Signal Next IPBES global assessment scheduled for 2028

Summary

The report says the current control variables for biosphere integrity capture only some aspects of the biosphere, and it points to the IPBES indicator system as a starting point for considering more. The 2019 IPBES global assessment judged the state of nature with indicators built on essential biodiversity variables such as ecosystem structure, community composition and species populations. These indicators depart from pristine baselines, dropping to as little as 25 percent or rising above 200 percent of them, and the gap keeps widening. The next IPBES global assessment, due in 2028, is expected to address gaps including fuller coverage of the ocean, neglected components of biodiversity and the integration of diverse worldviews and knowledge systems. Whether a given indicator fits the framework, for example by capturing global-scale processes or Earth system dynamics, still has to be judged separately. Members of the PBScience Initiative are therefore drafting decision principles on control variable suitability.