Highlights for Friday, 3 May 2019
Family photo of members of the IPBES Secretariat and the outgoing Bureau.
On Friday, IPBES-7 delegates continued negotiations in two working groups to finalize the summary for policy makers (SPM) of the Global Assessment and the Platform’s future work programme.The working group on the Global Assessment continued discussing the SPM background section before returning to outstanding issues in the key messages. In the evening, they began considering a table outlining possible actions in the various areas addressed in the SPM.Highlights of the working group on the Global Assessment included:
A lengthy discussion on recognizing non-human rights, including animal rights and rights of nature. Opinions diverged regarding reference to internationally recognized rights, like the ones on Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) versus the inclusion of non-human rights that are under active international negotiation.
Extended debate on reducing consumption and waste, particularly among “the affluent,” as well as regarding the notion of social justice. Some delegates suggested referring to “changes” in consumption and waste rather than “reduction” and to social “equity” instead of social “justice.” This was followed by a lengthy discussion regarding circular economy, with delegates exchanging opinions on whether the concept of resource efficiency includes the idea of the circular economy.
Recurrent discussions on various approaches to sustainable land management to be referenced in relation to the need to transform food systems and landscape management.
Delegates also discussed the need to avoid overloading the Secretariat with work by asking it to launch several scoping processes in parallel to ongoing assessments, and the need to maintain flexibility for IPBES to react to emerging issues. The working group on the future work programme agreed, after lengthy debate, on launching two assessment scoping processes on the nexus between biodiversity, water, food, and health, and on transformative change. The group also discussed at length how to invite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to engage in developing a joint technical publication on Biodiversity and Climate Change, preferably to be completed on time to inform discussions on the post-2020 biodiversity framework in late 2020. The eventually agreed to invite the Executive Secretaries of IPBES and IPCC to explore this issue.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
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Working Group I
Global Assessment Co-Chairs Sandra Díaz and Eduardo S. Brondízio
Arthur Cesar Lima Naylor, Brazil
José Rafael Almonte Perdomo, Dominican Republic
Delegates from France and the US consult on the draft text.
Luciano Donadio Linares, Argentina
Wadzanayi Goredema-Mandivenyi, South Africa
Hien Ngo, IPBES Secretariat, and Christine Dawson, US
Neville Ash, Director, UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity
L-R: Tom Dixon, Forest Peoples Programme (FPP); Edna Kaptoyo, Indigenous Information Network; and Polina Shulbaeva, FPP
The German delegation reviews the draft text.
IPBES Chair Robert Watson, UK, addresses members of the Friends of the Chair group.
A Friends of the Chair group meets at lunch time to address outstanding issues in the summary for policy makers of the Global Assessment.
Working Group II
Working Group II Co-Chairs Ana María Hernández Salgar, Colombia, and Ivar Andreas Baste, Norway
Mariam Akhtar-Schuster and Barbara Engels, Germany
Adam Van Opzeeland, New Zealand
Carmel Mbizvo (right), South Africa, discusses with delegates from Malawi and Zambia.
Delegates continue deliberations in the evening to complete work before Saturday’s plenary.
Around the Venue
The IPBES Secretariat sings a song to thank the outgoing Bureau members.
Registration staff family photo
A view of Paris from UNESCO Headquarters