Highlights from IPBES 11

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The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is currently wrapping up its 11th annual session in Windhoek, Namibia. Established in 2012, the IPBES is an integral component of global environmental policy, aimed at improving the interface between science and policy and generating high-quality assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

IPBES 11 focused on approving two assessments under the Platforms current work programme:

  • A thematic Nexus assessment of the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food and health.
  • A thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Visions for Biodiversity.

The Nexus assessment took up a large part of the scheduled discussions, highlighting that biodiversity, despite being essential for food, water, health and climate, is declining in all regions and that current economic, political and societal decisions are overwhelmingly prioritising short-term benefits while ignoring the longer-term impacts. Continuing these trends (of both direct and indirect drivers) will result in increasingly negative outcomes for biodiversity, and impede progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for water, food, health and climate change.

Other key messages from the Nexus Assessment included:

  • A finance gap of 0.3-1 trillion USD needs to be met for biodiversity needs each year, with an additional 4 trillion USD needed to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals for water, food, health and climate change.
  • Response options already exist across multiple sectors for sustainably managing biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.
  • Siloed forms of Government are a barrier to enabling the successful implementation of these response options.

These reports offer an honest, and often very sobering view into the global state of biodiversity, but are an essential part in how we can continue to push Governments towards a more sustainable, and biodiverse future. The next IPBES will be held in the UK in January 2026 and is expected to focus on the methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.