Highlights and images for 1 May 2019

France

  1. Negotiations
  2. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services – IPBES
  3. Stakeholder Day and 7th Session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-7)

Summary

Highlights for Wednesday, 1 May 2019

Youth participants at IPBES-7

IPBES On Wednesday, IPBES-7 delegates met in a brief plenary to take stock of progress in the morning before continuing negotiating the summary for policymakers (SPM) of the Global Assessment in a working group. A second working group met in the afternoon to begin discussions on the Platform’s second work programme.The discussion of the SPM focused on sections with key messages on drivers of changes in nature and on the prospects of achieving conservation of nature and sustainable development. Highlights of the working group included discussions on the following issues:

  • References to human population growth and global trade as drivers of biodiversity decline and the role of consumption patterns and technological change in moderating impacts on natural systems;
  • The relationship between unequal access to material goods and how inequality can lead to social conflict that impacts nature;
  • The relationship between climate change and biodiversity loss;
  • The appropriate way to describe the impact of economic incentives for harmful economic activities; and
  • Transformative change as a strategy to achieve goals for conserving and sustainably using nature, and evidence from scenarios and models showing the impact of policy measures on the prospect for achieving such goals.

    • In the afternoon, a second working group began discussing the future work programme of the Platform, based on a proposal to prioritize three topics: promoting biodiversity to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; understanding the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and determinants of transformative change to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity; and measuring business impact and dependence on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. Delegates exchanged views on which proposed assessment reports to prioritize, with many pointing to transformative change, as well as the reports addressing the nexus between biodiversity, water, food, and health on the one hand, and biodiversity and climate change on the other.For extensive details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).

    IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from IPBES-7. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, will publish a summary and analysis report of IPBES-7 on Tuesday, 7 May 2019.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera

    For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page

    Plenary
    Delegates heard reports from the Working Group Co-Chairs.
    Sara Mashhadi Ali Akbar and Asghar Mohammadi Fazel, Iran
    Working Group I
    Delegates during the meeting of Working Group I
    Patricia Balvanera, IPBES Expert
    Harison Rabarison, Madagascar
    Trine Hay Setsaas and Nina Vik, Norway
    Neil Burgess and Kristian Kvist, Denmark
    A Friends of the Chair group meets during lunch time to address pending issues.
    A Friends of the Chair group reviews text projected on screen.
    Working Group II
    The dais during Working Group II
    Cyrie Sendashonga, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
    Sarah Weiskopf, US
    Senka Barudanovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
    L-R: Edouard Michel, Cyrille Barnerias, and Ghousébasha Gaffar, France
    Side Event on the Coalition of the Willing on Pollinators Signing Ceremony
    Willy Ndayikeza, Burundi, signs the Declaration on the Coalition of the Willing on Pollinators.
    Willy Ndayikeza, Burundi, and Martijn Thijssen, Coalition of the Willing on Pollinators Secretariat
    Around the Venue
    IPBES Experts family photo
    Participants meet informally outside the Working Group meetings.
    The Mexican delegation at IPBES-7
    Participants review the IISD Reporting Services website and the latest ENB daily report.
    A delegate checks photos of former presidents of the UNESCO General Conference.
    Participants from Asia and Africa pose for a photo during a break.

    Participants

    Non-state coalitions
    Youth