Workshop 2020 [online]

In 2020, in light of the pandemic and travel restrictions, WABES with the support of the IPBES Secretariat organized a series of 3-hour long online stakeholder workshops, in place of its originally planned in-person workshops. These include:

• July 22, 2020: The theme of the workshop was "Scoping process of the IPBES Workshop on the review of the scoping document of “the thematic assessment of the link between biodiversity, water, energy and health in the context of climate change – the Nexus Assessment”. Forty-one participants were in attendance in this online workshop, from the 15 ECOWAS member states in West Africa, as well as United Kingdom & Germany.
• August 20, 2020: The theme of the workshop Workshop on “The thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity – the transformative change assessment”. The keynote speakers were Ms. Hien Thu Ngo (IPBES Secretariat) and Prof. Oluwatoyin Kolawole (scoping expert of the transformative change assessment). Thirty-five participants were in attendance in this virtual workshop, from 15 ECOWAS member states in West Africa, as well as Botswana, UK & Germany.
• September 22, 2020: The theme of the workshop was on the review of "First Order Draft of the IPBES Assessment on Invasive Alien Species". Helen Roy (the co-Chair of the Assessment) and Ms. Diem Hong Thi Tran (IPBES TSU Capacity Building) were speakers in this workshop. Fifty participants were in attendance in this virtual event, from 15 ECOWAS member states in West Africa, as well as Norway, United Kingdom & Germany.
• October 27, 2020: The theme of the workshop was “Engaging in IPBES Processes - the case of the forthcoming Business and Biodiversity Assessment” to raise awareness amongst African experts and governments about the IPBES Business and Biodiversity assessment and the options to identify and nominate experts. Simone Schiele (IPBES Secretariat), Ms. Diem Hong Thi Tran (IPBES TSU Capacity Building), Prof. Alfred Oteng-Yeboah (Former IPBES MEP Bureau member & Chair WABES Advisory board), Dr. Eric Fokam (IPBES MEP Bureau member) and Dr. Michael Ansong (Invasive Alien Species Assessment, Lead Author) were speakers during the event. Thirty-three participants were in attendance in this online event, from 15 ECOWAS member states in West Africa, as well as Cameroun, Norway, United Kingdom & Germany.