Announcing the Establishment of the Technical Support Unit for the IPBES Task Force on Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in IGES

On Friday 1 March 2024, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, established the Technical Support Unit (TSU) for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Task Force on Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The TSU will be located in IGES Tokyo Sustainability Forum (TSF).

The IPBES Task Force on Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is a group of experts established to provide advice and support on scenarios and modelling for various IPBES assessment processes, including the implementation of a programme on scenarios that predict possible future situations for biodiversity and the models used to develop them. IGES expects the task force to provide the scientific information needed to assess progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the global biodiversity target for 2030.

IGES previously hosted the IPBES TSU for the Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific and the TSU for the Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and their control, and provided support to develop assessment reports. Based on these experiences, IGES has once again been entrusted by the government of Japan to host the IPBES TSU, making IGES the only organisation in the Asia-Pacific region to take on this role.

Established in 2012, IPBES (Secretariat: Bonn, Germany) is an international organisation with 145 participating countries and is known as the 'biodiversity version of the IPCC'. With four main functions - scientific assessment, capacity building, knowledge generation and policy-making support, as an intergovernmental platform for clarifying the current status of global biodiversity and ecosystem services, changes and their drivers, and their impact on humanity, IPBES conducts scientific analysis and evaluation and makes policy recommendations based on the research of scientists from around the world.

IPBES website: https://www.ipbes.net/

About the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) is a collaborative research and outreach organisation working to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, resilient, shared and inclusive Asia-Pacific region, both across borders and within the world at large. Our strategic research and operations are defined by a mission to drive action on the world's most critical environmental and social challenges through the delivery of trusted expertise on sustainable development and resilience. IGES operates as an agent of change and together with key international organisations, governments, academic institutes, business and civil society leaders, we seek to foster a world where planetary boundaries are fully respected, a green economy is flexibly implemented, and the well-being of people is steadily improved. In so doing we emphasise workable and inspired approaches to cross-cutting global development issues ranging from climate change, natural resources and ecosystems management, and sustainable consumption and production, among many others. The Institute was established in 1998 with support from the Japanese government and Kanagawa Prefecture and maintains its international headquarters in Hayama, Japan. With offices and local centres in Tokyo, Kansai, Kitakyushu, Beijing, Bangkok and New Delhi, IGES supports a regional and global network for ground-breaking sustainable development research and practice.
https://www.iges.or.jp/en