TY - JOUR
T1 - Transformative change in a nexus world
T2 - product and process in the eleventh plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-11)
AU - Schmeller, Dirk S.
AU - Bridgewater, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2025.
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - The eleventh session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-11) was held in Windhoek, Namibia, in December 2024. Approval of two assessments were the highlights of this plenary: the thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health - the so-called Nexus Assessment, and the thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity – the so-called Transformative Change Assessment. Yet the negotiations on the summaries for policymakers for those two assessments were marked more by national interests than by science. The authors were frequently challenged to justify evidence expressed in plain English, and the three years of work with its original scientific language was weakened by bureaucratically-driven wordsmithing. The assessments were finally approved with a range of response options and ways forward. Both assessments stress urgency and are policy-ready to be taken up by governments for implementation globally. IPBES continues ringing the scientific alarm bell, and science hopes that bell is heard.
AB - The eleventh session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-11) was held in Windhoek, Namibia, in December 2024. Approval of two assessments were the highlights of this plenary: the thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health - the so-called Nexus Assessment, and the thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity – the so-called Transformative Change Assessment. Yet the negotiations on the summaries for policymakers for those two assessments were marked more by national interests than by science. The authors were frequently challenged to justify evidence expressed in plain English, and the three years of work with its original scientific language was weakened by bureaucratically-driven wordsmithing. The assessments were finally approved with a range of response options and ways forward. Both assessments stress urgency and are policy-ready to be taken up by governments for implementation globally. IPBES continues ringing the scientific alarm bell, and science hopes that bell is heard.
KW - Nature conservation
KW - Nexus assessment
KW - Science-policy
KW - Stakeholders
KW - Sustainable futures
KW - Transformative change
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105001074278&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10531-025-03027-8
DO - 10.1007/s10531-025-03027-8
M3 - Editorial
AN - SCOPUS:105001074278
SN - 0960-3115
VL - 34
SP - 715
EP - 721
JO - Biodiversity and Conservation
JF - Biodiversity and Conservation
IS - 3
ER -