International Biodiversity Work Evolving - IPBES, Blue Carbon, and More

Becca Madsen on October 15, 2009 Comment

International meetings on biodiversity this month included an ad-hoc meeting regarding the Intergovernmental and Multi-Stakeholder Science-Policy Platform of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) held in Nairobi on October 5-9 where delegates of 100 governments discussed, assessed and tried to envisage the structure, form and role of a possible IPBES modeled after the IPCC. The host of the meeting also bemoaned the fact that the 2010 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2010 targets would not be met...

...as did folks over at the global DIVERSITAS conference in progress in Cape Town, which is being convened to bring biodiversity experts together to find ways to slow down the rate of biodiversity loss and set new goals for biodiversity conservation. FAO, UNESCO and UNEP launched a 'Blue Carbon' report, outlining the role of marine ecosystems in sequestering carbon and recommending a fund able to invest in the maintenance and rehabilitation of key marine ecosystems. One of the important findings of the report was that of all the biological carbon captured in the world, over half (55%) is captured by marine-living organisms - hence the new term blue carbon. Folks at the conference also discussed "GEO-BON" - an effort to create a science-based global biodiversity observing system. Also up for discussion: the economic/human welfare costs of biodiversity loss and how to quantify it, understanding and managing ecosystem services and providing economic incentives.

Last month (September 22-24), Belgium hosted the 5th Intergovernmental Conference on Biodiversity in Europe that resulted in a message from its participants - namely, a list of priorities and recommendations for addressing biodiversity loss.

And from the academic world come two additional messages for the international biodiversity arena. Rockstars of the environmental world (and Jeffrey Sachs!) spoke up in a recent Science article "Biodiversity Conservation and the Millennium Development Goals" to talk about the inherent linkages between addressing biodiversity loss and economic development goals. Another group of scientists propose the top "One Hundred Questions of Importance to the Conservation of Global Biological Diversity" - among my favorites are:

#3 How can biodiversity considerations be integrated into economic policies to reflect the monetary and nonmonetary value of biodiversity, ecosystem processes, goods, and services?
#86 What have been the impacts on biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diverstiy 2010 targets, and what objectives, mechanism, time frame, and means of measurement would be most effective for future targets?
#91 What are the impacts of different conservation incentive programs on biodiversity and human well-being?
#99 What has been the effect of environmental impact assessments on biodiversity conservation?
(Sutherland et al, Conservation Letters, Volume 23, No. 3, 2009)