THE NETHERLANDS

HOW IS THE NETHERLANDS ENGAGED IN IPBES

The Science-Policy Interface IPBES in the Netherlands (IPBES-NL) is an effort by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency in partnership and close collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands and Wageningen University (WUR). It acts as a catalyser to improve the involvement of Dutch stakeholders (academic, governmental and non-state actor) in IPBES, through innovative approaches (sharing experiences, discussing IPBES outcomes and how to use them in the Netherlands, organising review processes, stakeholder involvement), and serves as a facilitator between academics, policy makers and non-state actors.

The SPI-IPBES-NL is an agile effort and partnership movement rather than an official institute. It kicked off right after IPBES-4 in 2016 to discuss the outcomes of the plenary and share outcomes from the first assessments.

Following that meeting, the network of interested stakeholders expanded and a stakeholder meeting took place right before IPBES-5 to discuss the agenda and share updates on the past year. Such meetings will continue to take place around the IPBES plenary meetings.

In addition, the gathering of input for the governmental review for IPBES will be organised by the SPI-IPBES-NL partners, and a wider call to participate in the IPBES review will go out to the network with a summary and guideline of the assessments.

NOMINATION PROCESS

The SPI-IPBES-NL effort has been established after the nomination process of the current assessment. For future nomination processes, however, they will be prepared and organised through and by the main partners of this initiative.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE IPBES WORK PROGRAMME (TYPE OF ACTIVITIES)

Activities consist of organising the IPBES review processes, advising on Dutch positions for IPBES plenary meetings, organising stakeholder meetings (at least one per year) and linking up with similar efforts and initiatives especially within the ECA region.

SPECIFIC PROJECTS

Projects parallel to the SPI-IPBES-NL initiative:

• Nature4Life knowledge agenda of the Netherlands on biodiversity research
• Further projects to be developed, with a focus on IPBES related capacity building for experts in the Netherlands

TYPE OF ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS

The IPBES Netherlands Focal Point engages with various stakeholders, mainly through interdisciplinary meetings with experts (scientists, policy makers, and other stakeholders) who network, present IPBES experiences, share updates related to biodiversity research initiatives and collaborate on review processes. 

This community network of experts is addressed through one of the main SPI-IPBES-NL partners. At the international level, the Focal Point engages with similar science-policy initiatives around biodiversity and IPBES in particular, through the participation in Pan-European Stakeholder consultations, and one-by-one interactions with specific stakeholders.