Scientists are invited to submit proposals in the area of modelling biodiversity & ecosystem services, as part of a Swiss Re Foundation-led initiative, jointly with the AXA Research Fund, Ernst and Young, and World Wide Fund for Nature.
The challenge
Biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) play a foundational role for the resilience of our societies, economies and quality of life. Nearly one million species face extinction, and ecosystem services are declining. If societies continue current production and consumption patterns, IPBES scientists expect that 30 percent to 50 percent of all species may be lost by the middle of the 21st century. More than half of global GDP moderately or highly depends on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Measuring, tracking, reporting and forecasting expected BES developments is a prerequisite for action. Therefore, granular scenarios should model, both locally and regionally, the expected development of BES-impacting drivers and outcomes.
Together with our enabling partners EY, WWF and AXA Research Fund, we invite scientific research institutions to apply for the grant programme and submit BES scenario research proposals.
The approach
We aim to fund a minimum of three to a maximum of five institutions globally for two years with a grant of maximum USD 100 000 each. The proposals will be reviewed by an independent jury that will propose to the steering committee, comprised of one representative from each funding partner listed above, whom to fund. Deadline for submission is 14 May 2023. Grant decision will be made by 30 June 2023.
As a basis for grant proposals, we recommend the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services concept known as “nature’s contributions to people” (NCP), ideally clustered into one or more groups: Agriculture & Forestry (food provision, timber production, soil fertility, pollination, habitat intactness); Nature & Health (habitat intactness, local air & climate regulation); Natural Catastrophes (coastal protection, erosion control, inland flood control) and Water (quality, security).
Each project will incorporate relevant work on BES scenarios, eg IPBES nature future scenarios and IPCC scenarios. It is important to build local and regional granular data and to (i) consider the potential developments of the many drivers that lead to BES decline locally and regionally, (ii) perform field case studies and (iii) analyse the scenarios' results in relation to the risks they imply for businesses (actively producing in the case study region) and for the regional government and/or public.
