SCB Comments on the First IPBES Plenary Meeting
August 16, 2012. Today, SCB submitted formal comments to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) regarding unresolved issues surrounding the upcoming first plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). UNEP is currently overseeing the administrative functions of IPBES in the lead-up to the first plenary meeting of IPBES in early 2013.
After nearly a decade of negotiations, more than 90 nations from around the world agreed to establish IPBES, which like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will provide a government-supported interface between the scientific community and policy makers. IPBES will address issues that bear upon the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite the landmark achievement of establishing IPBES, many issues regarding the function and structure of IPBES remain unresolved. Depending on how they are resolved, the outcome could have a negative or a positive effect on the participation of scientific societies and other stakeholders in IPBES.
SCB is providing recommendation regarding some of the key areas where more specific procedures are needed in order for IPBES to function, and offers detailed comments contained in four appendices regarding (1) the Rules of Procedure for IPBES, (2) the Draft Policy and Procedures for the Admission of Observers, (3) the Procedures for the Acceptance, Adoption, and Approval of IPBES Reports, and (4) the Process for Receiving and Prioritizing Requests from Governments/Scoping of Assessments. SCB will also provide comments on the final composition of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, the Conceptual Framework to guide IPBES, and the yet-to-be assembled Catalogue of Assessments later in 2012.
SCB has been an active participant and contributor to the negotiations regarding the establishment of IPBES for many years. Learn more HERE.
Read SCB’s comments HERE.