22 April 2024

EM/2024/20(To access this invitation in other languages, please click here: ‫ عر ب‬/ español / français / русский /中文)
Invitation to IPBES members and observers (States not members of IPBES) to the eleventh sessionof the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES 11)
Dear IPBES members and observers (States not members of IPBES),
I have the honor to invite you to participate in the eleventh session of the Plenary of theIntergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES 11), whichis planned to be held from 10 to 16 December 2024 in Mercure Hotel Windhoek, Corner of Auas,
9000 Aviation Road, Windhoek, Namibia. It will be possible for duly registered members ofdelegations to view the proceedings online.
Regional consultations and a Stakeholder Day are planned to be organized on 9 December
2024. The eleventh session of the Plenary will be opened on Tuesday, 10 December 2024, at 10 a.m.
Central Africa Time (CAT/UTC+02:00). The session is scheduled to close on Monday, 16 December
2024. An invitation has been sent by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Secretaryof Governing Bodies to all Ministers for Environment of all States Members of the United Nations(UN) or Members of specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to all
Permanent Representatives to the UNEP, as well as to the Permanent missions to the UN. An
invitation letter addressed to observer organizations will be issued shortly.
The provisional agenda for the eleventh session of the Plenary is available on the IPBES
website at https://www.ipbes.net/events/ipbes-11-plenary.
IPBES members and observers are invited to upload official communication containing thenames of the members of their delegations for confirmation of their registration as soon as possible,and no later than 11 October 2024 through the online platform at https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes11/nomination-letters-and-credentials.
In addition, each member of the delegation is requested to complete the online registration
form at https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/registration, as soon as possible, and no later than 11
October 2024. Individual registration is important for granting access to in-session documents andsharing meeting connection details. Please kindly note that an IPBES user account is required tocomplete the registration form. A user account can be created at https://ipbes.net/user/register.
Taking into account visa processing time, and to ensure participation in the meeting, delegates who________________________________________________________________________________
Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53 113 Bonn, Germany
mea-ipbes-secretariat@un.org • http://www.ipbes.net

require entry visas to Namibia are strongly encouraged to upload their nomination letters andregister as soon as possible. To determine whether you need a visa to travel to Namibia, pleasecontact the Namibian consulate or embassy in your country or visit the website:
https://namibian.org/namibia/travel-advice/visa. Please note that a visa may also be required fortransit through some countries.
Please note that a separate registration is required for Stakeholder Day on
https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/stakeholder-day/registration. Registration for Stakeholder Day
does not grant access to the eleventh session of the IPBES Plenary. Registration for the Stakeholder
Day should be done by 10 November 2024.
In line with the rules of procedure for sessions of the IPBES Plenary, and practice at previoussessions, each IPBES member is required to submit official credentials of its representatives,
together with the names of alternate representatives and advisers, to the IPBES secretariat. The
credentials must be issued either by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, consistent with each country’s policy and law. Observers are not required to submit
credentials but they are still required to submit official nomination letters. A scanned copy of thecredentials, containing the names of representatives to the eleventh session of the IPBES, should besubmitted by one member of the delegation by 8 November 2024 through the online platform at
https://www.ipbes.net/ipbes-11/nomination-letters-and-credentials. The original hard copy of thecredentials should be sent to the IPBES secretariat by mail at the latest by 31 October 2024 or
handed to the secretariat at the registration desk by 10 December 2024. Registration for the session
will be confirmed by the secretariat after reception of credentials or official communication. Travel
support and daily subsistence allowance (DSA) will be provided to one member of each delegationfrom developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The name of this person
should be indicated in the credentials or official nomination letter.
I also take this opportunity to invite IPBES members and observers that have not designateda national focal point responsible for liaising with the IPBES secretariat to do so by filling the online
form and submitting a nomination letter athttps://ipbes.net/form/national_focal_point_designation-government. The list of existing national
focal points is available at https://ipbes.net/national-focal-points.
In closing, I would also like to invite any Government in a position to do so, to consider
hosting the twelfth and thirteenth sessions of the Plenary, scheduled to be held in 2025 and 2026
respectively. Governments interested in hosting either of these sessions of the Plenary, are invited
to contact the IPBES secretariat (mea-ipbes-secretariat@un.org).
I thank you again for your continued support of IPBES.
Yours sincerely,

Dr. Anne Larigauderie | Executive Secretary________________________________________________________________________________
Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53 113 Bonn, Germany
mea-ipbes-secretariat@un.org • http://www.ipbes.net