Preparatory process for IPBES 11

Dear IPBES members, observers and other interested stakeholders,

In notification EM/2024/04 it was announced that IPBES 11 is scheduled to be held from 10 to 16 December 2024 in Windhoek, Namibia, and information on registration was shared in notifications EM/2024/20 (members and observers) and EM/2024/21 (observer organizations).

At IPBES 11, the Plenary will consider, among other items, the thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (nexus assessment), the thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (transformative change assessment) and the scoping report of the second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The provisional agenda is available on the IPBES website at: https://www.ipbes.net/events/ipbes-11.

Annotations to the provisional agenda, including the proposed organization of work for the session, have also been made available on that web page. The organization of work for IPBES 11 takes into account the extraordinary situation of two assessments of large scope being considered at that session, and allocates the consideration of the nexus assessment to working group I, while working group II will consider the transformative change assessment. Interpretation will be shared among the two working groups.

Considering the positive experience with the preparatory processes for IPBES 8, IPBES 9 and IPBES 10, the IPBES Bureau decided to conduct a preparatory process for IPBES 11. As part of this process, Governments were invited to submit written comments on the draft scoping report for the second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services (from 29 May to 25 June 2024). The Plenary had already agreed on additional Government reviews for the nexus and transformative change assessments, which were conducted in May/June and July/August 2024, respectively.

As part of the final Government review ahead of IPBES 11, Governments will be invited to submit final written comments on the summary for policymakers of the nexus assessment; summary for policymakers of the transformative change assessment; scoping report of the second global assessment; workplans for building capacity, strengthening the knowledge foundations and supporting policy; and on engagement with IPCC, to allow the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, Bureau and assessment experts to prepare for the session. Dr. David Obura, the Chair of IPBES, plans to make Chair’s notes with revised text available shortly ahead of IPBES 11, in order to support the work of the Plenary.

Online informal exchanges of views among Governments to support the final Government review are tentatively scheduled for the week of 11 November 2024:

• 11 November, 9-11 a.m. CET: Workplans on building capacity, strengthening the knowledge foundations and supporting policy.
• 12 November, 1-3 p.m. CET: Summary for policymakers of the transformative change assessment.
• 13 November, 1-3 p.m. CET: Internal review of IPBES and engagement with IPCC.  
• 14 November, 6-8 p.m. CET: Summary for policymakers of the nexus assessment.
• 15 November, 5-7 p.m. CET: Scoping report of the second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• 18 November 1-3 p.m. CET: Financial and budgetary arrangements.

The informal exchanges of view will be followed by informal meetings on specific issues identified during the informal exchange of views tentatively scheduled for the week of 18 November 2024.

I would like to remind IPBES members and observers to upload official communication containing the names of the members of their delegations at IPBES 11 by 11 October 2024 through https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/nomination-letters-and-credentials. Each member of the delegation is also 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. Further information on IPBES 11 and the meeting documents will be made available on the IPBES website at https://www.ipbes.net/events/ipbes-11.

I thank you for your continued support to IPBES.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Anne Larigauderie | Executive Secretary
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)