26 November 2012: The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Interim Secretariat announced that the deadline for receiving registration forms and requests for governments and accreditation for major groups and stakeholders has been extended.

Participants may register up to until 30 November 2012. The first meeting of IPBES’s Plenary (IPBES-1) will be held in Bonn, Germany from 21 to 26 January 2013, hosted by the Government of Germany. Regional and stakeholder consultations will take place one day prior to the meeting on Sunday, 20 January 2013.

Purpose of IPBES-1 will aim to agree on the remaining rules of procedures for the meetings of the platform, consider other rules of procedure for the platform, elect Bureau and Multidisciplinary Expert Panel members, and agree on the next steps by which the IPBES work programme can become operational as soon as possible. IPBES-1 will be a meeting of Members of the Platform’s plenary, with observers. [IPBES News]