28 February 2016: The Fourth Plenary session of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-4) approved summaries for policy makers (SPMs) of the Platform’s first assessments on Pollination, Pollinators and Food Production, and on Scenarios and Models for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Delegates also launched several new assessments and elected Robert Watson (UK) as the Platform’s new Chair.

Four years after the Platform’s formal establishment, the approval of two assessments marks the delivery of its first products. The ‘Thematic Assessment on Pollination, Pollinators and Food Production’ reviews the available evidence from science, indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) and other sources of knowledge on: the value of pollinators and pollination; status and trends in pollinators and pollination; and drivers of change, risks and opportunities and policy management options.

The Assessment shows that pollinators are increasingly under threat from human activities and the impacts of climate change, leading to a corresponding decline in pollination services for food production. The SPM also outlines a number of management and response options available to policy makers to halt the further decline of pollinators.

Delegates at IPBES-4 lauded the high quality of the Assessment and the rigor of the process by which the SPM was negotiated, with many expressing hope that the Assessment will impact policy making at the international, national and sub-national levels.

The Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services provides evidence and guidance on the use of scenarios and models for policy support. It outlines the value added of such tools for policy making while noting existing barriers to their use, such as: a lack of understanding; shortage in human and technical resources; lack of guidance; and inadequate characterization of uncertainties.

The Assessment aims to address several of these barriers by providing guidance on, among other issues, the matching of appropriate scenarios and modeling techniques to the policy questions at hand. It also makes recommendations for further work, which was used as a basis for an IPBES-4 decision to launch a follow-up process. Under this process IPBES will: provide expert advice on the use of existing models and scenarios to address the current needs of the Platform; and catalyze the development of scenarios and associated models by the broader scientific community.

IPBES-4 delegates underlined the importance of the SPM and the decision on further work for the Platform as well as for policy makers at all levels, noting that it has the potential to produce modelling tools comparable to those use in climate science, thereby addressing an important gap in the production of policy-relevant biodiversity science.

IPBES-4 also decided to launch a global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and to launch a thematic assessment on invasive alien species and their control and a methodological assessment on diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits, subject to the availability of funds. Regarding an assessment on the sustainable use of biodiversity, IPBES decided to conduct further scoping work.

The meeting also made progress on the integration of ILK by adopting a draft set of procedures for bringing ILK into the Platform’s assessments. The procedures, which will be added to the existing procedures for the preparation of Platform deliverables, lay out how ILK holders and ILK experts are to be included in the all stages of assessment production.

Delegates welcomed the procedures as an important step forward towards the full integration of ILK, but also expressed concerns about remaining challenges. In particular, they underlined the need to address legal aspects with regard to implementing and safeguarding the prior informed consent (PIC) of ILK holders as laid out under the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Use.

The meeting also adopted decisions on a number of procedural and substantive issues, including: financial and budgetary arrangements; rules and procedures for the operation of the Platform; communication, stakeholder engagement and strategic partnerships; draft additional procedures to fill gaps in experts; and draft terms of reference (ToRs) for the mid-term and final reviews of the Platform.

During the closing session, the IPBES Plenary elected Robert Watson (UK) as its new Chair. In view of the funding shortfall that emerged during the discussions on the budget for completing the IPBES work programme, Watson announced that one his priorities will be the development of a comprehensive resource mobilization strategy.

IPBES-4 convened from 22-28 February 2016, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Session was preceded by two days of stakeholder consultations. The next meeting of the IPBES Plenary is expected to be held in early 2017. [IPBES Press Release: Pollination Assessment ] [SPM Pollination Assessment] [SPM Scenarios and Models Assessment] [IPBES Press Release: Global Assessment] [IPBES Press Release: Closing] [IISD RS Reporting in IPBES-4 and Stakeholder Days] [Previous Reporting on IPBES]