Integrated Action for Climate and Biodiversity in a Triple COP Year

Biodiversity loss, water and food insecurity, public health threats and climate change are not isolated problems — they are deeply interconnected. Addressing them effectively requires a shift from siloed approaches to integrated, systems-based strategies that reflect the complexity of social-ecological interactions. However, the policy world still remains divided up into separate approaches, as exemplified in the divisions between the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 2026 marks a ‘triple COP’ year in which each of these conventions will be meeting, presenting opportunities to explore synergies between them. This proposed session will present science-based evidence to understand the web of interdependencies linking biodiversity with water, food, health and climate change — and the pathways toward solutions that work across these systems.

The 2024 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Nexus Assessment underscored the potential for nexus approaches to deliver co-benefits across systems. Nexus approaches aim to identify synergies, minimize trade-offs, and enable more holistic, equitable and sustainable solutions. From Indigenous food systems and urban green infrastructure to nature-based solutions and integrated governance, diverse science-based strategies are being tested and implemented across regions and sectors. However, operationalizing such approaches presents analytical, institutional and governance challenges. Our session will explore understanding of the interlinkages among nexus elements; methods and approaches to assessing trade-offs and synergies; evaluation of science-based response options; and potential for integrated policy, planning, management and financing tools that cut across the COPs and can support systemic transformation.