Plans for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to begin setting up the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) were formally announced at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

The idea to establish the IPBES was first discussed following the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reports released in 2005, in which devastating levels of biodiversity loss worldwide were highlighted. It is thought that the panel will be modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and will play a major role in shaping global environmental policy. As outlined in previous UN meetings, the IPBES will provide independent advice and scientific evidence on the state and trends of biodiversity for policy makers worldwide. It will also carry out peer-reviews on scientific literature to establish a ‘gold standard’ for reporting of biodiversity to policy makers.

Professor Bob Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor to Defra endorsed this historic agreement, expressing his hopes that: “this new platform will help to mobilise the world’s scientific community, and bring scientists and policy-makers together, to find solutions to these problems.”.

“IPBES has the potential to now raise global understanding of the threats we face… and empower governments to make policies to counter them, based on solid and integral scientific evidence.”, he added.

The UK will provide £2 million towards the development of the scientific body over the next four years. However, Caroline Spelman, the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, sees this as a welcome step forwards in tackling global biodiversity loss and restoring natural ecosystems. In a statement to Defra she said: “IPBES will give trusted, independent advice to governments and policy makers across the world, helping them take the best action to protect the world’s natural environment. The creation of IPBES is a triumph of many people’s hard work and a great way to bring the International Year of Biodiversity to a close.”.

Plans are due to be finalised by environment ministers at UNEP’s global ministerial meeting in early 2011.

Defra has announced that they will be launching a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment for England. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was founded in 2001 by an independent collection of over a thousand specialist scientists, to investigate the state of the world’s ecosystems in relation to human well-being, and continually monitor changes to our natural environment. An ecosystems approach is strongly supported by the MA, that is, a valuation of our natural ‘capital’ in social, economic and environmental terms.

The MA is broadly a project of global scope, however Defra propose to develop something along the lines of an inventory and ongoing assessment for England’s natural resources. Defra has pledged to give £500,000 over a two year period to fund the assessment. Hilary Benn made the following statement at his first keynote speech on the environment at the Barnes Wetland Centre:

“This project will give us a clearer picture of our natural resources than ever before. It will show us just how much we benefit from our natural environment. And in turn it will provide a springboard for further action to protect and enhance our natural heritage.”

The Convention on Biological Diversity have devised a means of applying the ecosystems approach, using the following guidelines:

1. Focus on the relationships and processes within ecosystems: we must strive to accelerate research into the benefits of functional biodiversity, whilst continuing to manage ecosystems in the absence of such knowledge
2. Enhance benefit-sharing: maintain and restore ecosystem function for human well-being
3. Use adaptive management practices: there must be flexibility in the type of management implemented; considering social and cultural factors affecting natural resources use, as well as flexibility in policy-making and implementation
4. Carry out management actions at the scale appropriate for the issue being addressed, with decentralization to lowest level, as appropriate: management should occur at the stakeholder level where appropriate, supported by policy and legislative frameworks
5. Ensure intersectoral cooperation: the formation of inter-ministerial bodies within government or enhanced networking capability to facilitate better communication at all levels

Further details can be found on the Defra and CBD websites.

To read the Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn’s full speech go to:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/speeches/hilary-benn/hb080721.htm