Randolph Thaman elected to the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of IPBES

In January 2013, Professor Randolph Thaman of the School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment at The University of the South Pacific was elected a member of the first IPBES (Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP) by the First Plenary of the newly established Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-1). Established after seven years of negotiation, IPBES is the biodiversity equivalent of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Climate Change (IPCC).

The aims of the IPBES are:

1. To identify and prioritise the key scientific information needed for policymakers, and to catalyse efforts to generate new knowledge.

2. To perform regular and timely assessments of knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services and their interlinkages.

3. To support policy formulation and implementation by identifying policy-relevant tools and procedures.

4. To prioritise key capacity-building needs to improve the science-policy interface, and to provide and call for financial and other support for the highest-priority needs.

The IPBES-1 meeting in Bonn, Germany was attended by over 500 delegates, including representatives from most of the 105 Member States of IPBES, along with observers from other UN Environmental and multi-agency entities (CBD, IPCC, Ramsar, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, UNESCO, UNDP, FAO, IUCN, International Council for Science, Convention on Migratory Species, Society for Conservation Biology, International Biogeography Society) and members of organisations of indigenous peoples and communities and the private sector. The only Pacific states that are currently signatories or observers of IPBES are Fiji, Nauru and the Cook Islands.

Professor Thaman will serve as one of 25 members of the MEP, whose purpose is to ensure the scientific credibility and independence of the IPBES. The 25 members consist of five nominees from each of five UN regional groups. As Fiji’s nominee, and one of the Asia-Pacific Group’s five nominees, he was elected by the Plenary to serve as a member of the initial MEP for the first three years of IPBES.