8 February 2013: The final report of the first session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-1), held from 21-26 January 2013, has been made available online.

The report includes a record of the opening of the session and discussions on: organizational matters, including status of membership, election of the Bureau and Chair, and adoption of the agenda and organization of work; rules of procedure for the meetings of the Plenary; policy and procedures for the admission of observers; initial work programme of the Platform; procedure for receiving and prioritizing requests put to the Platform; the role of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel in overseeing the preparation of the initial work programme; possible institutional arrangements for the implementation of the work programme; nomination and selection of the members of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel; institutional arrangements for the Secretariat; links between the Platform and the UN system; and financial and budgetary arrangements for the Platform. The report also includes the decisions adopted at the session.[Publication: Report of the first session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services] [IISD RS Coverage of the Session]