12 January 2018

Carsten Rahbek is running as candidate for IPBES's Expert Panel

The sixth plenary assembly of IPBES is taking place in Medellin, Colombia, from 17 to 24 March 2018. The plenary assembly is an annual meeting during which member governments discuss the direction of IPBES and its work to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services.

This year, Professor and Center Director Carsten Rahbek from Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, will be participating in the plenary assembly. The reason is that Carsten Rahbek is official candidate for the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP) of IPBES. The MEP is the global scientific advisory body of IPBES. The Danish government supports Carsten Rahbek’s candidate.

The Danish delegation in Medellin will, beside Professor Carsten Rahbek, consist of Professor Neil Burgess, University of Copenhagen, and Assistant Professor Eva Roth, University of Southern Denmark, in addition to government officials and the Danish IPBES coordinator.

Five global assessments to be accepted this year

This year is especially important, because five international IPBES assessments will be presented and accepted: four regional assessments (Europe & Central Asia, The Americas, Africa and Far East and Oceania) and a thematic assessment on land degradation. The assessments are significant documents for e.g. the Global Biodiversity Outlook and post-2020 targets of The Convention on Biological Diversity.

Each assessment is accompanied by a condensed Summery for policy makers. This document is made to assist regional and national policy making of governments, NGOs, business and other relevant stakeholders.