Focus on Africa: IPBES Plenary Session Makes Inaugural Visit to Biodiverse Continent

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Springbok in Sossusvlei, Namibia. IPBES 11 is scheduled to be held in Windhoek, Namibia from December 10-16. Credit: Gregory Brown/Unsplashby Joyce Chimbi (nairobi)Tuesday, December 03, 2024Inter Press Service

NAIROBI, Dec 03 (IPS) - The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) first Plenary session in Africa is a “crucial acknowledgement of Africa’s important contribution to biodiversity conservation, which is a global public good, a heritage that Africa has the privilege to share with the peoples of the world,” says Dr. Luthando Dziba, from South Africa, co-chair of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel.

The eleventh session of the IPBES Plenary—IPBES 11—is scheduled to be held in Windhoek, Namibia, from December 10-16, 2024.

Africa is one of the most ecologically diverse continents on Earth and is home to eight of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. Its unique ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity thrive in a wide range of spectacular landscapes and seascapes, including wide-open plains, deserts, mountains, forested cliffs, coral reefs, mangrove forests and the Great Rift Valley.

This rich biodiversity offers significant benefits to people but also presents a number of challenges and opportunities amid a spiralling global biodiversity crisis.

Dziba told IPS that the Plenary is the governing body of IPBES, made up of the representatives of IPBES member States—currently 147 from around the world—who meet annually to “either consider requests from countries for new scientific assessments or consider reports of assessments that have been conducted by IPBES experts, and to consider work related to the other functions of IPBES of knowledge generation, policy support and capacity-building.”

“The IPBES members approve the summaries for policymakers of the IPBES assessment reports and also accept the full reports as well. IPBES Plenary sessions are spaces for the co-production of science-policy relevant information by both scientists and policymakers.”

Dr. David Obura, IPBES Chairperson. Credit: IPBES

Role of Biodiversity in Human Well-Being, Economy

IPBES primarily seeks to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being, and sustainable development.

IPBES plays a unique role in harnessing the best expertise from across all disciplines and knowledge communities—to provide policy-relevant knowledge and to catalyze the implementation of knowledge-based policies at all levels in government, the private sector, and civil society.

Dr. David Obura, IPBES Chair, says he is fortunate to be chairing his first Plenary in Africa as the first ever African Chair of the platform.

“The African continent still has some of the most intact biodiversity remaining. But it is not just about biodiversity for itself; it is also how society and the economy depend on nature,” Obura says.

“We, therefore, need to deepen our understanding of this connection, and this knowledge should in turn reflect within our policy processes across our countries. The importance of healthy nature and biodiversity in supporting our economies cannot be overstated, particularly because a large proportion of Africa’s population is rural. These are farmers, pastoralists, and fishers who directly rely on productive and healthy ecosystems.”

Dr. Luthando Dziba, co-chair of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel. Credit: IPBES

Obura added that it is crucial to understand that ecosystems can only provide security for people if they are healthy, and that the IPBES work in Namibia over the next two weeks can help to propel continental and global ambitions in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which seeks to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.

Obura also referenced the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the urgent need to halt further losses in Africa in ways that are good for people as well. “It is all about supporting people while securing biodiversity,” he said

Amplify African Voice on Science-Policy Through IPBES

Dziba agrees. He says this first ever African Plenary session for IPBES gives African countries an even louder voice as part of an important science-policy platform. The IPBES member States make requests for new scientific assessments that respond to or address their specific policy priorities.

The governments that are IPBES members essentially have “first access to scientific products that help guide policy on various topics such as invasive alien species, pollination and management of pollinators to support agriculture production, or other areas such as sustainable use of wild species, including Africa's biodiversity.”

Dziba says that the eleventh session of the Plenary will be an opportunity to also raise the profile of IPBES with African experts, enabling a wider diversity of African researchers and knowledge-holders to see firsthand the value of IPBES as an intergovernmental science policy platform.

Even though Africa and its natural heritage have been a subject of scientific research for centuries, Dziba speaks of an ongoing struggle to improve participation by African experts in IPBES work. “The importance of bringing them on board is to leverage their extensive knowledge of the continent, the knowledge gaps they see and the opportunity to contribute from an African perspective. This inclusion will also give IPBES a stronger, more inclusive voice and help shape positive global narratives about Africa."

A majority of the newest members of IPBES over the past two years are governments from the African continent. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure universal IPBES membership of all governments so that no region is left behind, towards a healthy and sustainable planet suitable for all life on Earth.

Obura speaks of the untenable state of lives and livelihoods—of large populations living hand-to-mouth—and the disconnect between people and nature as people migrate to cities where disconnection from nature increases.

Black-backed jackal on a misty beach, Hentiesbaai, Namibia. The IPBES-11 host country has five of the 13 biomes on the African continent and a wide biodiversity. Credit: Ria Truter/Unsplash

Rich Biodiversity Supports Health, Water, and Food Systems

Obura explains that among the most important business of this first African Plenary session will be the consideration of two new landmark IPBES reports. The ‘nexus assessment’ will explore the critical interlinkages among crises in biodiversity, water, food and health—in the context of climate change. It will also explore dozens of specific options for action to address these crises sustainably together, rather than in single-issue silos, with a focus on ensuring the conservation and restoration of biodiversity for people and nature.

Dziba says there are lessons that member States can take from Africa too, as “the IPBES Regional Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Africa found the African continent is the last continent with a largely intact assemblage of megaherbivores (animals larger than 1,000 kilograms) such as elephants, giraffes, buffalo, rhino, and hippos.”

He emphasized that this signifies that Africa “has done well in conserving its biodiversity. Africa also has the largest diversity of large carnivores, such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, and hyenas. And so, as a continent, we are the last bastion of biodiversity conservation, and this is both a privilege and an immense responsibility to continue to protect that biodiversity.” But that assessment also showed that Africa, like other regions of the world, is losing biodiversity at a rate unprecedented in human history.

The second assessment to be considered and launched at the upcoming session looks at transformative change—what it is, why it is so necessary, and how to achieve it for more just and sustainable futures, especially amid the ongoing global crises that are “expanding rapidly in their impacts on people. Africa is particularly vulnerable to these crises for many historical and current reasons. The question for all countries is how to initiate the deep positive changes needed across societies, economies, technology and governance to move in these nature-positive directions. The report will help lay out building blocks and tools to achieve that.”

Ultimately, Obura says, the aim is to have the two reports accepted by the IPBES members in the Plenary to better inform and serve global and African stakeholders and governments in their decisions and actions.

"No effort will be spared to make the reports accessible to enable people to find what they need to make better decisions and choices towards a healthy and sustainable coexistence with nature.”