“It is not the role of humans to govern nature, but rather to govern the actions of humanity that have an impact on it”
Aslak Holmberg, Vice President of the Saami Council, during IPBES9 Stakeholder Day
A CETAF delegation attended the 9th Plenary Meeting of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which took place in Bonn, Germany, 3-9 July, assuming the role of an Observer. Representatives of 139 world governments, accompanied by members of the indigenous communities and biodiversity NGOs from across the globe, met to discuss and endorse the science-based evidence and solutions necessary to tackle the pressing issues related to the biodiversity crisis. The most important outcome of the week-long meeting was the adoption of two major assessment reports, the IPBES Sustainable Use of Wild Species Assessment Report and the IPBES Report on the Values and Valuation of Nature, the latter being of special interest to CETAF due to the value of the natural science collections its members are holding. These reports build and expand on the 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which is seen as an instrumental tool used by policymakers all over the world.
The plenary meeting was preceded by the IPBES Stakeholder Day, on 2 July, where CETAF was also present. The programme featured presentations on the abovementioned reports from the leading experts that have worked tirelessly on them over the last several years. Furthermore, the participants of the Stakeholder Day had the opportunity to interact with the representatives of the Open-ended Network of IPBES Stakeholders (ONET), of which CETAF is a member of, and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IIFBES).
For more information on the IPBES Sustainable Use of Wild Species Assessment Report and the IPBES Report on the Values and Valuation of Nature, see the media release here and here, respectively.