The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is inviting interested experts to provide review and comments on its following work:

1. Revised questionnaire for the review of IPBES (EM/2017/9)

The IPBES Plenary, at its fifth session, approved the terms of reference for the review of IPBES at the end of its first work programme (decision IPBES-5/2). It also approved the execution of an internal review by the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel and the Bureau. The conclusions of the internal review will be transmitted to the external reviewers as part of the overall review process. According to the terms of reference, a questionnaire will be used for both the internal and external parts of the review process. A draft of the questionnaire was presented to the Plenary at its fifth session. In line with decision IPBES-5/2, the Bureau, in consultation with the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, has revised the draft questionnaire, taking into account comments received at the fifth session of the Plenary.

The revised draft questionnaire is now open for external reviews on its structure, topics covered and the phrasing of its questions. Following the review period, the Bureau, in consultation with the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, will consider the comments received, and finalize the structure and questions of the questionnaire.

When

• 28 April to 12 May 2017.

How to participate

• The revised draft questionnaire for the review of the Platform is available here, together with the template for comments.

2. Regional Assessments for land degradation & restoration assessment

Experts are invited to participate in the external review of the second order drafts of the chapters and the first order drafts of the summaries for policymakers of the IPBES regional assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services for Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe and Central Asia, as well as the IPBES land degradation and restoration assessment.

When

• This external review will remain open from 1 May until 26 June 2017. The period for the external review of the regional assessment for the Americas will be from 29 May until 24 July 2017.

How to participate

• A 20-minute webinar focusing on how Governments especially can participate in this external review can be accessed on the IPBES website at: https://youtu.be/tnx8nxDId08.
• IPBES has also produced ‘print-ready’ A-5 size flyers in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic (available at https://goo.gl/gLOdCj), explaining the opportunity and the process.
• Experts and Governments wishing to participate will first need to register as users of the IPBES website if they have not already done so. They can then apply to become an IPBES external reviewer for individual chapters per assessment as well as for the summaries for policymakers at www.ipbes.net/sod-review (this will only work when logged in first as IPBES website users). They will immediately receive an email providing confidential access to the draft chapters and summaries for policymakers and will be requested to submit their comments in English using a template that is available on the same webpage. All relevant comments will then be addressed by the assessment authors in the next round of revisions. For those of you who have already registered as external reviewers, and are receiving both this communication and the email with the link to the download page, my apologies for cross-posting.

3. Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Any interested experts including, among others, scientists, decision-makers, practitioners and the holders of indigenous and local knowledge are invited to review the first draft chapters of the IPBES global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

This assessment will be the first global snapshot of the state of the world’s biodiversity in over a decade since the release of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The global assessment will provide decision-makers with the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the benefits they provide to people, as well as the options to protect and use these natural assets more sustainably. Furthermore, the global assessment will provide vital data for the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

When

• 15 June – 15 August 2017.

How to participate

• Steps to becoming an external expert reviewer will be specified in detail at a later stage. They will involve registering as a user of the IPBES website, applying to become an external expert reviewer for individual chapters of the global assessment, obtaining confidential access to the draft chapters, and submitting comments in English on a template.