IPBES Announces Co-Chairs for Second Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has announced the selection of three world-class scientific experts to lead the ‘Second Global Assessment’ of biodiversity and ecosystem services – expected to be published in 2028. Prof. Nicholas (Nick) Otienoh Oguge (Kenya), Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Chaplin-Kramer (United States), and Prof. Zhi Lü (China), have been appointed as co-chairs of the assessment. They will lead and steer a balanced, interdisciplinary team of more than 120 experts undertaking the assessment, which will be announced by IPBES in the coming weeks.
The Second Global Assessment will be a landmark multi-year undertaking to provide decision makers around the world with the best available evidence, knowledge and policy options about biodiversity and ecosystem services. It will be the follow-up report to the seminal 2019 IPBES Global Assessment, which alerted the world to the fact that a million species of plants and animals now face extinction, identified and ranked the most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss, and provided the state of knowledge underpinning subsequent agreement on global ambitions for biodiversity.
The Second Global Assessment will assess relevant knowledge that has become available since the 2019 publication, and will explore progress towards achieving the range of global goals and targets relating to sustainability and living in harmony with nature in advance of the 2030 deadline for many of these commitments. The Second Global Assessment will also strengthen the science-policy interface on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people across a range of spatial scales, from local to global, by providing knowledge and evidence for better informed decision-making.
The assessment will also highlight and synthesize the findings of prior IPBES assessments relating to the differing roles of a variety of actors and their value systems in delivering the building blocks for transformative change. The authors will address areas highlighted as gaps in the first Global Assessment as well as emerging issues.
Some countries have encountered significant challenges in responding and contributing towards global objectives and targets such as those of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This assessment will examine these challenges while also showcasing progress made, identifying the enabling conditions behind successful outcomes. It will point to ways of overcoming obstacles so that effective approaches can be scaled up across different contexts.
Making the announcement of the co-chairs, IPBES Officer-in-Charge, Neville Ash, said: “The Second Global Assessment will be one of the most complex, extensive and significant environmental assessments ever undertaken – with great relevance and value to decision makers around the world and in every context, for people and nature.”
The first author meeting of the assessment is already planned for November 2025 in Paris, with a first draft of the report expected to be ready for open expert review in the first half of 2026.
Further information about the IPBES Second Global Assessment can be found at: https://www.ipbes.net/second-global-assessment
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IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising 150 member Governments. Established by Governments in 2012, it provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as the tools and methods to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets. For more information about IPBES and its assessments visit: www.ipbes.net
Prof. Nicholas (Nick) Otienoh Oguge is a senior scientist in environmental policy at the University of Nairobi. His research centres on nature conservation and landscape conservation, emphasizing the creation and adoption of strategies that advance both regional and site-specific conservation objectives. His work supports the implementation of measures that aim to provide sustainable livelihoods for local communities, preserve space for wildlife, and encourage sustainable business opportunities in the East African region.
Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Chaplin-Kramer is the Global Biodiversity Lead Scientist at the World Wildlife Fund. She focuses on generating evidence about nature’s contributions to people and translating this into actionable insights for decision-making. She leads research on ecosystem services assessments from local to global scales, linking earth observations with ecosystem health and functions, and develops tools to integrate the diverse values of nature into decisions. She earned her PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley.
Prof. Zhi Lü is the Executive Director of Peking University Center for Nature and Society. Her research focuses on cross disciplinary studies in conservation sciences and seeks to advance locally-led conservation in biodiversity hotspots. She is a senior scientist in ecology and conservation of endangered species in southwest China and the wider Tibetan Plateau, including the giant panda and the snow leopard as well as interspecific interactions. She is the cofounder of Shan Shui Conservation Center and Member of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Advisory Board.
