Discussion Paper: Nature’s Contributions to People and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework
Draft 1 March 2021
This discussion paper provides Parties and others with scientific inputs and suggestions
related to aspects of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework related to nature’s
contributions to people to consider as they prepare for forthcoming negotiations. We
highlight:

New research that allows for the prioritization of areas most important to providing
nature's contributions to people.



Suggested revisions to the existing text of Goal B and associated targets andindicators that are formulated based on nature’s regulating, provisioning and nonmaterial services for food, water and climate and the extent/condition/flow of these
services.

Linkages of suggested indicators to the United Nations System of EnvironmentalEconomic Accounting— Ecosystem Accounting Framework which can provide astandardized methodology for measurement needed for monitoring and reporting.

Introduction
Healthy ecosystems provide a range of goods and services to people such as supporting economic
growth, sustaining livelihoods, and providing the basis for food and water security as well as a stableclimate. These are collectively described here as ecosystem services or “Nature’s Contributions to
People” (NCP)1. Just as some places in the world are more important for avoiding species extinctions
than others, there are some places that are more important for delivering high levels of ecosystemservices. Achieving the 2050 Vision of living in harmony with nature will require identifying these places
that need special management to stay healthy and to continue delivering these important benefits.
Depending on the relative importance, context, and vulnerability of different places, management may
require a range of efforts, from implementation of sustainable use areas to community-led conservation
efforts to strict protection.
This discussion paper provides information on recent scientific advances that make it possible toidentify the globally important places that are providing these critical services for humanity. We
recommend including these important places as part of the goals, targets, and indicators in the post2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) so they can be prioritized for protection, conservation, andsustainable management in support of the 2050 Vision.
The scope of this discussion paper has been kept narrow so as to focus on the latest scientific researchon nature’s contributions to people as it relates to climate, food, and water. We recognize there areimportant considerations related to nature’s contribution to livelihoods and culture that deserve further
deliberation. Nature’s relationship to human health, including pandemic prevention, is somewhat
addressed in our recommendations through targets on water and food, however these issues also
deserve additional consideration. We have also excluded indicators related to production yield as we
see those as most appropriate to include in Target 14 and/or Target 4 under sustainable production
1

While recognizing there are some differences in interpretation, we use them synonymously hereon.

1

practices. Finally, while we are aware that efforts to meet Target 1 and 2 will contribute to ensuring thatplaces important for nature’s contributions to people are maintained we have not focused on thisrelationship in this paper.
The Science: Nature’s Contributions to People
Recent scientific advances allow us to map the global distribution of places that can be considered “highperforming” in terms of delivering ecosystem services or “Nature’s Contributions to People”, per IPBES. 2
Conservation International and partners with the Natural Capital Project3 have mapped the places
globally that provide the highest levels of a range of multiple ecosystem services. Figure 1 displays
concentrations of 12 NCPs delivered in different places around the world, where darkest areas aredelivering the highest levels of NCPs. The NCPs mapped are related to water quality regulation (nitrogen,sediment), food provision (pollination, grazing, riverine and marine fish), timber and fuel production, flood
regulation and coastal risk reduction, and other human needs (access to marine and terrestrial areas forrecreation and gathering of resources). To maintain 90% of current levels of provision of these NCPs, wewould need to conserve 39% of land and 24% of marine exclusive economic zones.
These are the places globally that are essential for providing ecosystem services for human wellbeing
and, therefore, for achieving any goals or targets related to meeting peoples’ needs from nature. These
global priorities can also be refined at national scale to consider country context and specific needs fordefining national priorities. As such, we recommend including the conservation, sustainable use, andrestoration of these places in the GBF and encourage countries to refine the identification of suchplaces at the national level. We also recommend for countries to monitor the extent and condition ofthese ecosystems and the flow of ecosystem services that they provide in alignment with the UN
System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA). 4

Figure 1. Global ranking of Nature’s Contribution’s to People
2

Nature’s contributions to people include: habitat creation and maintenance, pollination and dispersal of seeds and other propagules,
regulation of air quality, regulation of climate, regulation of ocean acidification, regulation of freshwater quantity, location and timing,
regulation of freshwater and coastal water quality, formation, protection and decontamination of soils and sediments, regulation of hazards
and extreme events, regulation of organisms detrimental to humans, energy, food and feed, materials and assistance, medicinal,
biochemical and genetic resources, learning and inspiration, physical and psychological experiences, supporting identities, andmaintenance of options. Adapted from: IPBES. (2017) Update on the classification of nature’s contributions to people by theIntergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/pdf/ipbes-5-inf-24.pdf.
3Partners on mapping multiple ecosystem services: Natural Capital Project, Stanford University, University of Minnesota, King’s College
London and many additional data providers . Further details on data and methodology can be provided upon request. Note these maps are
pre-publication drafts and subject to change.
4
In this paper, SEEA refers to both the overall SEEA system of statistics and the Ecosystem Accounting framework.

2

Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) Modeled: nitrogen retention for water quality regulation, sediment retention for water quality regulation,
crop pollination, fodder for livestock, timber production, fuelwood production, flood regulation, riverine fish harvest, marine fish harvest, coastrisk reduction (terrestrial and marine), access to terrestrial nature (for local recreation and gathering), marine recreation (coral-reef tourism andassociated livelihoods). Green areas represent the highest performing areas.

Continued provision of these contributions from nature to people, as well as the survival of many species
will be impacted by a changing climate and avoiding the worst of those impacts will require maintaining
much of the carbon that is stored across the globe in the Earth’s biomass and soils. “Irrecoverable
carbon” is considered the carbon that would be impossible to recover by 2050 if exposed and lost to
the atmosphere due to land development activities. Human land-use decisions are the primary
determinant of whether irrecoverable carbon remains stored or is released to the atmosphere, thus it iscritical that these places be maintained if we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As such,
we recommend including the conservation, sustainable use, and restoration of high carbon
ecosystems, including irrecoverable carbon in the GBF. We also recommend for countries to monitor
the extent and condition of these ecosystems and the flow of ecosystem services that they provide
in alignment with the SEEA.

Figure 2. Map of Irrecoverable Carbon
Source: Noon et al. 2021. Mapping the irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems. Under review.5

Using this science to guide decision making
This new information can guide choices for how we manage different resources to ensure that we keep
the places we most need for our own wellbeing and to support a transition to a greener and more resilientmodel of economic development – both at global and national scales. The key will be to ensure that themost important places are prioritized, while still making management choices that maintain a large
proportion of nature through a variety of measures and use levels depending on the sensitivity of theecosystem and the services it provides. Some examples of how this approach might be applied:
5

Based on published concept: Goldstein et al. 2020. Protecting the irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems. Nature Climate Change.
Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0738-8. Further details on data and methodology can be provided upon request.
Note these maps are pre-publication drafts and subject to change.

3






Upland and upstream forests and other source water areas that contribute to the provision andregulation of water for local and downstream uses may be conserved while still allowing certain
kinds of sustainable use;
Peatlands that hold irrecoverable carbon may require strict protection to ensure that theemissions are not released to the atmosphere;
Mangroves that act as nurseries for fisheries and that provide coastal protection can beconserved through community management that also allows for other uses.

These maps show priorities on a global scale. The methodologies used to develop them can also be
used to refine priorities at national scale, including through the integration of national data sources thatcan provide a more detailed picture. They are also compatible with measurement approaches proposed
by SEEA, so that interested countries can refine national priorities through implementation of SEEA while
enabling continuous measurement and reporting.
What this means for the Global Biodiversity Framework
To ensure that these places essential for delivering high levels of ecosystem services are kept healthy,
the GBF will need to specify which places are of highest priority and what actions are needed to maintainthem, from the goal level down to the indicator level. Without this approach, there is the risk of
implementing broader efforts that may maintain places that are important for species or ecosystemrepresentation - but that allow the loss of places providing vital ecosystem services that underpin humandevelopment like those that support food security, water regulation, climate mitigation and others. Also,
focusing interventions on areas that are both important for species or ecosystem representation and vital
ecosystems services can support a more efficient investment of effort.
The current structure of the GBF has some of the right elements related to Nature’s Contributions to
People but there is a lack of alignment between the benefits to people and the ecosystems thatprovide them that are mentioned in the 2050 Goal, the 2030 Milestones and Action Targets and themonitoring framework.
We propose instead to restructure these elements of the GBF around the categories of Nature’sContributions to People6 as described in the recent IPBES report7 at the goal level and highlight a few
specific ecosystem services of high importance for human wellbeing and the ecosystems that provide
them at the target and indicator level.


Goal/milestone level: Nature is contributing regulating, provisioning, and non-material elementsthat humans need, both now and in the future, and places most important for providing thesecontributions are conserved, sustainably managed, and restored.
Target level:
1. Water: Ensure benefits from nature related to water quality and water quantity for humanuse, through the conservation, sustainable management, and restoration of 100% of theecosystems most important for delivering these contributions.

6

According to IPBES, the three groups of Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs) are:Regulating contributions: Functional and structural aspects of organisms and ecosystems that modify environmental conditions experienced
by people, and/or sustain and/or regulate the generation of material and non-material benefits (i.e., water purification, climate regulation, or
soil erosion regulation).
Provisioning contributions: Material elements from nature that sustain people’s physical existence and infrastructure (i.e., food, energy, ormaterials for shelter or ornamental purposes).
Non-material contributions: Nature’s contribution to people’s subjective or psychological quality of life, individually and collectively (i.e.,
animals in recreational or ritual fishing or hunting and/or individual trees or ecosystems as sources of inspiration).
7
IPBES. (2017) Update on the classification of nature’s contributions to people by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/pdf/ipbes-5-inf-24.pdf.

4

2. Food: Ensure benefits from nature important for food security and nutrition through theconservation, sustainable management, and restoration of 100% of the ecosystems mostimportant for delivering these contributions.
3. Climate: Ensure benefits from nature important for climate change mitigation, adaptationand disaster risk reduction through the conservation, sustainable management, andrestoration of 100% of the ecosystems most important for delivering these contributions.
Indicators: As the goals and targets will define desired outcomes and, potentially, actions, at ahigh level then the indicator framework should provide the specificity needed to monitor progress
towards achieving the 2030 mission. For the goal and targets we propose above, we suggest
monitoring:o Extent: the extent (area) of places most important for delivering ecosystem services,
measured as the area of an ecosystem.
o Condition: the quality of places most important for delivering ecosystem services,
measured as biotic i.e., (composition, structure, functional), abiotic (i.e., physical, andchemical state), and landscape (including freshwater), and seascape characteristics.
o Flows: the flows of ecosystem services, measured through biophysical measurements(e.g., volume of water).

For example, for the target focused on water quality, the indicators would include the extent andcondition of ecosystems such as the area of wetlands that provide water filtration and purification and/or
regulating services. They would also include measures of the flow of the desired ecosystem service, inthis case regulation of water purification, which would be measured by flows of removal of nutrients andother pollutants by ecosystem components through for example, nitrogen retention.
Other considerations for indicators
Parties have repeatedly stressed the need for ease of implementation of the GBF monitoring. Measuring
ecosystem extent and perhaps some indicators of condition is possible with remote sensing data on
spatial and temporal resolutions that are meaningful for national-level annual monitoring programs. Flowsof ecosystem services can be estimated from spatial data on ecosystem condition and extent using
modelling techniques and, ideally, verified with direct observation.8
Additionally, recognizing the need for indicators to be feasible for implementation, we recommend that
wherever possible and appropriate, drawing on the SEEA for indicators to monitor progress towards
goals and targets related to NCPs.
Alignment of GBF indicators and SEEAThe SEEA (System of Environmental Economic Accounting) is the UN statistical standard for thedevelopment of a system of national environmental-economic accounts. SEEA Ecosystem Accounting
aims to measure five different elements of ecosystems and their contributions to humans: 1) ecosystem
extent 2) ecosystem condition; 3) ecosystem services; and 4) monetary assets (i.e., monetary value ofall ecosystem within an ecosystem accounting area) and 5) thematics such as land, water, carbon, andbiodiversity. This standard is expected to be adopted as an international statistical standard under theUnited Nations in March 2021, providing countries with the integrated statistical framework for a)8

While numbers of people benefitting from a particular natural area is an attractive indicator, it is very difficult to further estimate fromestimated service flows because allocating services to people depends on the level of dependency a population has on the service (direct vsperipheral). Further, field verification of population benefitting is challenging due the high cost of conducting household surveys.

5organizing biophysical data; b) measuring ecosystem services, tracking changes in ecosystem assets;
and c.) linking this information to economic and other human activity.9
Use of the SEEA by all countries is included in the updated zero draft of the GBFG as a headline indicator
for Target 13. Also, many of the indicators needed to monitor the condition and extent of areas important
for NCP are already included in the SEEA. Some 100 countries have expressed interest in SEEA
implementation and there are efforts underway to support them in data development to do so. 10
Therefore, if the GBF indicators are aligned with the SEEA indicators, then these countries will alreadybe gathering necessary data to monitor many elements of the GBF related to NCP and will be doing sousing standards that allow for replication and comparison as official statistics.
If we continue with the example of wetlands and water quality above, the SEEA ecosystem accounts
and water accounts would provide several useful indicators. These include areas covered bymangroves (hectares), their condition in terms of nitrogen retention (composite index), and the flows ofwater purification, measured as for example, the retention of nitrogen originating from fertilizer run-off
from adjacent agricultural fields (reduced tons per year of nitrogen and its related monetary value).
Closing
As Parties consider their positions on the updated zero draft of the Global Biodiversity Framework,
Conservation International highlights research advances in the spirit of providing a strong scientificfoundation for prioritizing the specific areas that are essential to maintain nature’s contributions topeople. In the event the suggested revisions of the goal and targets are not incorporated into the next
draft of the GBF, the headline and component indicators we suggest are still relevant. Further
discussion around the information presented in this paper and the proposed goals, targets andindicators that flow from this line of thinking are welcome and encouraged.

For more information, please contact:
Jill Hepp
Senior Manager, International Policy

jhepp@conservation.org

910

See https://seea.un.org/ecosystem-accounting.
For example, the Earth Observation for Ecosystem Accounting Initiative (EO4EA) of the Group on Earth Observations is developing
guidelines for “account ready data” bringing together the data and accounting communities to coordinate efforts.

6

Annex I: Suggested Language for Goals/Milestones, Targets and Indicators Related to Nature’s Contributions to People: This tablecombines our proposals for an updated milestone under Goal B, targets and indicators based on the framework presented in the discussion
paper. We have retained some text from the updated zero draft of the GBF that complement this approach (those sections of text are in italics)
and we have also indicated where component indicators can be derived from SEEA accounts. The following table utilizes the definitions forheadline indicators, components, component indicators as described in SBSTTA CBD/SBSTTA/24/3Add.1.11
Proposed Goal,
Milestones and Targets
Nature’s contributions topeople have beenvalued, maintained, or
enhanced throughconservation andsustainable use
supporting global
development agenda forthe benefit of all
people. (Goal B)
Ensure the benefits fromnature’s contribution toregulating, provisioning
and non-material
elements that humans
need, both now and in the
future, and places mostimportant for providing
these contributions are

Proposed
Headline
Indicator

Proposed
Components of theGoal and Targets

Trends in extent
and condition ofplaces mostimportant fordelivering
regulating,provisioning,
and nonmaterial
ecosystem
services, andtrends in flows
of benefits fromthose places.

Nature’s regulating
contributions
related to climate
and disasterprevention.

Proposed Component Indicator

Extent and condition of places most important for delivering
ecosystem services related to climate and disaster prevention, andtrends in flows of benefits. (Covered in SEEA’s Ecosystem
Accounts)

Extent and condition of places most important for delivering
ecosystem services related to food and water and trends in flows
of benefits. (Covered in SEEA’s Ecosystem Accounts)
Nature’s material
contributions
related to food andwater.

11

Headline indicators: A minimum set of high-level indicators which capture the overall scope of the goals and targets of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework which can be used for
tracking national progress, as well as for tracking regional and global progress. These indicators could also be used for communication purposes. Additionally, some countries may wish to use
a subset of these indicators or only the goal level headline indicators for high-level communication and outreach.
Component indicators: A set of indicators for monitoring each component of each goal and target of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework at the national level as well as for tracking
regional and global progress. They relate to the components of the goals and targets of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework rather than directly to goals and targets. Many of thecomponent indicators are disaggregations of the headline indicators. This level of indicator also includes disaggregated information which is not included at the headline level.

7

Proposed Goal,
Milestones and Targets

Proposed
Headline
Indicator

Proposed
Components of theGoal and Targets

Proposed Component Indicatorconserved, sustainably
managed and restored.
Nature is valued throughgreen investments,
ecosystem service
valuation in national
accounts, and public andprivate sector financial
disclosures. (Goal B.2)
Ensure benefits fromnature important forclimate change mitigation,
adaptation and disasterrisk reduction through theconservation, sustainable
management, andrestoration of 100% of theecosystems mostimportant for delivering
these contributions.

Value of all final
ecosystem
services (Gross
Ecosystem
Product) (B.0.2.)

State and
trends in extent
and condition ofplacesprovidingglobally
importantservices forclimatemitigation,
adaptation, anddisasterresilience, andtrends in flows
of benefits fromthose places.

Value of all final ecosystem services (Gross Ecosystem Product)(B.0.1) for material service-related ecosystem services (B.1.3.)
Natural capital component of inclusive wealth (B.1.4.)
Value of all final ecosystem services (Gross Ecosystem Product)(B.0.1) for non-material service-related ecosystem services) (B.1.5.)(Covered in SEEA’s Ecosystem accounts)
Nature’scontributions toclimate mitigation.
Minimized negative
impacts on
biodiversity fromany mitigation,
adaptation anddisaster risk
reductionmeasures. (7.2)
Nature’scontributions toDisaster Risk
Reduction andDisaster Resilience.

State and trends in extent (hectares) and condition (% change) ofplaces important for climate mitigation, particularly high carbon
ecosystems, especially those containing global Irrecoverable
Carbon. (Covered in SEEA Carbon accounts and Ecosystemservices accounts)
Flows from places providing climate mitigation services asmeasured by amount of carbon dioxide retained/sequestered intonnes. (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem and Carbon Accounts)

State and trends in extent and condition of places providing
Disaster Risk Reduction or Disaster Resilience as measured bynumber of properties or area of coast protected (coastal protection
services). (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem Accounts)
Flow of benefits as measured by lives protected.

8Proposed Goal,
Milestones and Targets

Proposed
Headline
Indicator

Proposed
Components of theGoal and Targets
Nature’scontributions toclimate adaptation.

Ensure benefits fromnature important for foodsecurity and nutrition
through the conservation,
sustainable management,
and restoration of 100% of
the ecosystems mostimportant for delivering
these contributions.

State and
trends in extent,
condition ofplacesprovidingglobally
importantservices forfood security
and nutrition,and trends inflows ofbenefits fromthose places.

Nature’scontributions tocrop pollination.

Proposed Component Indicator

Indicators relevant to adaptation are captured in indicators forfood, water, and disaster risk resilience.

State and trends in extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure, species composition) of places providing habitat forpollinators (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem Accounts)
Condition (diversity, abundance, and distribution) of pollinatorspecies as measured by Red List Index. (Covered in SEEA
Biodiversity accounts)
Flow of pollination services as measured by the pollination yieldgap. (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem accounts)

Nature’scontributions tofreshwater andmarine fisheries.

State and trends in extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure, species composition) of important freshwater and marine
fish habitat, especially spawning locations. (Covered in SEEA
Ecosystem Accounts)
Flow of fish as measured by quantity and age structure of fisherystocks. (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem Accounts)

Nature’scontributions tomoisture recycling
for non-irrigatedcrops.

State and trends in extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure, species composition) of places most important formoisture recycling that benefits rain-fed crop production as
identified by atmospheric flow modeling.

Nature’scontributions toState and trends in extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure, species composition) of places providing grazing space9

Proposed Goal,
Milestones and Targets

Proposed
Headline
Indicator

Proposed
Components of theGoal and Targets

Proposed Component Indicator

fodder and grazing
for range livestock.

and fodder for non-feedlot livestock. (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem
Accounts)
Flows originating from places under sustainable and regenerative
agriculture as measured by gross tonnes of crop biomass
harvested. (Covered in SEEA Ecosystem Accounts)

Nature’scontributions towild harvest foods.

Ensure benefits fromnature related to water
quality and water quantity
for human use, throughthe conservation,
sustainable management,
and restoration of 100% of
the ecosystems mostimportant for delivering
these contributions.

State and
trends in extent
and condition ofplacesprovidingglobally
importantservices for the
regulation ofwater quantity,
quality, location,and timing, andtrends in flows
of benefits fromthose places.

Nature’scontribution towater purification(quality).

Nature’scontribution toregulating waterflows (quantity andtiming).

State and trends in extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure, species composition) of places providing habitat for wild
plants and animals that are used for food. (Covered in SEEA
Ecosystem Accounts)
Flow measured as proportion of caloric, protein, and/or
micronutrient need met by wild harvested foods.
State and trends of extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure or species composition) of ecosystems that remove
pollutants from water and/or yield clean water for dilution.
(Covered in SEEA Ecosystem Accounts)
Water purification flows providing water quality amelioration as
measured by nitrogen retention. (Covered in SEAA Ecosystem
Accounts)
State and trends of extent (hectares) and condition (physicalstructure or species composition) of ecosystems that regulate
water flow through storage and delayed release. (Covered in SEEA
Ecosystem Accounts)
Trends of quantity and timing of water flow by volume (m3) to trackchanges in baseline flow maintenance and flood dynamics(Covered in SEEA Ecosystem Accounts)

10For more information, please contact:
Jill Hepp
Senior Manager, International Policy

jhepp@conservation.org

11