hallosserie, France
Assessment Lead Author Laura Pereira, South Africa
Interpreters at the contact group
Delegates during informal consultations outside the contact group room
Americas Regional Assessment Contact Group
Participants listen to the Co-Chairs
Janine Murray, Canada
Luciano Donadio Linares, Argentina
Participants, including members of the CBD Secretariat, discuss the cross-cutting aspects of the regional assessments
Hesiquio Benítez Díaz, Mexico
Ana María Hernández Salgar, Colombia
Asia and Pacific Regional Assessment Contact Group
Participants and the dais during the contact group
Joanne Perry, New Zealand
Co-Chair Madhav Karki, Nepal
Delegates from France and the European Union consulting
A small group work on outstanding issues
IPBES Fellows Workshop
Fellows participating as authors in the global, regional, and land degradation and restoration assessments gathered for a capacity development training workshop on IPBES policy processes during #IPBES6.
Eduardo Sonnewend Brondizio, addresses the IPBES Fellows
IPBES Fellows group photo
Around the Venue
Delegates in line for translation headsets before the session