Three researchers at Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Sustainability Transitions will serve as coordinating lead authors for chapters in two of the next Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessments – the Nexus Assessment (Thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health) and the Transformative Change Assessment (Thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity). They are among five South African researchers who will be fulfilling coordinating lead author roles in these assessments.
IPBES is the sister equivalent of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in the biodiversity and ecosystem services space. These two latest assessments will build on earlier IPBES assessments, particularly the IPBES Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services concluded in 2019. This assessment found that there are pathways for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity in conjunction with key human development goals. These pathways, however, require fundamental changes in development paradigms and social-ecological dynamics, which in turn entail changes in society, considering inequality and governance, employing conservation, restoration and the sustainable use of land, water, energy and materials, and rethinking and appropriately modifying production and consumption habits, food systems, and global value chains.
The role of coordinating lead authors is an important and relatively high profile one, as they work closely with the assessment Chairs to lead and convene the overall assessment reports by coordinating a large group of lead, contributing authors and fellows under each chapter. Prof Oonsie Biggs will be coordinating lead author for “Chapter 3: How transformative change occurs” of the Transformative change assessment. Dr Odirilwe Selomane will be coordinating lead author for “Chapter 3: Future interactions across the nexus” of the Nexus assessment. Dr Nadia Sitas will be coordinating lead author for “Chapter 4: Policy and sociopolitical options across the nexus that could facilitate and accelerate the transition to a range of sustainable futures” of the nexus assessment. Both Dr Selomane and Dr Sitas were part of the IPBES Fellows programme and, along with Dr Biggs, have played significant roles in previous assessments.
The nexus assessment includes a thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, and health. It will examine the interlinkages among the sustainable development goals related to food and water security, health for all, protecting biodiversity on land and in the oceans, and combating climate change. It will also address how transformative change in the nexus can be facilitated and accelerated.
The main objective of the transformative change assessment is to inform decision-makers on options to implement transformative change in order to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. The assessment report will assess and compare different visions, scenarios, and pathways for a sustainable world, in line with the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and considering the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, including visions of indigenous peoples and local communities. Further, the report will assess the determinants of transformative change, how it occurs, and which obstacles it may face. Finally, and importantly, the report will assess which practical options for concrete action exist to foster, accelerate and maintain transformative change toward visions, scenarios and pathways of a sustainable world, which practical steps are required to achieve these visions, and how progress towards transformative change can be identified and tracked.