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Invitation to seventh session of IPBES Plenary

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Dear IPBES Members, Observers and Stakeholders,  

I have the honour to invite you to participate in the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Plenary, to take place from 29 April to 4 May 2019, in Paris, France. 

On Sunday, 28 April 2019, regional consultations and the IPBES Stakeholder Day will be held. The seventh session of the Plenary will be opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, 29 April 2019. An opening ceremony will take place on Monday evening. The session is scheduled to close on Saturday, 4 May 2019. An invitation has also been sent to all Ministers for Environment of all States Members of the United Nations or Members of specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to all Permanent Representatives to UN Environment, as well as to the Permanent missions to the United Nations. 

The provisional agenda for the seventh session of the Plenary is available on the IPBES website. At this very important session, the Plenary will be invited to consider for approval the summary for policymakers of the global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services and for adoption the future work programme for IPBES. The Plenary will receive a report on the review of IPBES at the end of its first work programme. It will also consider financial and budgetary arrangements. An information note concerning logistical arrangements, along with the other official documents of the meeting, will be posted on the IPBES website as they become available. 

For the purpose of making preparatory arrangements for the session, it would be greatly appreciated if you would kindly complete the online registration form (https://www.ipbes.net/registration/ipbes-7as soon as possible, and no later than 11 January 2019.  

In line with the IPBES Rules of procedure for sessions of the Plenary, and practice at previous sessions, each member is required to submit official credentials of its representative, together with the names of alternate representatives and advisers, to the IPBES secretariat. The credentials must be issued either by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, consistent with each country’s policy and law. Each Government is encouraged to send a copy of the credentials to the secretariat in advance of the session, preferably by e-mail (secretariat@ipbes.net). The original credentials should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours after the opening of the session. Only those Governments that have submitted credentials issued by the above authorities may participate fully in the session. 

For developing countries, the IPBES secretariat will, upon request, provide financial support to cover travel expenses corresponding to the most economical and direct flights to Paris, France, for one representative from each country, including for the regional consultations on 28 April 2019. Representatives requiring financial assistance are kindly requested to notify the secretariat by e-mail (secretariat@ipbes.net) as soon as possible, but in no event later than by 11 January 2019. 

If not already submitted, all members are also requested to submit the name and contact details of their National Focal Point (NFP) to the IPBES secretariat (secretariat@ipbes.net). 

For observers and stakeholders, please note that registration for Stakeholder Day does not grant access to the seventh session of the IPBES Plenary. Observers admitted to a previous session of the Plenary (please see here: https://www.ipbes.net/accredited-organisations) will be admitted to the seventh session of the Plenary. The Plenary will decide on the admission of new observers in accordance with the interim procedure described in paragraph 22 of the report of the first session of the Plenary (IPBES/1/12).  

In closing, I would also like to invite any Government in a position to do so, to consider hosting the eighth session of the Plenary, scheduled to take place in late 2020. Governments interested in hosting the eighth session of the Plenary, are invited to send an email to: secretariat@ipbes.net.  

I thank you again for your continued support of IPBES. 


Anne Larigauderie | Executive Secretary
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

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