Second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services

At IPBES 11 in 2024, the IPBES Plenary approved the undertaking of a second global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services (second global assessment) as outlined in the scoping report for the assessment set out in annex I to its decision IPBES 11/1.

Scope and rationale

The overall objective of the second IPBES global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services (referred to hereafter as “the second global assessment”) is to assess relevant knowledge that has become available since the publication of The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and assess progress towards achieving the goals of sustainability and living in harmony with nature. The second global assessment will strengthen the science-policy interface on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people on a range of spatial scales, from the local to the global, by providing the knowledge and the policy support tools needed for informed decision-making. The second global assessment will be delivered in 2028.

The specific objectives of the second global assessment are: 

(a) To support Governments and other actors in implementing the objectives of relevant multilateral environmental agreements and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals; 

(b) To support the assessment of progress towards the achievement of the global targets for 2030 and the global goals for 2050 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and of relevant Sustainable Development Goals and targets; 

(c) To assess the scientific and technical basis as well as different knowledge systems and policy-relevant information for the additional efforts needed in the current and subsequent decades to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.

 Prior assessments have highlighted the multiple direct and underlying drivers that are leading to the decline of nature; complex and intersecting response pathways; and the essential role of justice and equity in transforming societal actions across the planet to halt and reverse the decline of nature and to increase nature’s contributions to people. The second global assessment will build on these findings by critically reviewing new evidence relating to the status and trends of the loss of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, the causation in relation with multiple drivers, and the consequences for people and nature. It will evaluate new information on the urgency of action and consequences of delayed action, and on the experiences of effecting transformative change and further options to achieve the sustainable development goals and living in harmony with nature. 

The second global assessment will incorporate and build on completed IPBES assessments and the findings of other science-policy panels, identifying policy-relevant information for achieving the global goals referred to in paragraph 2 above. Countries have faced immense challenges in achieving some of the objectives and targets agreed to date. The second global assessment will reflect on these challenges and also highlight positive examples, showing enabling conditions for success and indicating ways to address challenges and barriers so that successful and effective approaches could be extended and replicated on a variety of scales to add up to the desired outcomes at the global scale outlined in paragraph 2.

It will also address critical gaps in the first Global Assessment as well as emerging issues. These gaps and issues include the need for more comprehensive attention to oceans. It will also consider neglected components of biodiversity; multiple worldviews and different knowledge systems; and relevant social issues and different social groups. The second global assessment will assess the different challenges, lessons learned and potential solutions within and among regions in a scientific and balanced manner. The issues related to Indigenous Peoples and local communities will be comprehensively addressed, including multiple worldviews and values. 

The second global assessment will highlight and synthesize the findings of prior assessments relating to the differing roles of actors such as Governments, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the private sector and civil society, women and youth, and their value systems, in delivering the building blocks for transformative change. A dedicated chapter on multiple knowledge systems, with a focus on Indigenous and local knowledge, will provide for greater inclusion, introducing content that will be woven through all the chapters of the assessment. Consistent with all IPBES assessments, the second global assessment will provide a technically and scientifically balanced evaluation of global biodiversity and ecosystem services being scientifically independent and unbiased as well as remaining neutral with respect to policy.

The assessment is planned to be prepared between the 11^th and 15^th sessions of the Plenary, and would be considered by the Plenary in 2028.