99th ESA Annual Meeting (August 10 -- 15, 2014)

WK 25

Opportunities for Engagement in the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was established in 2012 as an independent intergovernmental body dedicated to assessing the state of the planet's biodiversity, its ecosystems, and the essential services they provide to society. IPBES has four functions: 1) identify and prioritize key scientific information needed for policymakers and catalyze efforts to generate new knowledge by engaging relevant scientific, policy and funding organizations.; 2) perform regular and timely assessments of knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services and their interlinkages; 3) support policy formulation and implementation by identifying policy-relevant tools and methodologies; and 4) prioritize key capacity-building needs to improve the science-policy interface and catalyze related financing. As with IPCC’s efforts on climate change, IPBES will provide ESA members and other academic, NGO, government, and private-sector stakeholders important opportunities to support science-based environmental decision-making at global to local scales.

This workshop, which will immediately follow a special session that will describe the IPBES history, structure, and governance, will allow attendees to introduce themselves and learn about opportunities to contribute to the IPBES process as expert panel members, contributors to assessments, and reviewers.