Join ONet at the IPBES 11 Plenary

Last updated 24 April 2024. Watch this space for future updates.

IPBES Plenary sessions are the platform's main conferences, where representatives of all member governments and several observers meet. The Plenary is the governing body of IPBES.

The IPBES 11 Plenary session is taking place 10 December 2024, 10:00 CAT to 16 December 2024 at Mercure Hotel Windhoek, Corner of Auas, 9000 Aviation Road, Windhoek, Namibia. This is a hybrid event: one can in person or online.

At this session, the Plenary will consider:

• the thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (nexus assessment).
   
• the thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (transformative change assessment).
   
• the scoping report for the second global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
   
• engagement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
   
• other items according to the agenda and documents (see the official website).

Save the date: Stakeholder Day will precede the session and is scheduled for 9 December 2024.* We traditionally organise our annual conference jointly with the IPBES Secretariat and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IIFBES). Join the ONet Caucus on 4 July 2024 for planning our community's biggest event of the year.

* alongside Regional Consultations that are also taking place on 9 December 2024.

ONet at the Plenary session

• Following tradition, we will communally draft a stakeholder opening statement in advance of the Plenary session: alongside IIFBES, ONet is allocated speaking time during the opening ceremony. For upcoming information, watch the ONet newsletter. On the ONet website, you can find opening statements from previous years.
   
• ONet will be on location throughout the event. For information how to join ONet's meetings and on joint work in Windhoek, email the facilitation team.
   
• Provided that there is sufficient time in the plenary's schedule, ONet will also develop and deliver a stakeholder closing statement over the course of the session. On the ONet website, you can find closing statements from previous years that have been delivered.

Stay informed

• Public information on the IPBES 11 Plenary is available on the IPBES website, including the published agenda, documents, etc.
   
• Daily reports throughout the proceedings are published by the IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
   
• Official communication from IPBES is sent to the IPBES stakeholder registry.

How to attend

All events above are free to attend:** you can attend in person or online. Anyone is welcome to join Stakeholder Day. However, to attend an IPBES Plenary session, you need a nomination. There are two ways to receive a nomination:

• Nomination by a government by 11 October 2024, latest: follow the steps in the invitation to member and observer governments.
   
• Nomination by an accredited observer organization (see the database) by 30 September 2024, latest: follow the steps in the invitation to observer organizations.
  
  ONet is a stakeholder network and not an observer organization. Thus, ONet does not nominate for attendance at plenary sessions. However, some of our organization members may nominate delegations: for example CETAF, IUCN, NTFP-EP, and YESS (YESS is currently represented on the ONet facilitation team by Kanto Razanajatovo).
  
  Any body, organization or agency which is qualified in matters covered by IPBES can apply to be admitted as observer (and thus nominate a delegation): a representative needs to submit an application by 2 September 2024, 18:00 CEST, following the steps in the invitation to observer organizations.

** Please note that free attendance includes the events themselves; you or your sponsor are responsible for, e.g., travel, accommodation and meals. Financial support by IPBES for travel is normally only available for one government-nominated representative from each developing country.

Formal IPBES notifications concerning the 11th IPBES Plenary session

The following notifications are also available in Arabic (عر ب), Chinese (中文), French (français), Russian (русский), and Spanish (español): see the links in the English version.

• Save the date: EM/2024/04.
   
• Invitation to IPBES members and observers (states not members of IPBES): EM/2024/20.
   
• Invitation to observer organizations: EM/2024/21.

Looking forward to seeing you in Namibia!

Photo by Juan Carlos Munoz on Adobe Stock: gemsbok (Oryx gazella) in the Namib Desert, Namibia. This species is highly adapted to its dry and barren homelands. The gemsbok is Namibia's national animal and features on its coat of arms.