This site uses cookies, as explained in our terms of use. If you consent, please close this message and continue to use this site.
5 – 11 February 2024 | KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Once protected by its remoteness, the astonishing biodiversity for which the Hindu-Kush Himalayas (HKH) are world famous is being lost at an extraordinary speed as a result of climate change, land-use change, and pollution.
70%
%
A staggering 70% of plant and animal species in the region, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, has been lost over the last century, and wildlife, rivers and springs, forests, rangelands and wetlands are in crisis.
85%
With up to 85% of rural communities in these areas directly reliant on nature for food, water, flood control, as well as cultural and artistic value, the impacts of these losses extend beyond nature: compounding the existing socio-economic vulnerability of the 271 million people who live in the mountains of the HKH.
Without action, this outlook is set to worsen very soon: the degradation of nature, especially through species and habitat loss, is accelerating – driven by extreme events such as fires, glacier melt and significant changes in snow and rainfall from climate change, and through other human activities such as land-use change and the direct exploitation of organisms.
At this critical moment for the region, 130 leading IPBES scientists will travel to ICIMOD, the headquarters of the leading body for the study of the region, in Kathmandu, Nepal, to finalise the draft of the IPBES thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, food, water and health (the nexus assessment) – a landmark report on the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, and health and climate change.
The experts are authors of the highly-anticipated nexus assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent body of 145 member States working to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.
ICIMOD and the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE), Government of Nepal are co-hosting the third authors meeting for the IPBES Nexus Assessment.
About the event
ICIMOD and the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal are co-hosting the third authors meeting for the IPBES Nexus Assessment. The Nexus assessment is a thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, and health, which is currently being prepared for consideration by the Plenary at its eleventh session in 2024.
The nexus assessment is currently being prepared for consideration by the IPBES Plenary at its eleventh session, to be held later this year in Windhoek, Namibia.
The third author meeting will be followed by a meeting to advance the summary for policy makers of the report, from 10-11 February 2024, also at ICIMOD Headquarters, Kathmandu, Nepal.
The main objective of the assessment is to provide governments and decision-makers at all levels with scientific information and options that they can use to develop biodiversity policies and actions that address the complex interlinkages between the nexus elements – biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.
Related
Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.
Sunita Chaudhary
Ecosystem Services Specialist, ICIMOD
Note: The IPBES Nexus Assessment meeting is being hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal, ICIMOD with support from the Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP).
