The IPBES Assessment Report, also known as the "Transformative Change Report", was published on December 18 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body established in April 2012 in Panama. Its primary objective is to strengthen the science-policy interface for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.
The recent IPBES report, titled "Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity", has been in development for over three years. More than 100 experts from 42 countries have contributed to this report, highlighting existing measures fostering transformative change and their future potential.
The report has dubbed the "disconnect between people and nature" as one of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, apart from other contributing factors such as the priortisation of short-term, material gains and the unequal distribution of power and wealth.
IPBES has also spelled out the cost of inaction saying that the "cost of delaying actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and nature’s decline around the world by even a decade is estimated to be double that of acting now." In a press release issued on December 18, IPBES shared that recent estimates suggest that acting immediately could create business opportunity worth over $10 trillion, apart from generating as many as 395 million jobs around the world by 2030.
“Under current trends, there is a serious risk of crossing several irreversible biophysical tipping points including die-off of low altitude coral reefs, die back of the Amazon rainforest, and loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. Transformative change is also necessary because most previous and current approaches to conservation, which aim to reform rather than transform systems, have failed to halt or reverse the decline of nature around the world, which has serious repercussions for the global economy and human well-being,” said Karen O’Brien, co-chair of the assessment, in a press release. O’Brien is a professor at the University of Oslo.
Arun Agrawal, Professor, University of Michigan, and Lucas Garibaldi, Professor, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN), were among the other co-chairs of the IPBES assessment.
Transformative Change: What are the Five Key Strategies?
To achieve transformative change, IPBES recommends the adoption of five key strategies. These involve actions that have "complementary and synergistic effects", which countries and other stakeholders can pursue to advance transformative change for global sustainability:
1. Conserve, restore and regenerate places that exemplify biocultural diversity: Protecting, restoring, and rejuvenating places that are important both to people and nature, particularly areas where cultural practices and biodiversity are closely connected should be a priority. The IPBES cites the example of the Community Forestry Program in Nepal, which restores forests while respecting local traditions.
2. Drive systematic change: The industries which harm nature, such as agriculture and livestock, fisheries, forestry, infrastructure and urban development, mining and fossil fuel sectors, need to change their practices to support sustainability. The intergovernmental body recommends mainstreaming biodiversity in the sectors most responsible for nature’s decline to bring about a positive change.
3. Transform economic systems for nature and equity: Economic systems must shift away from harmful subsidies, investing in biodiversity protection and promoting sustainable business practices. According to IPBES, currently $135 billion per year is spent on biodiversity conservation, leaving a biodiversity funding gap of $598-824 billion per year. Around $722 billion to $967 billion per year is the estimated requirement to sustainably manage biodiversity and maintain ecosystem integrity, it added.
4. Transform governance systems to be inclusive, accountable and adaptive: Integrating biodiversity into sector policies and decision-making, increasing engagement among stakeholders actors and holding actors accountable have been deemed key to transforming governance systems. IPBES cites the example of the ecosystems-based spatial management of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which supports sustainable fisheries and tourism – vital for more than 30,000 residents and 300,000 annual visitors.
5. Promote human-nature interconnectedness: IPBES has called for fostering a deeper connection between humans and nature, which can be instrumental in supporting measures aimed at conservation and protection of biodiversity around the world. This can be achieved by spreading awareness on critical issues, building education capacity and implementing hands-on activities that involve nature. Combining different types of knowledge, such as Indigenous and local knowledge, have been identified as key contributors to enabling transformative change.
Challenges to Biodiversity
The IPBES report has also highlighted five major challenges to transformative change. These include the nature of human-biodiversity interactions and how they have progressed over the years, especially emerging and propagated during the colonial eras. The also acknowledges the existence of a colonial legacy, which it says has persisted over the years, leading to economic and political inequalities, inadequate policies, unsustainable consumption and production patterns, and limited access to clean technologies and innovation systems.
As part of the solution, the report emphasises on collective action involving individual citizens, indegenous peoples and local communities, governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and others. It also reiterates the important role played by governments across all levels by undertaking a series measures aimed at fostering policy coherence, enacting stronger regulations and promoting international cooperation. It however acknowledges existing challenges relating to mismatched political timelines and institutions working in silos. Lastly, the report makes a fresh bid for urgent action in the present, to address the root causes of biodiversity loss for a just and sustainable future.
