BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE - IPBES 2021

Climate change and biodiversity loss are two of the most pressing issues of the Anthropocene. While there is recognition in both scientific and policy-making circles that the two are interconnected, in practice they are largely addressed in their own domains. The research community dedicated to investigating the climate system is somewhat, but not completely, distinct from that which studies biodiversity. Each issue has its own international Convention (the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity), and each has an intergovernmental body which assesses available knowledge (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)).

Our hope is that this co-sponsored workshop report and the associated scientific outcome will provide an important input into ongoing and future  assessments by both IPCC and IPBES, and be of relevance to discussions held in the context of COP 15 of CBD and COP 26 of UNFCCC both, in principle, held in 2021. Connecting the climate and biodiversity spheres is especially crucial at this moment when the world seems to be gearing up for stronger actions on both. Urgent, timely and targeted actions can minimize detrimental trends and counteract escalating risks while avoiding costly and effort-sapping errors. Humankind has no time to lose and we hope that this report will inform such urgent actions toward “The Future We Want”.