Global Assessment Report Research Articles

Enhancing Disaster Awareness - SDG 13th Goals Mid-term Review of Disaster Impact Global Natural Disaster Reduction Effectiveness Before and After the 2015 Sendai and Paris Agreement Conferences

The IPCC AR5 WGⅠhighlighted four priority areas for disaster risk reduction, with the first being the understanding of disaster risk. Meanwhile, the Earth is increasingly responding to climate change through natural disasters. This study proposes a Natural Disaster Impact Evaluate Formula （NDIEF）, focusing on six continents and utilizing data from 12 types of natural disasters recorded in the CRED EM-DAT database. The analysis is divided into two periods, before and after 2015, to evaluate changes over time. The findings reveal three key trends: First, the frequency of natural disasters continues to rise. Second, although the number of fatalities has significantly decreased, both exposure levels and economic losses have surged. Lastly, unlike the 2011 Global Assessment Report （GAR）, this study finds that the impact of natural disasters is not only severe in Oceania and island nations but is also increasingly affecting North America, particularly in terms of economic damage. In conclusion, enhancing our understanding of the social and economic impacts of natural disasters and raising awareness of disaster prevention can play a crucial role in effectively mitigating disaster risks.

Out of sight, not out of mind: The effect of access to conservation sites on the willingness to pay for protecting endangered species

According to the latest global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services, nature and biodiversity have experienced a global decline, making the development of conservation policies urgent. Herein, we used a contingent valuation survey to estimate the economic value of a reintroduction program for the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endangered charismatic species in Chile. Our novel approach exploits changes in the access to the site to disentangle nonuse value from use value. We use parametric and nonparametric models to estimate the willingness to pay for the program. Our findings consistently indicate that the conservation of the huemul is valued more when tourist access is restricted, as opposed to allowing visitors access to reintroduction areas. We also analyze the sensitivity of this main finding to different cut-off points of a certainty scale, showing that the results are robust. We hypothesize that people are willing to pay a “premium” to keep the conservation site “out of sight” from tourist activities. This could also be related to the belief that a reintroduction program would be more effective if access was not allowed. A cost-benefit analysis using the most conservative assumptions suggests that social benefit significantly outperforms cost.

Progress, Challenges, and the Nexus of Research and Impact - the importance of technology in biodiversity conservation in Indonesia

The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 2019, published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), shed light on the increasingly alarming state of global biodiversity. Biodiversity is essential to human survival through its contribution to ecosystem stability, resilience, and the provision of critical ecosystem services that sustain essential ecological processes and human well-being. Amongst other services, as demonstrated across Indonesia, biodiversity supports livelihoods by providing building and clothing materials, maintaining water quality, and providing medicines and food. As the global human population reached 8 billion in 2022, the interconnections between our unsustainable production and consumption, the climate crisis, and biodiversity decline have been increasingly recognized by the global community through IPBES and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Escalating human numbers, coupled with burgeoning economic and industrial demands, must necessitate substantial forest land use—repositories of biodiversity. Conservation practitioners have therefore been continually driven to innovate in their pursuit of effective strategies for sustainably managing the world's precious biodiversity. Researchers and academics have the pivotal responsibility to produce research that brings about real-world impactful outcomes. The academic community is expected to address the needs of those working to conserve nature through the development of research and technology with immediate practical applicability. We look forward to publishing more of these research impact papers in the future.

Towards a standardized protocol to assess natural capital and ecosystem services in solar parks

AbstractNatural capital and ecosystem services have emerged as fundamental concepts of ecosystem management strategies in the past two decades, particularly within major international land assessment frameworks, including the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services' Global Assessment Report.Despite the recent development of several analytical methods and models to quantify changes in natural capital and ecosystem services resulting from land use change, incorporating them into the land planning process can be challenging from a practical point of view without guidance on standard methods.In an attempt to decarbonize energy supply systems to meet internationally agreed targets on climate change, solar energy production, in the form of ground‐mounted solar parks, is emerging as one of the dominant forms of temporary land use for renewable energies globally.We propose 19 directly measurable indicators associated with 16 ecosystem services within three major stocks of natural capital (biodiversity, soil and water) that are most likely to be impacted by the development of solar parks. Indicators are supported by well‐established methods that have been widely used in pure and applied land use research within terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, they can be implemented flexibly according to interest or land management objectives.Whilst not intended as a precise recipe for how to assess the effects of solar park development on hosting ecosystems, the protocol will guide the solar energy industry and all actors involved, be they researchers, practitioners, ecological consultancies or statutory bodies, to implement a standardized approach to evaluate temporal and spatial changes in natural capital and ecosystem services resulting from solar park development and operation, with the ultimate aim of generating comparable and reproducible data on ecosystem impact assessment across the solar energy sector.

Expert organizations as a space for early-career development: Engaging in service while balancing expectations on research and teaching

ABSTRACT By studying the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as a community of practice and learning space for academic identity development, this paper studies the creation of environmental expertise within expert organizations. The study focuses its analysis on how IPBES through its fellowship programme contributes to academic identity development among early-career researchers, including providing new contextual references to understand what it means to engage in and balance biodiversity research, teaching, and service. The study is based on interviews with early-career researchers who participated in the production of the IPBES’s Global Assessment Report. The study shows how the IPBES fellowship programme, by introducing its fellows into the organization’s community of practice simultaneously, contributes to their academic identity development and the creation and maintenance of the boundaries of environmental expertise. The analysis further shows how the fellows develop an academic identity that unites two different communities of practice of equal importance for their understanding of what they are supposed to do as academics and widens their understanding of what it means to be a successful academic.

The context dependency of multiple stressor effects on biodiversity: A commentary on Kefford et al. (2022).

The context dependency of multiple stressor effects on biodiversity: A commentary on Kefford et al. (2022).

Restoration of threatened plant species in Limahuli Valley on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua'i in the framework of the Global Tree Assessment

Societal Impact StatementTrees are an important part of many ecosystems. The Global Tree Assessment data can be used to focus conservation and restoration efforts for the circa 30% of tree species that are threatened worldwide. The conservation status for the tree flora of Limahuli Valley on Kaua'i Island and a restoration plan for 11 endangered tree species is evaluated in the Global Tree Assessment framework. Lessons learned from Limahuli Valley, one of the most biodiverse valleys in the Hawaiian Islands, provide recommendations for developing long‐term sustainable restoration projects.Summary Based on conservation status assessments of the world's circa 60,000 trees, the Global Tree Assessment (GTA) report revealed that 30% (17,500) of known tree species are currently at risk of extinction. This study aims to evaluate the conservation status for the tree flora of Limahuli Valley and a restoration plan for 11 endangered tree species, in the Global Tree Assessment framework. Of the 117 tree taxa found in Limahuli Valley, 83 (71%) have been assessed for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and 90% of the assessed tree taxa are threatened. However, only 19 (21%) of these are federally listed and nine tree taxa were not found under their current name or at all in the GlobalTree Portal, suggesting a need for additional curation as well as a conservation status assessment gap. Progress has been made in Limahuli Valley on most restoration goals suggested by the GTA framework, but challenges remain related to both access to material for restoration, mitigation of threats, and understanding correlates of survivorship. Furthermore, trees only constitute about 40% of the flora in Limahuli Valley, and it is important to also consider nontrees including ferns and allies to strive for restoration of an ecosystem as well as the targeted species.

A global indicator of utilized wildlife populations: Regional trends and the impact of management

A global indicator of utilized wildlife populations: Regional trends and the impact of management

Considerations for creating equitable and inclusive communication campaigns associated with ShakeAlert, the earthquake early warning system for the West Coast of the USA

PurposeThe 2019 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) cites earthquakes as the most damaging natural hazard globally, causing billions of dollars of damage and killing thousands of people. Earthquakes have the potential to drastically impact physical, social and economic landscapes; to reduce this risk, earthquake early warning (EEW) systems have been developed. However, these technical EEW systems do not operate in a vacuum; the inequities in social systems, along with the needs of diverse populations, must be considered when developing these systems and their associated communication campaigns.Design/methodology/approachThis article reviews aspects of social vulnerability as they relate to ShakeAlert, the EEW system for the USA. The authors identified two theories (relationship management theory and mute group theory) to inform self-reflective questions for agencies managing campaigns for EEW systems, which can assist in the development of more inclusive communication practices. Finally, the authors suggest this work contributes to important conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues within early warning systems and earthquake preparedness campaigns in general.FindingsTo increase inclusivity, Macnamara (2012) argues that self-reflective questioning while analyzing perspective, philosophy and approaches for a campaign can help. Specific to EEW campaigns, developers may find self-reflective questions a useful approach to increase inclusion. These questions are guided by two theories and are explored in the paper.Research limitations/implicationsSeveral research limitations exist. First, this work explores two theories to develop a combined theoretical model for self-reflective questions. Further research is required to determine if this approach and the combination of these two theories have adequately informed the development of the reflective questions.Originality/valueThe authors could find little peer-reviewed work examining DEI for EEW systems, and ShakeAlert in particular. While articles on early warning systems exist that explore aspects of this, EEW and ShakeAlert, with its very limited time frames for warnings, creates unique challenges.

Global riverine flood risk – how do hydrogeomorphic floodplain maps compare to flood hazard maps?

Abstract. Riverine flood risk studies often require the identification of areas prone to potential flooding. This modelling process can be based on either (hydrologically derived) flood hazard maps or (topography-based) hydrogeomorphic floodplain maps. In this paper, we derive and compare riverine flood exposure from three global products: a hydrogeomorphic floodplain map (GFPLAIN250m, hereinafter GFPLAIN) and two flood hazard maps (Flood Hazard Map of the World by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, hereinafter JRC, and the flood hazard maps produced for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015, hereinafter GAR). We find an average spatial agreement between these maps of around 30 % at the river basin level on a global scale. This agreement is highly variable across model combinations and geographic conditions, influenced by climatic humidity, river volume, topography, and coastal proximity. Contrary to expectations, the agreement between the two flood hazard maps is lower compared to their agreement with the hydrogeomorphic floodplain map. We also map riverine flood exposure for 26 countries across the global south by intersecting these maps with three human population maps (Global Human Settlement population grid, hereinafter GHS; High Resolution Settlement Layer, hereinafter HRSL; and WorldPop). The findings of this study indicate that hydrogeomorphic floodplain maps can be a valuable way of producing high-resolution maps of flood-prone zones to support riverine flood risk studies, but caution should be taken in regions that are dry, steep, very flat, or near the coast.

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health

Global decline in capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services

Global decline in capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services

Assessing nature-based solutions for transformative change

Assessing nature-based solutions for transformative change

Redefinir nuestra relación con la naturaleza para evitar futuras pandemias

Redefinir nuestra relación con la naturaleza para evitar futuras pandemias

Eighty-six EU policy options for reducing imported deforestation

Eighty-six EU policy options for reducing imported deforestation

Communicating Environmental Research: Harnessing the Power of Curation

Never before has public communication of critical research, science, and knowledge on climate change and biodiversity loss been more important. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report, Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, stated that we only have 12 years to limit the catastrophic effects of climate change, including extreme weather, flood, drought, and poverty. The 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services revealed that roughly 1 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Given these dire warnings, the threat of climate change and biodiversity loss have never been more relevant, considering the impact these unprecedented issues will have on human survival, health, and well-being. This paper describes the results of our study, which explores findings used to develop the practice of research curation, which found that adapting and applying museum engagement strategies, using art to communicate science, and applying social media content curation and marketing strategies in combination with social learning practices are key to successful knowledge mobilization. This article focuses primarily on the methodologies and results of three projects: an art and literary exhibit, a biodiversity conversation series, and a sustainability-themed Instagram account. Based on our experience and findings, we share the lessons learned that we believe are actional for other researchers with similar goals, in particular those who are communicating research on climate change and biodiversity loss.

Evaluating pluvial flood hazard for highly urbanised cities: a case study of the Pearl River Delta Region in China

Rapid urbanisation and economic growth in developing Asian countries have exacerbated their exposure to flood hazards, particularly evident in low-lying urban cities that are currently facing increasing risks from extreme precipitations, likely made worse by the impending climate change. We present a set of simplified indices representative of the characteristics of rainfall-run-off process for evaluating pluvial flood hazard using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The highly urbanised Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern China is studied as an example of mapping the regional pluvial flood hazard and assessing the socio-economic exposure at risk. The developed hazard map captures the broad patterns of high flood hazard zones when compared with reported surface water flooding hotspots and the PRD riverine flood map from the 2015 Global Assessment Report. Further analysis on the regional socio-economic profiles suggests that most PRD cities are faced with large flood loss potential, with estimates of approximate 23 million people and 2.4 trillion RMB gross domestic product exposed to high flood hazard. Mega cities Guangzhou and Shenzhen top the ranking with over 20–40% of their dense urban settlements in the high flood hazard zone. This highlights the impact of human activities on the natural surface run-off process, and the need for robust flood hazard assessment for better understanding and design of holistic solutions towards more adequate flood mitigation systems for continuous urbanisation and future climate conditions.

The importance of genomic variation for biodiversity, ecosystems and people.

The 2019 United Nations Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services estimated that approximately 1 million species are at risk of extinction. This primarily human-driven loss of biodiversity has unprecedented negative consequences for ecosystems and people. Classic and emerging approaches in genetics and genomics have the potential to dramatically improve these outcomes. In particular, the study of interactions among genetic loci within and between species will play a critical role in understanding the adaptive potential of species and communities, and hence their direct and indirect effects on biodiversity, ecosystems and people. We explore these population and community genomic contexts in the hope of finding solutions for maintaining and improving ecosystem services and nature's contributions to people.

Biodiversity and species extinction: categorisation, calculation, and communication

ABSTRACT After the launch of the Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in May 2019, the message that 1 million species are threatened with extinction made headlines in news and social media across the world. These headlines also resulted in critical responses that questioned the credibility of this number and – by extension – the Global Assessment report and the institution of IPBES. In this article, we – as two authors of the Global Assessment – draw lessons from the GA about how to represent biodiversity in assessments and how biodiversity knowledge can inform effective and legitimate actions that contribute to conservation as well as equity, justice, and human well-being. Specifically, we highlight the inherent multiplicity of meanings and definitions of biodiversity to reflect on the limitations of using species richness and extinction as proxies for biodiversity and biodiversity loss. It is crucial to communicate clearly and in a balanced way that biodiversity loss is broader than species extinction, and how this broader loss of biodiversity jeopardises human wellbeing irrespective of whether species die out. Consequently, the post-2020 biodiversity framework will require multiple targets around not only species extinction but also broader biodiversity loss and human well-being.