Summary
On Thursday, IPBES-6 delegates continued their discussion of the key findings of the assessment on land degradation and restoration and discussed how to proceed with three pending assessments of the first work programme. Delegates also started working on the development of the next work programme for IPBES.
In the evening, plenary convened to finalize the regional assessments.
Highlights of the day included the following:
- Plenary approved the summaries for policy makers (SPMs) of the four regional and subregional assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia, and accepted the chapters of the assessment reports.
- On pending assessments, the budget group agreed to a preliminary costing, allowing to initiate work on two assessments in 2018 while increase the maximum number of lead authors from six to eight.
- Delegates agreed to initiate work on the thematic assessment on the sustainable use of wild species and the methodological assessment on diverse conceptualizations of multiple values of nature in 2018.
- Work on the thematic assessment on invasive alien species will be initiated in 2019.
- The contact group on land degradation and restoration continued refining the assessment’s SPM, including regarding the drivers of biodiversity, the benefits of avoiding land degradation, and the role of production and consumption patterns.
- Regarding future work, delegates agreed to develop a draft strategic framework up to 2030, decided to develop a rolling work programme, and began discussing the draft elements of that work programme.
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 | Natalia Mroz and Diego Noguera
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Contact Group on the Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment
The dais during the Contact Group on the Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment
Peter Bridgewater, Australia
Delegates from France and Norway confer during the contact group
Mary Rowen, US
José Romero, Switzerland
Ana Maria Rivero Santos, Colombia
Diana Mortimer and Jim Harris, United Kingdom (UK)
Sofía Treviño Heres, Mexico
Georgina Catacora-Vargas, Plurinational State of Bolivia
José Echeverría, Guatemala
Grace Nangendo, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Louise Willemen, University of Twente, the Netherlands
Matthew Potts, IPBES Secretariat
Participants chat during a break in deliberations
Contact Group on the Budget and Pending Assessments
Tone Solhaug, Norway
A view of the room during the contact group discussions
Participants during the contact group
Tallash Kantai, ENB
Marina Samejima, Japan
Participants during the contact group
Andrew Stott, United Kingdom
Thomas Koetz, IPBES Secretariat
Thomas Brooks, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Birgit de Boissezon and Marco Fritz, European Union (EU)
Contact Group, Review, Second Work Programme
US delegates share a light moment during contact group discussions
Ana María Hernández Salgar, Colombia
Malta Qwathekana, South Africa
Participants during discussions
Contact Group on Review of the Platform and Development of the IPBES Work Plan
IPBES Chair Robert Watson
Handover of the Chinese version of the IPBES Summary for Policy Makers for Pollination, Pollinators and Food Production to the IPBES Secretariat
L-R: Hien Ngo, IPBES Secretariat, and Wenliu Zhang, China
Evening Plenary
Around the Venue