Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Following the release of the IPBES Pandemics Report, Twitter user and UK Constituent @BorisLetters penned letter #86 to Boris Johnson, with this edition focusing on the potential for zoonoses and the cost benefits of policies to prevent pandemics.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) WWF Germany, in a statement released after the launch of the IPBES Pandemics Report, cites the Report as a key reason for its call on the European Union to "immediately submit an effective law that prohibits the import of environmentally harmful products" and also calls for a "targeted technical and financial support for developing and emerging countries to be expanded in order to stop the illegal and unregulated wildlife trade and ensure more effective control of legal trade, for example in game meat."

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Following the release of the IPBES Pandemics Report, the Finnish Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Krista Mikkonen, in a media release from the Finnish Environment Ministry, called for addressing overconsumption in order to curb pandemics natural disasters and the climate crisis.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) In a tweet shortly after the release of the IPBES Pandemics Report, the UK Green Party welcomed the IPBES Pandemics Report and called for 'repairing our relationship with nature to avoid pandemics in the future'.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) A new report uses the findings of the Global Assessment Report to map and analyse the role of the banking sector in the global biodiversity crisis

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Citing the IPBES Global Assessment, and emphasizing that transformative changes are required to safeguard economic and social models, Schneider Electric announced its new biodiversity elements in its environmental strategy. "For instance, improvements can be made through sustainable purchasing; increased supply chain traceability would allow us to choose exactly what we buy, from whom and from where. Biodiversity is an inherently local issue and the impact of raw material extraction can vary greatly, even within the same region."

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The Nordic Co-operation organization has undertaken an initiative to mobilize youth participation in the Convention on Biological Diversity process, citing the IPBES Global Assessment as a 'wake-up call', Nordic Co-operation Mobilizes Youth Participation in the Convention on Biological Diversity process.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) A synthesis report from the French Foundation for Biodiversity Research (FRB) detailing options for action in light of IPBES findings cited, among others, the IPBES Assessment Report Scenarios and Models, Pollination Assessment, Regional Assessment for European and Central Asia Global Assessment and Invasive Species Assessment.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award announced on 22 May 2020, the International Day for Biological Diversity, that IPBES was selected as the recipient of its 2020 award, focused on the theme biodiversity, which also includes a prize of one million Swedish Kronor. IPBES was recognized specifically for the Global Assessment and the platform's "decisive role in outlining the drivers of biodiversity loss, communicating the magnitude of the problem and laying the groundwork for a new agenda and transformative change in relation to biodiversity."

"IPBES has had a decisive role in outlining the drivers of biodiversity loss, communicating the magnitude of the problem and laying the groundwork for a new agenda and transformative change in relation to biodiversity. Through their methodology, which includes research in both natural and social science as well as including the importance of indigenous peoples’ knowledge and experience, they have increased the opportunities for evidence-based decision making by policymakers.

Since its inception in 2012, by engaging and uniting the world’s nations around the issue of biodiversity, IPBES has played a crucial role in setting the groundwork for the change we need to address this crisis in the near future."


More information: https://ipbes.net/ipbes-winwin-sustainability-award

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Prof. Andy Purvis, Coordinating Lead Author on the IPBES Global Assessment and Dr. Anne Larigauderie, IPBES Executive Secretary were invited by the UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee to provide oral evidence in their hearing on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, to be used by the Commitee to advise the UK Government on opportunities at the negotiations for CBD COP-15 to be held in China in 2021

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The IPBES Global Assessment and IPBES Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Europe and Central Asia were cited in the European Environment Agency Report No 10/2020, on the 'State of nature in the EU: Results from reporting under the nature directives 2013-2018.'

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The IPBES Global Assessment was cited prominently in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)'s Opinion on the EU's 2030 Biodiversity Strategy as reason for higher levels of ambition.

"A report published in 2019 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services warned of an increase in the rate of species extinction and a decline in global ecosystem health. The report also makes clear that biodiversity loss can be neither reduced nor halted without fundamental structural changes in society. The authors of the report expect the changes needed to come up against considerable opposition from those who benefit from the status quo. However, it is possible and necessary in the public interest to find a way out of this situation."

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The 'Save Bees and Farmers' European Citizens' Initiative campaign used IPBES evidence in its digital assets to promote the Initiative, and also cited the IPBES Global Assessment in its background statement of purpose on its website.

https://www.savebeesandfarmers.eu/eng/background/

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Flora and Fauna International, in an online petition calling for $500b to be provided for the conservation of nature and to end harmful subsidies, the IPBES Global Assessment finding that 1 million species risk extinction is featured prominently as a call to action.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The World Bank Group's 2020 report on 'Mobilizing Private Finance for Nature' prominently features many key findings from the IPBES Global Assessment, and includes findings from the IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production as well.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) An article appearing in the journal Conservation Biology has built on the IPBES Global Assessment's analysis and argued why 'airspace habitat' should be considered as a unique term in order to better facilitate transformative change.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Hans R. Herren, Benedikt Haerlin and the IAASTD+10 Advisory Group served as editors of a volume highlighting food systems transformations, which featured sections on and findings from the IPBES Global Assessment Report, IPBES Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment Report, and Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) In a Environment and Public Works committee meeting of the U.S. Senate, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon cited IPBES Global Assessment evidence in oral testimony regarding the United States Endangered Species Act.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Writing for the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, a policy brief by Christian Prip "Towards a global deal for biodiversity with Norway as a proactive contributor," "scrutinizes the delayed process under the Convention on Biological Diversity towards a new global framework for biodiversity with goals and targets, focusing on the major issues under discussion, and contributions from Norway to the process," with a strong focus on the findings of the IPBES Global Assessment and its 'eye-opening' effect on the public.

"The fact that our planet is hit by a global biodiversity crisis has attracted far less attention than the equally severe climate crisis. However, in 2019 the biodiversity crisis emerged from the shadows with the release of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a UN body established in 2012. The report made media headlines worldwide, thereby confirming the expediency of establishing IPBES as nature’s counterpart to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The Post 2020 Biodiversity Framework EU Support group published a policy brief on 'Instilling Biodiversity into Budgets and Financial Schemes: How to shift towards a greener system?', which incorporates the IPBES Global Assessment finding that biodiversity loss undermines the progress of 35 out of 44 SDG targets.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Citing the IPBES Global Assessment Report and the IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production, McKinsey & Company published a report on 'Valuing nature conservation: a methodology for quantifying the benefits of protecting the planet's natural capital.'

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Noting that "the 2019 [IPBES] Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services delivered an ominous prediction: around one million species could go extinct unless we take drastic steps to transform our relationship with animals, plants, and the entire natural world,' Lewis and Clark Law School launched a new 'Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment'.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The French Ministry for Ecological Transition has published a brochure on the role of business in protecting biodiversity, citing key findings from the IPBES Global Assessment.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Ahead of the first United Nations Summit on Biodiversity, WWF, in its call for Heads of State to act on nature, cited the IPBES Global Assessment's explication of transformative change.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The CzechGlobe ' One Nature' project has developed a conceptual framework for evaluating the EU Natura 2000 Network that is heavily inspired by the IPBES Conceptual Framework.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) At a hearing held by the Spanish Parliament's Commission of Ecological Transition on the topic of climate change and energy transition, IPBES expert Unai Pascual presented key findings from the IPBES Global Assessment.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) The adidas Runtastic team, for its 2020 'Run Wild' campaign, launched the '1 Million Runners for 1 Million Species' campaign, "calling on 1 million runners to give a voice to 1 million species [threatened with extinction] at the UN General Assembly Biodiversity Summit."

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) In a media release announcing a green recovery package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Sweden cited the IPBES Global Assessment key finding that 1 million species risk extinction, noting the implications for a Swedish context.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) An edited volume overseen by K.N. Ninan, has built on the work of the IPBES Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Ninan published the collection under the title "Environmental Assessments: Scenarios, Modelling and Policy", and included a foreword by IPBES Executive Secretary Anne Larigauderie.

Description of Impact(s) (English Only) Following an IPBES social media post about the 'Miyawaki method' of creating pocket forests in urban spaces, the Tiny House Bristol group announced that they were looking into implementing the option for policy/action in Bristol.