Conference Agenda

ID: 569 / 2.04.1: 1

Earth Observation, EBVs and indicators to facilitate reporting and progress on international biodiversity targets

Claire Brown¹, Susana Baena¹, Petteri Vihervaara², Maria H. Hällfors², Maria J. Santos³, Elnaz Neinavaz⁴, Margarita Huesca Martinez⁴, Bruno Smets⁵, Eline Vanuytrecht⁵, Claudia Roeoesli⁶, Isabelle Helfenstein⁶, Oliver Selmoni⁶, Meredith C. Schuman⁷, Katie L. Millette⁸

1 UNEP-WCMC, United Kingdom; 2 Nature Solutions, Finnish Environment Institute; 3 Remote Sensing Laboratories, Department of Geography, University of Zurich; 4 Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente; 5 Environmental Intelligence Unit, Remote sensing

Natural Capital Accounting & Biodiversity, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO); 6 Dept. of Geography, University of Zurich, Switzerland; 7 Dept. of Geography, University of Zurich, Switzerland & Dept. of Chemistry, University of Zurich, Switzerland; 8 GEO BON, Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada

In adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and its respective monitoring framework, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) committed to establishing national goals and targets for biodiversity and reporting on their progress towards achieving them. The GBF indicators take a pragmatic approach to quantify, monitor and report on the status of biodiversity. At the same time, it is crucial to detect changes in fundamental biodiversity components and attribute those causally to drivers. Repeated, global observations from satellite remote sensing provide a unique opportunity for regularly updated biodiversity products and ultimately Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) i.e., parameters that capture key aspects of biodiversity, to monitor and explain change over time.

Together with workshop participants, we will examine and discuss several questions to incorporate different expertise and perspectives:

1. Which EBVs are relevant for the targets submitted by the EU and member states to the CBD?

2. Reviewing remote sensing biodiversity products and how these can be further developed or strengthened through Earth observation to deliver the required indicators and EBVs?

3. What needs to happen on the science policy interface to support the use of EBVs and improve indicators?

4. How can biodiversity change be detected and attributed to drivers, and how can uncertainty be handled and communicated?

Expected outcomes: The expected outcomes of the workshop includes:

1. A roadmap, setting out what can be achieved from the EO community within the next 5 years to support countries reporting efforts.

2. Shared understanding within the earth observation community on RS biodiversity products and EBVs for monitoring biodiversity changes (including genetics).

Participants should note that the workshop will include a dedicated case on genetic diversity.