by Peter Prokosch
Dr Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) informed us today about the decision to award the 2022 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity to both IPBES and IPCC. As she said, “the decision to award the 2022 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity to both IPBES and the IPCC is a powerful statement confirming that the global loss of species, destruction of ecosystems and degradation of nature’s contributions to people together represent a crisis not only of similar magnitude to that of climate change but one which must be addressed with at least similar urgency.” See more information in the media release issued today.
IPBES is an independent, intergovernmental body established in 2012 in order to improve the interface between scientific knowledge and decision-makers in all spheres of activity on questions around biodiversity, the protection of ecosystems, human well-being and sustainability. Its core mission is to strengthen knowledge for better-informed policy and decisions about conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity.
Founded in the City of Panama by nearly 100 governments, the organisation currently comprises 139 member States, with strong engagement and contributions from a wide range of NGOs and other civil society organisations, representatives of local communities and indigenous peoples, among others. While not a United Nations entity, the IPBES secretariat is provided by the UN Environment Programme and is headquartered on the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany.
LT&C is congratulating both sister organisations, IPBES and IPBES, for this prestigious award. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2007, provides the backing for the UN decisions of their Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), so does IPBES for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). That IPBES besides IPCC is awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity should also have a positive effect on the awareness of the global society on the importance of biodiversity protection and the outcome of the COP15 CBD in December in Montreal. LT&C will be there to demonstrate with its more than 50 LT&C-Examples, what tourism can contribute to protecting at least 30% of the global seas and land, the 30×30 Goal.
