Building authority and relevance in the early history of IPBES

Abstract

This paper reviews the early history of IPBES and focuses on epistemic choices that occurred early on in its establishment and assessment work. Firstly, it examines the challenges of handling both the vast amount of data and their associated uncertainties in trying to produce authoritative global assessments of the on-going biodiversity loss. Secondly, the paper discusses the debates around the social relevance of these assessments, and the influence of a period where economic rhetoric was taking prominence in conservation. The central argument of the paper is that an engagement with the early history of IPBES and the issues of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘economic rhetoric’ are central to the ongoing debate over transformative change and important if we wish to understand how IPBES assessments can sustain authority in the future.