The UK has pledged £2 million over the next four years to help support the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which was announced by the UN this week. The IPBES will provide independent advice and scientific evidence on biodiversity and ecosystems for governments and policy makers across the world in the face of the continuing alarming rate of decrease in biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems.
The UN General Assembly meeting in New York this week decided that the UN Environment Programme should take the first steps to create this new international body and it is expected that the first meeting will take place next summer.
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman, said:
“The loss of biodiversity is one of the greatest threats we face and we need the best scientific evidence to tackle it. IPBES will give trusted, independent advice to governments and policy makers across the world, helping them take the best action to protect the world’s natural environment.
“The creation of IPBES is a triumph of many people’s hard work and a great way to bring the International Year of Biodiversity to a close. I am particularly grateful to our chief scientific adviser, Professor Bob Watson, who has played a leading role in ensuring the negotiations on IPBES were a success.”
Defra Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Bob Watson, said:
“Biodiversity is important in its own right but it is also essential to maintaining the ecosystems on which we all depend. If biodiversity loss continues we risk destabilising ecosystems which may have serious implications for human well-being, especially in Developing Countries. This new platform will help to mobilise the world’s scientific community, and bring scientists and policy-makers together, to find solutions to these problems.”