Photo: Dr. Kazuhiko Takemoto (UNU-IAS) and Dr. Anne Larigauderie (IPBES)

On 24 July 2017, the United Nations University – Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) entered a Letter of Agreement (LoA) with the Intergovernmental Science - Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).  The LoA highlights the nature of the collaboration in all its terms and conditions.

With the signing of the agreement both partners strive to further facilitate research, education, and training for policy makers and researchers. The aim is to expand their existing collaboration and develop more joint activities, and at the same time support internationally agreed environment and sustainable development goals. The agreement was signed by UNU-IAS Director Dr. Kazuhiko Takemoto and IPBES Executive Secretary Dr. Anne Larigauderie, during a formal event at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

UNU-IAS´ wider community and networks such as the RCE Network, the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI), and the Network for Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network (ProSPER.Net) mean closer access to sub-national and local levels, especially in areas of expertise such as biocultural diversity and sustainable development, thereby enriching the products of the current IPBES work.

The cooperation will also explore strong links with indigenous and local knowledge stakeholders within these networks. More specifically UNU-IAS hopes to support the IPBES programme through its research activities, and the development of educational materials based on IPBES´ outputs.  Strengthening a community of practice around biocultural diversity on the ground was another important area of discussion, now anchored in the agreement.

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Background:

UNU has been supportive of IPBES related activities and has been working more closely with IPBES since 2015. IPBES is the intergovernmental body which assesses the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to society, in response to requests from decision makers. Established in 2012, its current membership includes 127 governments and it is placed under the auspices of UNEP, FAO, UNDP, and UNESCO.

UNU-IAS is a leading research and teaching institute based in Tokyo, Japan. Its mission is to advance efforts towards a more sustainable future, through policy-oriented research and capacity development focuses on sustainability and its social, economic and environmental dimensions. UNU-IAS serves the international community through innovative contributions to high-level policymaking and debates, addressing priority issues for the UN system.