Biodiversity Crisis: Integrating Nature’s Full Value

Researcher
Professor Mike Christie

The Overview

Global biodiversity is in decline, which in turn is adversely impacting economies and people’s wellbeing. To respond to this ecological crisis, policy makers requested robust evidence of the status, trends and threats to biodiversity and the associated impacts on ecosystem services (ES). In particular, they have requested that this evidence is expressed using economic and socio-cultural indicators.

Research by Professor Mike Christie from Aberystwyth University's Business School contributed to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 'European and Central Asia' (ECA) assessment, which provides a framework to incorporate economic and socio-cultural values of Nature and its services into public policies.

The ECA assessment provides policy makers with a robust evidence base on the status and value of nature, to guide their response to the ecological crisis. The assessment was approved by 130 governments (who are the signatory members of the IPBES Plenary), incorporated into decisions and processes of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the G7; and also forms part of EU staff guidance for integrating ecosystems and their services in climate mitigation and adaptation policies.

The Research

The IPBES ECA assessment is the most comprehensive study to date of the status and trends in biodiversity, and ecosystem services in the European and Central Asia region.

Christie’s research for the IPBES ECA assessment provides data on the economic and socio-cultural values of Nature and its ecosystem services, along with a framework to incorporate these values into public policies.

"The IPBES regional assessments have begun to make a very real impact on policy, having already been taken up in the formal processes of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD)… and are expected to help inform the evidence base for the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and targets."

IPBES Executive Secretary, September 2018

The Impact

On Decisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Including:

  • The CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) draft decisions and recommendations.
  • CBD Aichi Biodiversity targets
  • CBD post-2020 global biodiversity framework
  • United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

On the Metz Charter on Biodiversity

The IPBES ECA assessment was acknowledged in the ‘Metz Charter on Biodiversity’ which was developed and agreed at a meeting between G7 countries. It commits the G7 and other countries to provide a response to biodiversity loss that recognises the economic and non-economic values of biodiversity highlighted in the ECA report.

On EU Staff Guidance on Integrating Ecosystems and Their Services in Climate Mitigation and Adaption Policies

The economic values for climate regulating services highlighted in the IPBES ECA assessment are integrated into the European Commission’s in Staff Working Document ‘EU guidance on integrating ecosystems and their services into decision-making’.

On Additional IBPES Assessments

Professor Christie was subsequently made Chair of the IPBES Values Assessment, published in July 2022.

Get in touch

As a University, we’re always keen to share our knowledge and expertise more widely for the benefit of society. If you’d like to find out more or explore how you can collaborate with our researchers, get in touch with our dedicated team of staff in the Department of Research, Business and Innovation. We’d love to hear from you. Just drop an e-mail to:

research@aber.ac.uk

Research Impact Case Studies | Research Theme: Environment