The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), launched in 2017 a Global Assessment on the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to society, in response to requests from decision makers of its 131 member countries. One of the questions addressed by this initiative is what are the indirect (values, demographic, economic, and governance), and direct (land/sea-use change, resource extraction, pollution, invasive alien species, climate change) drivers that underpin the changes in nature observed from 1980 to date, across different regions of the world. A diverse team coordinating lead authors (2), lead authors (7), co-chairs (3), contributing authors (65), with the inputs from the different IPBES decision-making bodies (the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, the Bureau, the Secretariat, the Technical Support Unit), review editors (2), and reviewers (54), all of them from around the world, assessed qualitatively 2,300 references to assess our current understanding about the role played by these indirect and direct drivers.
Results/Conclusions
The results of IPBES Global Assessment, and specifically of the drivers sub-chapter addressed in this talk, will be presented to the IPBES plenary with representatives of the 131 member countries on April 28-May 4 for its approval. Once approved, these results and the corresponding conclusions will be shared to diverse audiences, including the ESA 2019 meeting.