Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services publishes nexus assessment
Publication examines interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (Image: IPBES)
4 Feb 2025 by The Water Diplomat

On the 17th of December 2024, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released its ‘nexus’ assessment report on the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, and health in the context of climate change. The nexus assessment examines ways in which the current decline in biodiversity, driven by human action and by climate change, impacts on food security, water availability and quality, and health. Biodiversity and functioning ecosystems, the report states, play a vital role in providing nature’s contributions to people, including regulating the climate and nutrient and hydrological cycles that are essential for providing sufficient and clean water, sustaining food systems, regulating pests and pathogens, improving physical and mental health, providing traditional and modern medicines and supporting cultural identities. Nevertheless, over the past decades, we have witnessed global biodiversity declines of between 2 and 6% per decade.
In a process resembling the preparation of the reports for the International Panel on Climate Change, the report was produced through collaboration between 165 leading experts from 57 countries and approved by 147 countries on December 16th. In parallel, IPBES released a report on ‘transformative change’, which analyses the underlying causes of the decline in biodiversity and points to the need to embark on a ‘whole of society’ approach to dealing with the biodiversity crisis.
The IPBES Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity – also known as the Transformative Change Report – builds on and forms and update to the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report and the 2022 IPBES Values Assessment Report, which argued that the only way to realise global sustainable development goals is through transformative and holistic change that responds to the complexity and interconnectedness of water, food and health systems.
IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body established by States to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being, and sustainable development. It was established in Panama City, on 21 April 2012 by 94 States.
The summary of the report addresses the complex and interconnected character of the crises and challenges of biodiversity loss, water availability and quality, food insecurity, health risks and climate change. It does so by providing a critical evaluation of evidence on interlinkages among five nexus elements: biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change. Climate change as a fifth element of the nexus was added in the assessment, because climate change, as the authors state, has important and increasing, yet often overlooked, interactions with all nexus elements, both through climate change impacts and through mitigation and adaptation actions. Climate change is seen to be a key direct driver of biodiversity loss.
The media release by IPBES notes that the Transformative Change Report will provide decision-makers, including policymakers, with "the best available evidence, analysis and options for actions leading to transformative change and build an understanding of the implications of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss for achieving the Paris Climate Agreement, global biodiversity targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Sustainable Development Goals and other major international development objectives." The report defines ‘transformative change’ as fundamental system-wide shifts in views – ways of thinking, knowing and seeing; structures – ways of organizing, regulating and governing; and practices – ways of doing, behaving and relating.
Media source Reccessary summarises the report’s key messages as follows:
Firstly, biodiversity loss puts food and water systems, human health, and the climate at risk. Secondly, focusing solely on food security leads to ‘severe trade-offs’ with climate, water and biodiversity. Third, shifting to sustainable healthy diets will benefit people and the planet. Fourth, all available options for restoring nature would also help to tackle and adapt to climate change. And fifth, reforming global financial systems can help close the biodiversity funding gap.
The report effectively joins the dots between nature’s current challenges, argues the BBC. The review of scientific evidence by IPBES highlights an underestimation by governments of the links between the nexuses. Understanding the interdependencies between the different areas is "critical" in addressing the crises affecting the natural world, according to report's co-chair, Paula Harrison, Professor of Land and Water Modelling at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology: "Our current governance systems are often different departments, they're working in silos, they're very fragmented," she said. Prof Harrison pointed out that the report has identified more than 70 solutions to tackling the problems holistically, many of which are low cost. "Future scenarios do exist that have positive outcomes for people and nature by providing co-benefits across the nexus elements. The future scenarios with the widest nexus benefits are those with actions that focus on sustainable production and consumption in combination with conserving and restoring ecosystems, reducing pollution, and mitigating and adapting to climate change," said Prof. Harrison.
IPBES Head of Communications, Rob Spaull, stated that the report also highlights the need to respond to issues simultaneously, which reemphasises the requirements of meeting the SDGs, which must be addressed systematically rather than in silos.
"For example, there has been a big increase in the volume of food production in past decades and an increase in caloric output that has helped global health but on the other hand, this has resulted in biodiversity loss because the massive food production has been done through intensive agriculture methods that deplete water and have massive gas emissions," said Spaull.
The assessment examines 71 “response options” for tackling at least one element of the nexus between biodiversity, water, food security, health, and climate change. These responses are not meant to be an exhaustive list, states the report, but represent a menu of options that can be applied in different contexts.
Key messages on water
Although the IPBES report proposes a holistic and interlinked response and given the comprehensive and detailed nature of the report, some examples of its proposals directly relating to water are nevertheless listed below.
Firstly, it proposes an inclusive system of education on water, which embraces both formal and informal environmental education efforts that incorporate multiple knowledge systems and values with the goals of increasing knowledge about and awareness of water resources and empowering people to protect and conserve those resources.
Secondly, it proposes an integrated approach to water infrastructure, which are presented as multi-actor, multi-sectoral, basin-level approaches to managing infrastructure (built and natural) for water storage that balance societal needs for water with conserving and sustaining ecosystems and water resources.
Thirdly, it proposes approaches to the operation of dams which involve managing water releases from dams in such a manner as to facilitate flow regimes that support biodiversity, connectivity of floodplains and ecological resilience (this response option includes dam removal)
Fourth, it proposes water use efficiency in agriculture: planting drought-resistant crops to enable efficient use of water in crop production systems and optimizing fertilizer use to improve water quality by reducing chemicals in agricultural runoff.
Fifth, it proposes measures for sustainable inland fisheries: inland fisheries should be assessed for the purposes of sustainable fisheries management, in turn benefiting freshwater biodiversity, ecosystem function and resilience and human health and well-being.
Sixth, it proposes inclusive forms of water management: these are approaches to water management that are inclusive of genders, cultures and worldviews and in particular empowers women to engage in decision-making processes that impact access to and management of water resources.
Seventh, the rights of nature should be legally protected: this refers to a legal framework which recognises (aquatic) ecosystems and species as rights-bearers subject to legal protection and reflects the views of indigenous peoples which view humans and nature as deeply interconnected, with harm to one causing harm to the other.
Eighth, it proposes benefit sharing through transboundary cooperation: this is summarised as ‘cooperative action to assist with the management of transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifer systems to ensure sustainable, equitable use of transboundary water resources and shared costs and benefits’
Ninth, it emphasises the importance of groundwater governance, proposing a decentralised governance process to address groundwater depletion, pollution and salinisation and improve the effectiveness of groundwater management that includes knowledge generation, access to information, policy, planning and finance.
Tenth, it underlines the importance of finance for water infrastructure by embracing a cluster of options which includes water accounting, the mobilisation of financial resources and finance systems with environmental and social safeguards, creating the enabling conditions for financial viability and creditworthiness of the water sector, and finally, climate action.