From djata at naturalsciences.be Tue Sep 8 20:39:18 2020 From: djata at naturalsciences.be (Divija Jata) Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2020 18:39:18 +0000 Subject: [Bees-market-2019] BEES - IPBES - update communication on the X-mas workshop outcomes Message-ID: <39823AFE-9910-4ECF-ADC3-116B0F5B143E@naturalsciences.be> Dear participants of the BEES-IPBES Xmas Market, It seems so long ago, in a different era, when we were physically together in December 2019 and most of you have participated in the workshops at the BEES-IPBES X-mas market. With this email we want to provide an update on what has happened in this regard. As you might remember, we were challenged by the IPBES Belgian focal point to think about how to provide clear and actionable answers to a set of policy questions: * How is Biodiversity doing in Belgium? * What are the main drivers here, how do they interact? * How will plausible future developments affect the provision of services? * How effective/counterproductive are policies? And we concluded that facts, figures and assessments providing evidence are amply available, but clear answers are still lacking, despite the urgency to act. The main outcome of our gathering was to explore the setup of a Belgian IPBES-like assessment to bring added value to what is already existing. More specifically: * Policy driven: It will target clear policy questions, derived from policy bodies and administrations and formally approved by a policy board, providing the necessary political leverage to inform biodiversity-related policies, strategies and actions. * Science based: It will be based on robust science, compiled and reviewed by leading Belgian experts, based on peer-reviewed scientific literature, existing reports and other relevant knowledge. There will be integration of multiple disciplines, including natural sciences, socio-economics and political sciences. * It will form the basis for the new update of the Belgian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with a to 2030 horizon. The latter will provide the framework to inform actions for more sustainable management of biodiversity across sectors that rely and have an impact on natural resources. * It aims to be complementary to the formal reporting process for Natura2000 and the Convention of Biological Diversity, as it will provide information that is lacking: on status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Belgium; on the drivers affecting them; and on effectiveness of policy options. * It will be based on an inclusive and transparent process which strengthens the science-policy-society interface by involving diverse government levels and stakeholders in the initiation, scoping, review and final adoption of its findings. Remember at the time of the X-Mas market, we were thinking of a multi-authored policy brief to mainstream this idea. However, after working with the materials and synthesizing them into a targeted policy format, we have chosen to take a more direct approach and immediately put forward the idea to the representatives of federal and regional competent authorities operating through formal bodies (most notably the Steering Group Biodiversity Convention, and Steering Group Nature). Several exchanges have helped us to further shape the idea in line with ongoing processes, get advice on concrete needs and feasibility, as well as on the appropriate road to follow to make this a reality. We are happy to report that our strategy worked: there is general support for the idea of an IPBES-like assessment! Now, we are getting ready for the next step. A note to the Interministerial Conference of the Environment (ICE) will be prepared, proposing a decision that will provide the mandate to make this a reality. Even if all of this appears to be happening behind the scenes, we want to stress that this would not have been possible without your inputs and enthusiasm: you are the owners of this idea that emerged at the BEES Xmas market! We sincerely hope that we can bring good news over the next few months and engage you in the actual scoping and implementation of such an assessment! To be continued... Sander Jacobs Hilde Eggermont Divija Jata [A close up of a sign Description automatically generated] [A picture containing drawing, pan Description automatically generated] -- Divija Jata Science Communication Coordinator Phone +32 2 647 4335 Email d.jata at biodiversity.be [A close up of a logo Description automatically generated] Belgian Biodiversity Platform Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) Rue Vautier, 29 1000 Brussels -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 20483 bytes Desc: image001.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.png Type: image/png Size: 25481 bytes Desc: image002.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.png Type: image/png Size: 68015 bytes Desc: image003.png URL: