The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has launched a series of primers. The short briefing documents contain key information about the five landmark assessments set for launch at the sixth annual session of the IPBES Plenary, to be held in March 2018, in Medellín, Colombia. The assessments will evaluate lessons learned and progress (or lack thereof) on the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the implications for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as other global environmental agreements. They include four regional assessments focusing on the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Europe and Central Asia – the whole world except Antarctica and the oceans. There will also be a global report on land degradation and restoration.
