RESPIN actively participated in the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Eleventh Plenary. This pivotal event concluded with the adoption of two landmark assessments: the Transformative Change Assessment and the Thematic Assessment Report on Interlinkages among Biodiversity, Water, Food, and Health (Nexus Assessment). In addition, the scoping report for the second Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was adopted.
These reports, presented for the first time on such a global scale, offer a comprehensive, system-level evaluation of the interconnections among five critical sectors. They emphasize the urgent need for systemic reorganization of policies and decision-making processes related to these domains.
The assessments represent the crowning achievement of multidisciplinary research by global collective scientists.
The Summaries for Policymakers (SPMs) from these assessments are operational instruments for bridging the gap between knowledge holders and decision-makers—a core objective of RESPIN. They become key tools for the project’s efforts to enhance the science-policy interface.
Yamini Yoga and Axel Paulsch of the RESPIN team supported the EU as delegation members in the negotiations around both SPMs.
During the Stakeholder Day prior to IPBES 11, RESPIN contributed to the following sessions :
First, RESPIN’s project posters were displayed in the main hall and during the Marketplace of Ideas, where a diverse range of stakeholders—including academics, project representatives, funders, and delegates—engaged with the project’s key objectives and activities.
More specifically, RESPIN’s key achievements included:
- A stakeholder-targeted survey designed to better understand their experience with IPBES and IPCC engagement and capacity-building efforts.
- Insights and outcomes from RESPIN’s workshops, which examined science-policy engagement at both EU and sub-national levels.
This provided an opportunity to showcase RESPIN’s different functions, its approach to science-policy engagement, and its ongoing work in understanding stakeholder experiences with IPBES and IPCC processes.
Second, RESPIN’s sub-national workshop in Colombia was featured in the session "Successful Models for Collaborative Engagement with Stakeholders." The workshop served as a case study, highlighting both the strengths and challenges of engaging diverse actors at the sub-national level. This discussion allowed RESPIN to share practical lessons from the workshop, offering insights into what worked well and where improvements could be made to strengthen stakeholder engagement in science-policy processes.
RESPIN looks forward to further analyzing and sharing the findings from these activities to support more effective stakeholder participation in the coming months.
If you are a participant or stakeholder involved in the IPBES and IPCC processes, we encourage you to share your valuable insights by filling out our survey. Your input will help shape future efforts to strengthen these processes and improve their impact. Access the survey here.
