IPBES-1 HIGHLIGHTS
MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2011
The first session of the plenary meeting on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) opened today in Nairobi, Kenya. In the morning, delegates heard opening statements and began discussions on the meeting’s rules of procedure and the adoption of the agenda. In the afternoon, delegates convened to consider: adoption of the agenda; the functions and operating principles of the platform; and functions and structures of bodies that might be established under IPBES.
OPENING SESSION
Opening the first session of the plenary meeting on IPBES, Fatoumata Keita, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), called for delegates to observe a minute of silence for Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP, described IPBES as an effort to bridge the distance between where science “speaks” and policy is enacted. He also noted that the international community increasingly relies on science for policy-making and cooperation in addressing environmental change.
Welcoming delegates to Nairobi, Stephene Kalonzo Musyoka, Vice President, Kenya, said that the continued unsustainable and inequitable use of biodiversity and ecosystem resources highlights the need for effective governance and better science-policy cooperation, and called on delegates to make IPBES fully operational at this meeting.
Click here to read “Earth Negotiations Bulletin October 4″