The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework headline indicator “Services Provided by Ecosystems (B.1)” has been tested using data from six countries and regions including Norway. Working on behalf of the CBD AHTEG on indicators, the results are now published.
Services provided by ecosystems include cultural services such as enjoying evenings by the fjords of Norway. Photo credit: Bálint Czúcz, NINA.
The member states to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity adopted in 2022 new global goals for biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), to be implemented by all Parties to the Convention.
One of the ambitions of the GBF is to provide a concise yet comprehensive set of indicators that can be used for assessing progress towards the main goals and targets in a scientifically robust and practically feasible way.
Testing proposed methodologies
A newly published report now presents results from the first round of developing the B.1 headline indicator “Services provided by ecosystems”, where different proposed methodologies were tested on ecosystem services time series from six countries and regions, including Norway.
Headline indicator B.1 builds on the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting/Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), transforming the contents of national ecosystem service accounts into a metric quantifying progress (or decline) in meeting GBF GOAL B: “Prosper with Nature” and Target 11: “Restore, Maintain and Enhance Nature’s Contributions to People”.
We present the initial proposal for the indicator and the testing process that aimed to compare options for design and mathematical aggregation approaches using ecosystem services (ES) time series data from Norway, says Bálint Czúcz, Senior Research Scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).
Towards a fit-for-purpose indicator
Findings from the testing exercise highlight sensitivity of the B.1 indicator to the content of ES accounts, where the proposed aggregation methodology is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in ES flows. Variations between countries in reporting on the indicator, e.g. in the delineation/distinction of ES categories and the level of detail in defining ES flows, can also create challenges for the comparability of the indicator. Accordingly, a fit-for-purpose B.1 indicator can best be achieved if alignment with the GBF's objectives is already ensured during the compilation of ES accounts according to SEEA EA.
Based on our results, we see that further testing and refinement of the B.1 indicator methodology are still necessary before we have a fit-for-purpose indicator, particularly regarding the selection of ES, treatment of monetary data, and handling of data revisions, Czúcz concludes.
Delivering local knowledge for global use
The indicator testing exercise was undertaken on behalf of the dedicated “B.1 subgroup” of the official CBD Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on indicators. This AHTEG group was established by the CBD Member States to bring forward the development of the indicators and make them operational and assess the gaps and needs of the GBF. The “B.1 subgroup” was coordinated by Amanda Driver (South African National Biodiversity Institute, Republic of South Africa), and Emily Nicholson (Melbourne University, Australia).
The Norwegian analysis was commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency (coordinated by Lucrezia Gorini, member of the AHTEG), and performed by Bálint Czúcz (NINA), with inputs from Michael Traurig and Emily Nicholson (Melbourne University).
Read the full report in English: Czúcz, B. 2024. Testing headline indicator “B.1 services provided by ecosystems” of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework using data from Norway. NINA Report 2492. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
Learn more about the monitoring framework of the GBF here
Contact: Bálint Czúcz