IPBES NEXUS Report on the Interlinkages between Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health

The NEXUS Assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) offers a timely and urgent call to action. It reveals that the challenges facing biodiversity, food systems, water security, and public health cannot be addressed in isolation. Fragmented responses—whether sectoral policies, siloed governance structures, or disconnected research efforts—are no longer sufficient to meet the scale and complexity of global risks.

The 2024 IPBES NEXUS Assessment Report highlights the profound and dynamic interconnections between biodiversity, water, food systems, and human health. These relationships lie at the heart of both global risk and opportunity—where declining biodiversity, degraded ecosystems, and unsustainable resource use are accelerating human health vulnerabilities and undermining food and water security. At the same time, integrated, nature-positive solutions can generate co-benefits across environmental, social, and economic domains. This session at the Science Summit during UNGA80 will present key findings of the IPBES NEXUS Report, offering evidence-based insights into how policies, governance, and research must evolve to respond to the complexity of interconnected systems. It will also explore how multilateral frameworks—including the SDGs, the UN Pact for the Future, and the Global Biodiversity Framework—can be better aligned to deliver integrated, equitable, and sustainable outcomes at the interface of nature and human well-being.