Invitation to IPBES members and observers (States not members of IPBES) to the eleventh session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES 11)

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Dear IPBES members and observers (States not members of IPBES), 

I have the honor to invite you to participate in the eleventh session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES 11), which is planned to be held from 10 to 16 December 2024 in Mercure Hotel Windhoek, Corner of Auas, 9000 Aviation Road, Windhoek, Namibia. It will be possible for duly registered members of delegations to view the proceedings online. 

Regional consultations and a Stakeholder Day are planned to be organized on 9 December 2024. The eleventh session of the Plenary will be opened on Tuesday, 10 December 2024, at 10 a.m. Central Africa Time (CAT/UTC+02:00). The session is scheduled to close on Monday, 16 December 2024. An invitation has been sent by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Secretary of Governing Bodies to all Ministers for Environment of all States Members of the United Nations (UN) or Members of specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to all Permanent Representatives to the UNEP, as well as to the Permanent missions to the UN. An invitation letter addressed to observer organizations will be issued shortly.

The provisional agenda for the eleventh session of the Plenary is available on the IPBES website at https://www.ipbes.net/events/ipbes-11-plenary

IPBES members and observers are invited to upload official communication containing the names of the members of their delegations for confirmation of their registration as soon as possible, and no later than 11 October 2024 through the online platform at https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/nomination-letters-and-credentials 

In addition, each member of the delegation is requested to complete the online registration form at https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/registration, as soon as possible, and no later than 11 October 2024. Individual registration is important for granting access to in-session documents and sharing meeting connection details. Please kindly note that an IPBES user account is required to complete the registration form. A user account can be created at https://ipbes.net/user/register. Taking into account visa processing time, and to ensure participation in the meeting, delegates who require entry visas to Namibia are strongly encouraged to upload their nomination letters and register as soon as possible. To determine whether you need a visa to travel to Namibia, please contact the Namibian consulate or embassy in your country or visit the website: https://namibian.org/namibia/travel-advice/visa. Please note that a visa may also be required for transit through some countries.

Please note that a separate registration is required for Stakeholder Day on https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/stakeholder-day/registration. Registration for Stakeholder Day does not grant access to the eleventh session of the IPBES Plenary. Registration for the Stakeholder Day should be done by 10 November 2024.

In line with the rules of procedure for sessions of the IPBES Plenary, and practice at previous sessions, each IPBES member is required to submit official credentials of its representatives, together with the names of alternate representatives and advisers, to the IPBES secretariat. The credentials must be issued either by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, consistent with each country’s policy and law. Observers are not required to submit credentials but they are still required to submit official nomination letters. A scanned copy of the credentials, containing the names of representatives to the eleventh session of the IPBES, should be submitted by one member of the delegation by 8 November 2024 through the online platform at https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/nomination-letters-and-credentials. The original hard copy of the credentials should be sent to the IPBES secretariat by mail at the latest by 31 October 2024 or handed to the secretariat at the registration desk by 10 December 2024. Registration for the session will be confirmed by the secretariat after reception of credentials or official communication. Travel support and daily subsistence allowance (DSA) will be provided to one member of each delegation from developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The name of this person should be indicated in the credentials or official nomination letter.

I also take this opportunity to invite IPBES members and  observers that have not designated a national focal point responsible for liaising with the IPBES secretariat to do so by filling the online form and submitting a nomination letter at https://ipbes.net/form/national_focal_point_designation-government. The list of existing national focal points is available at https://ipbes.net/national-focal-points 

In closing, I would also like to invite any Government in a position to do so, to consider hosting the twelfth and thirteenth sessions of the Plenary, scheduled to be held in 2025 and 2026 respectively. Governments interested in hosting either of these sessions of the Plenary, are invited to contact the

IPBES secretariat ([email protected]).

I thank you again for your continued support of IPBES. 

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Anne Larigauderie | Executive Secretary