Follow up from Caucus Day & Stakeholder Day 2022

Caucus Day (virtual event; 24th June 2022)

A big thank you to everyone who took part in Caucus Day 2022 (24th June). It was a great occasion to introduce the goals of ONet and of some of networks who are member organisations within ONet (YESS, SSH). Due to the pandemic, Caucus Day 2021 was held online. As this significantly increased the possibility for stakeholders all over the world to participate , it was decided to keep this format for the current Caucus Day and in the future.

Thanks to the chat box and zoom polls, we were able to learn a little about those who attended. There were participants from 4 of the 5 UN regions: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia. Most participants were from research & academia, followed by NGOs or non-profit organisations. 68% were attending Caucus Day for the first time and networking and learning more about IPBES and contributing to its working program were the main reasons for participating. We spent just over an hour working on the opening statement to be delivered by ONet at the IPBES9 plenary. During registration for Caucus Day, many participants already shared their ideas for the opening statement. These suggestions were grouped into themes and further developed during the online meeting. A working draft document was prepared and shared with participants who could continue suggesting edits during the following week.

Stakeholder Day (in person event Bonn, Germany, 2nd July 2022, but with a live webcast)

ONet members had provided their input for items to appear on Stakeholder Day via a google form questionnaire shared in April to help us organise this day. The majority of respondents wanted to hear more about engagement between IPBES and IPCC (following from the joint workshop report). IPBES have signalled their enthusiasm for further collaborative exchanges, but await a similar expression of interest from IPCC. For this reason, although this item was popular with stakeholders, there is nothing substantial to present on it at present. In the form, CABES signalled their desire to present their initiative and therefore a presentation slot for CABES was added to the schedule of Stakeholder Day.

The agenda for the day was quite packed but the moderators managed the meeting very well (Eva Spehn, Swiss Biodiversity Forum; Shivani Rai, YESS/ONet). There were excellent presentations by CABES, SSH and IIFBES, and an overview of current and upcoming IPBES assessments and how stakeholders could get involved. In the late afternoon, the stakeholders present added the final comments to the opening statement draft produced by those present at the Caucus Day. The statement was delivered by Shivani Rai on the first day of the plenary (3rd July) and is available on the ONet site here. During the IPBES plenary, ONet members and IPBES stakeholders met each morning to discuss items raised during the plenary and to network. If there is sufficient time, ONet are also permitted to make a closing statement at the end of the plenary. A closing statement was prepared but unfortunately there was not the opportunity to present it. However, it will be shared as a starting inspiration for the opening statement at next year’s plenary (Madison, Wisconsin, USA 2023).

Sié Sylvestre Da presenting CABES

 Håkon Stokland presenting SSH

 Joji Carino representing IIFBES

 Shivani Rai (YESS/ONet) presenting the ONet opening statement at the start of the IPBES9 plenary. Photo by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera

For additional photos and coverage of Stakeholder Day 2022 and IPBES9, you can check the twitter accounts of ONet and IPBES and the excellent daily reporting by IISD.

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted their valuable input for the opening statement, for those attending Caucus Day and Stakeholder Day either in person or following the webcast. If you would like to share your impressions or ideas on this, or any IPBES or biodiversity related topic, please feel free to login and submit a blog post!