Bridging Biodiversity, Water, Food, Health & Climate: IPBES Nexus Assessment Highlights Interconnected Crises

Bridging Biodiversity, Water, Food, Health & Climate: IPBES Nexus Assessment Highlights Interconnected Crises

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has released a landmark Nexus Assessment, examining the deep interconnections among biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change. These five elements—referred to as "nexus elements"—are increasingly understood to be part of an integrated system, where actions in one area can ripple across others, with profound implications for sustainability and human well-being.

The assessment underscores that while these challenges are deeply intertwined, they are too often addressed in isolation—leading to unintended consequences, missed opportunities, and fragmented policy. By contrast, a “nexus approach” emphasizes the importance of systems thinking, fostering coordinated decision-making across sectors and scales.

Although not named in the assessment title, climate change features prominently as both a driver of biodiversity loss and a factor influencing food security, water quality, and public health. Likewise, the assessment touches on the role of energy systems, land, soil, and air as important cross-cutting issues that affect all nexus elements.

Drawing from diverse knowledge systems, the Nexus Assessment synthesizes current evidence and future scenarios, and proposes governance strategies that support synergies, reduce trade-offs, and promote transformative change. These strategies align with global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Paris Agreement.

Ultimately, the assessment offers a compelling case for integrated policy solutions that recognize the interdependence of people, nature, and the systems that support life on Earth. It calls on governments, institutions, and communities to collaborate across boundaries and design responses that support a just and sustainable future for all.

The IPBES Nexus Assessment report can be found here.