Assessments of biodiversity change are powerful tools that can trigger societal responses to the biodiversity crisis and are increasingly in demand for supporting conservation policies and international agreements. However, many assessments, particularly at scales ranging from regional to global, are still largely based on a combination of qualitative biodiversity information, expert opinions, and an insufficient amount of sparsely distributed ecological data. Progress in delivering scientifically robust and quantitative information on biodiversity change requires novel methods for leveraging the collection of biodiversity data from multiple sources, as well as in developing standardized monitoring systems able to combine observations from remote sensing and in situ, and to overcome the intrinsic limitations of each of these two types of observations. The Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) have been proposed as a suitable framework to develop structured and globally comprehensive monitoring systems for measuring biodiversity change. This concept advances the quantification of the state of biodiversity consistently in space and time and across spatial scales through the integration of multiple sources of observations. Furthermore, by identifying a set of fundamental biodiversity metrics relevant for policy, The EBVs contribute to identifying information gaps and defining priority earth observations that need to be collected. However, since the EBVs were first presented in 2013, important challenges have been raised for the operationalization of the concept. Technology limitations, lack of standards for integrating the information from different observing systems and prevailing data gaps still constrain our capacity to measure the EBVs. In this symposium we aim to illustrate the latest advances in harnessing and integrating the collection of different types of in-situ observations, novel remote sensing products and ecological models for measuring the EBVs across spatial, temporal and biological scales. The symposium also provides a state-of-the-art perspective on the breakthroughs required for globally consistent observation systems that better quantify biodiversity and ecosystem service change and can inform biodiversity policies and targets.