Contribution of the EU R&I framework programmes to IPBES : insights from the references of IPBES reports.
Date: 2023-08-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, biodiversity, degradation of the environment, ecosystem, environmental cooperation, monitoring report, nature restoration, project funding, research project, research results, scientific report, sustainable development

Contribution of the EU R&I 
Framework Programmes to 
IPBES 
Insights from the References of IPBES Reports 

August, 2023 

In December 2022, representatives from governments and international organisations gathered at the Convention 
on  Biological  Diversity  COP  15  in  Montreal  to  negotiate  the  agreement,  the  Kunming-Montreal  Global 
Biodiversity Framework, aimed at protecting, restoring and using sustainably nature. 

Recent scientific studies underscore the urgent need for such a global action, revealing that, despite 
some efforts and  progress, biodiversity is  declining at a rate unprecedented in human history. The 
Framework specifically refers to the work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and 
Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which presents the scientific consensus in its authoritative reports about biodiversity 
status and associated challenges and is extensively supported by the EU. 

How have projects funded by the recent EU Research Framework Programmes (Framework 
Programme 7 and Horizon 2020) contributed to the evidence given in IPBES reports? 

In this factsheet, we summarize the results of an analysis1 which uses scientific publications cited in IPBES reports 
as a proxy indicator for “contribution”, to answer this question.  

  691  publications  from  388  projects  funded  under  FP7  and  H2020  were  cited  in 

latest three IPBES reports (2019 to 2022). 

  EU-funded  publications  resulting  from  these  account  for  5.7%  of  all  scholarly 
references in the examined IPBES reports. For the period 2011-2021, during which FP7 
and  H2020  projects  were  most  active  in  terms  of  publications,  FP7  and  H2020  funded 
publications represent approximately 8% of all IPBES scholarly references and 15% of those 
from authors affiliated with institutions in EU-member states or FP-associated countries. 

1 Linking Research to Global Biodiversity Policies. How did EU Research Funding contribute to recent IPBES Reports? 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
                                                      
 
 
Contributions by different parts of FP7 and H2020  

In this analysis we used the latest three IPBES reports: 

 

 

 

IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019) 

IPBES Thematic Assessment Report on the Sustainable Use of Wild Species (2022)  

IPBES Methodological Assessment Report on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature (2022) 

The knowledge base of those reports (i.e., the scholarly publications they reference) incorporates publications from 
diverse FP7 and H2020 sub-programmes. The table below shows the number of publications referenced in 
those IPBES reports from FP7 & H2020 projects as well as the number of projects from which they came.  

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Of  the  691  publications  referenced  by  IPBES  reports,  335  are  sourced  from  projects  funded  by  the  FP7-
Cooperation  Programme  Environment  (inclusive  of  Climate  Change  considerations).  ERC  funded  projects 
contributed 144 publications and 64 publications are from FP7-Marie Curie projects (MSCA).   

Outlook  

The full report1 highlights that projects whose publications are cited in IPBES reports cover a wide range 
of areas, including various ecosystems (like aquatic and terrestrial), threats to biodiversity (such as habitat loss 
and  tropical  deforestation),  and  interconnected  subjects  like  climate  change,  food  security,  energy,  natural 
disasters, and human health. 

The report also discusses potential future direction of this type of analysis, among others, the need for advanced 
methodologies to qualitatively describe EU-funded project contributions. 

Since  2020,  requests  to  EU-funded  research  projects  to  contribute  to  IPBES  are  being  reinforced, 
within projects from Horizon 2020 that continue delivering results, and under Horizon Europe. 

© European Union, 2023 | Reuse of this document is allowed, provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated (Creative 
Commons Attribution 4.0 International license). For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the EU, permission may need to 
be sought directly from the respective right holders. All images © European Union, unless otherwise stated. Images source: © toonsteb # 
279375161, © Юлия Прыкина # 455547508, © VectorMine # 303873962, 2022. Source: stock.adobe.com, Year. Source: adobestock.com.  

nr. publicationsnr. projectsGlobal Assessment (2019)Sustainable Use Assessment (2022)Value Assessment (2022)Global Assessment (2019)Sustainable Use Assessment (2022)Value Assessment (2022)FP7-ENVIRONMENT         335          93            231              53              80              76              31              32   FP7-KBBE           48          30              31              17                3              23              10                3   FP7-ERC         144          62            111              27              21              54              18              13   FP7-MSCA           64          48              48                8              13              37                8              12   FP7-other           47          38              29              10              17              29                9                9   H2020-ERC           50          30              15              19              22              11              14              13   H2020-SC2           30          21                6              22                2                5              16                2   H2020-SC5           44          22              19              10              16                9                8              12   H2020-MSCA           34          30              15              12              12              14              12              10   H2020-other           19          14              10                4                6                6                4                6   FP7-ENVIRONMENTFP7 Cooperation Programme Environment (including Climate Change)FP7-KBBEFP7 Cooperation Programme: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, BiotechnologyFP7-ERCFP7 ideas Programme: European Research Council FP7-MSCAFP7 People Programme Marie Skłodowska-Curie ActionsH2020-SC2H2020 Societal Challenge 2 “Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine/maritime/inland water research and the Bioeconomy”H2020-SC5H2020 Societal Challenge 5 “Climate action, environment, resource efficiency & raw materials”H2020-ERCH2020 European Research CouncilH2020-MSCAH2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actionsall reports by reports number of publications number of projects