The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre’s (UNEP-WCMC) Head of Nature Economy, Matt Jones, has today been announced as one of three co-chairs that will steer the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) forthcoming global assessment on business and biodiversity.  
 
The assessment aims to categorise the dependencies and impacts of business and financial institutions on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, assess methods for measuring these, and suggest options for action.   
 
It will be conducted over the next two years by a panel of international experts, guided by the co-chairs and supported by the IPBES Secretariat and an independent Technical Support Unit. It is expected that the final assessment will be considered by IPBES Members at the twelfth IPBES Plenary session in 2025.  

It’s an honour to be appointed as a co-chair of the IPBES business and biodiversity assessment at such a pivotal moment when businesses and financial institutions are ramping up actions for nature. I am encouraged by the step-change in their engagement during the recent UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, signaling the timely importance of this assessment.

Matt Jones, Head of Nature Economy at UNEP-WCMC

At UNEP-WCMC, Matt oversees the work of experts energising, enabling and empowering leaders across all sectors of the economy to act for nature. From 2021 to 2022, Matt was one of forty experts who delivered the scoping report for a methodological assessment on business and biodiversity that was approved by the IPBES Plenary in 2022. 

With a background in environmental economics and law, prior to joining UNEP-WCMC 12 years ago, Matt worked for a major conservation charity and in international sustainability consulting. 

Matt joins his fellow co-chairs, Ximena Rueda Fajardo, Associate Professor at the School of Management at Universidad de los Andes and Stephen Polasky, Regents Professor and Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological and Environmental Economics at the University of Minnesota, for the business and biodiversity assessment. 

I am excited to be working with my fellow co-chairs and our soon-to-be-appointed expert authors. We have a challenging but crucial task ahead over the next two years.

Businesses and financial institutions are waking up to the importance of understanding their exposure to nature-related risks and identifying opportunities. It is now paramount that we help them navigate the landscape of approaches available to catalyse action.

The assessment will bring much needed clarity on tools and methods for assessing impacts and dependencies on nature, helping the private sector understand which approaches are relevant and credible in supporting nature-related disclosure, and ultimately driving the changes we need for a sustainable future.

Matt Jones, Head of Nature Economy at UNEP-WCMC