Five bioDISCOVERY SSC members, Lynne Shannon, Paul Leadley, William Cheung, David Obura and Bernardo Strassburg, were among the 150 leading international experts that prepared the IPBES global assessment. Completed after three years of development and drawing on more than 15,000 references, the IPBES global assessment is the first global synthesis report on the state of biodiversity, ecosystem function and ecosystem services since the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment published in 2005.
The report identifies land and sea use change, direct exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive species as the five main drivers impacting on biodiversity and ecosystems, and threatening around 1million species around the world with extinction. Despite progress in the implementation of policies to protect ecosystems, the current trajectory indicates that the global biodiversity targets (Aichi Targets) will not be met by 2020. This will also have a negative impact on the Sustainable Development Goals.
There is hope that the results of the report will inform better policies and actions in the coming decade. Click here for a pdf of the Advanced summary for Policy Makers of Global Assessment, and watch the webcast of the media launch here.