IPBES Releases Two Groundbreaking Reports on Biodiversity Supported by the AXA Research Fund

Nexus Assessment: Tackling Intertwined Global Crises

The Nexus Assessment addresses the complex interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change. It explores how these global crises often exacerbate each other when addressed in isolation. This comprehensive report provides a holistic approach, offering integrated policy and action options that benefit multiple sectors simultaneously, even offering a roadmap for ‘nexus governance’. It will equip decision-makers with relevant evidence, to inform more integrated decisions and actions to achieve the SDGs, the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement.

This most ambitious scientific assessment has been developed by 165 leading international experts from 57 countries, including 6 Fellows from the developing world supported by the AXA Research Fund.

Prof. Paula Harrison, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Co-chair of the Nexus Assessment, emphasized, “The Nexus Assessment is among the most ambitious work ever undertaken by the IPBES community, offering an unprecedented range of response options to move decisions and actions beyond single issue silos. Cascading crises can compound each other, but a nexus approach considers the interdependencies between these crises”.

Read the report Media Release: IPBES Nexus Assessment | IPBES secretariat

Transformative Change Assessment: Pathways to a Sustainable Future

The Transformative Change Assessment is focusing on the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change. Prepared by 101 top international experts from 42 countries, the report identifies the most significant barriers to transformative change and offers strategies and actions with the greatest potential for achieving a sustainable world. It aims to provide decision-makers, including policymakers and a large diversity of stakeholders, with the best available analysis and options for actions leading to transformative change, in order to explore pathways for achieving the 2050 Vision of living in harmony with nature. 

Prof. Arun Agrawal, at the University of Michigan and Co-chair of the Transformative Change Assessment, stated, “The only way to achieve our shared development goals is through transformative change – fundamental system-wide reorganization across technology, economy & society. To do this, we need to better understand the obstacles, but even more importantly the options for action that will bring about a more just and sustainable world.”

Read the report Media Release: IPBES Transformative Change Assessment | IPBES secretariat

About IPBES

IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising nearly 150 member governments. Established in 2012, it provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems, and the contributions they make to people. The IPBES Fellowship Programme offers outstanding early-career individuals the opportunity to participate in IPBES assessments, gaining first-hand experience and contributing to future assessments and the work of IPBES in their home regions, countries, and institutions.