Scoping report on assessing the interlinkages among biodiversity, climate, water, food, energy and health

This document was prepared in response to decision IPBES-7/1, which approved a scoping process, for consideration by the Plenary at its eighth session, for a thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health. The initial scoping report3 describes the challenge for this assessment as “achieving good health for all with food and water security, including through the use of biodiversity, without adversely impacting biodiversity, water quality or climate and in the context of global change, including climate change”. The Multidisciplinary Expert Panel proposes to include energy in the scope, to allow the assessment to fully consider synergies and trade-offs related to climate change. Accordingly, and also taking into account that biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people are fundamental to supporting these nexus interlinkages, the assessment will consider interlinkages and interdependencies among climate, water, food, energy and health through their relationship with biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people in order to provide viable policy options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, the Sustainable Development Goals and other relevant multilateral objectives.