We're in an extinction crisis.

"Biodiversity is declining by 5% every year by most indicators. Most of the global population are living in areas that are experiencing high impact from declines of biodiversity, but also water availability, food security, and an increase in health risk.

"The Nexus report is a global assessment, but we know nature is really important in New Zealand for multiple reasons.

"In this report we look at things like soil biodiversity, which is really important for agricultural production. It's about how we manage it, ways to mitigate water use and things like soil erosion, which reduce food productivity.

"We also look at things like invasive species. One of our case studies is domestic cats in New Zealand, they have massive impact on our native birds and also native reptiles. But they also shed toxoplasmosis that can cause abortion in sheep – that's another production issue. We've also got evidence that toxoplasmosis gets washed through freshwater systems and out to sea, where it can infect and kill critically endangered Māui dolphin, which are a tāonga species for Māori. Toxoplasmosis also affects human health, as it can cause abortion, eye problems, and various other health problems. 

"What we are also trying to do with this report is present some of the options available, so that people at all levels, governments and individuals, can do something about biodiversity loss.

"Māori worldviews don't separate themselves as people from the environment. We're also encouraging a much more holistic approach to ourselves and the way we live in the world.

The mission of IPBES is to strengthen policy and decision-making through research and science for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, human well-being and sustainable development.

"What does nexus mean; and why the nexus imperative?

"Nexus refers to a focal point; the intersection or connection between things, people or events. The IPBES Nexus assessment examines the interconnections between biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change. The report helps decision-makers better understand these interconnections and tackle challenges and unlock opportunities in holistic and integrated ways.

"Institutionalising nexus thinking and enabling nexus governance is challenging. But this is urgent, vital work. And we have a head-start in Aotearoa New Zealand. For more than a decade, through the National Science Challenges, the country’s leading researchers, Māori and Pākehā, worked in close partnership with government, tangata whenua, civil society, and the private sector, to advance understanding and enable action on some of the country’s most pressing challenges.

"The country is now at a turning point – a nexus – for understanding and addressing these challenges. The integrative, transdisciplinary National Science Challenges have been halted. The basis for funding and conducting research in Aotearoa New Zealand is under review as our universities and research institutions struggle to make ends meet. To compound matters, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology has halted Marsden funding for blue-sky social science and humanities research on the grounds that only ‘hard science’ and technology can advance the economy. Is this a harbinger of things to come?

"Our environmental governance regime is being overhauled. The government has decided that a “Fast-Track” approach is the most appropriate way to address our complex and contested intertwined cultural-socio-economic-political-environmental issues; all but quashing opportunity for public scrutiny, deliberation and reflexivity. The economy is deified over social, cultural and environmental values.

"The government’s Treaty Principles Bill unilaterally limits Māori rights and Crown obligations, provoking more than 42,000 people to protest outside parliament, with many more in support around the country. The cultural and moral affront is lost on those advocating the Bill.

"The nexus imperative is clear and compelling. And the IPBES Nexus Assessment is a foundation for recalibrating our thinking and action, in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world.

To date, most actions taken on challenges related to biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change have been taken separately, in single-issue silos. Such an approach misses important opportunities for achieving co-benefits across challenges, while risking perverse outcomes where an action taken towards one challenge may have negative or unintended consequences for another.

"For example, single-issue approaches may prioritise planting rapidly growing pine trees in response to climate change, rather than conserving and restoring native biodiversity that can deliver positive outcomes for nature, people, and the climate. Unsustainable food production may be incentivised for short-term economic gain via a siloed approach, instead of supporting a shift towards more sustainable, equitable, and healthy food practices that can deliver multiple positive outcomes for human health, water, climate, and biodiversity.

"The need for holistic ‘nexus approaches’ that address interconnected challenges together has never been more urgent.

"The IPBES Nexus Report considers the complex interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change to provide guidance towards more holistic approaches that can achieve multiple co-benefits. In doing so, the report offers alternative pathways – across knowledge systems, sectors, and disciplines – to inform more integrated decisions and actions for a more just, sustainable, and biodiverse future.

This report highlights the urgent need for integrated, evidence-based approaches to tackle the interconnected crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and food security. For Australia, the findings are particularly relevant as we grapple with growing pressures on our unique ecosystems. Delaying action will escalate environmental decline and significantly increase economic and social costs.

While market-based mechanisms, like the proposed Nature Repair Market, offer valuable incentives for landholders and businesses to restore biodiversity, they must be complemented by direct and substantial investment from the government. Public investment is critical to scale up conservation, restoration, and sustainable land management across the country, ensuring these efforts deliver tangible long-term benefits.

The report makes clear that pathways prioritizing conservation, restoration, and equitable resource use can strengthen rural economies, build resilience to climate change, and safeguard Australia’s natural heritage. By investing in solutions that combine scientific innovation with Indigenous knowledge systems, we have a unique opportunity to lead globally and secure a sustainable, nature-positive future. The evidence and tools are here—what we need now is bold leadership and immediate action.”

This report is a powerful call to action, underscoring the urgent need for integrated approaches to address the interconnected challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, food security, and human health. The findings demonstrate that business-as-usual pathways—characterized by overexploitation of resources and unsustainable food systems—will exacerbate environmental decline and economic instability.

The report’s identification of scenario archetypes, particularly the Nature-Oriented Nexus and Balanced Nexus, highlights that timely, well-coordinated investments in conservation, restoration, and sustainable practices can reverse biodiversity loss while delivering wide-ranging benefits for water, food systems, climate mitigation, and human well-being.

Importantly, the evidence emphasizes the need for strong governance, equity, and inclusion to ensure that solutions are effective, just, and scalable. It is critical that policies align across sectors and scales, integrating science, technology, and Indigenous knowledge systems to drive transformative change.

This is not just about protecting nature—it’s about securing the foundations of human prosperity. The report provides a roadmap for governments, businesses, and communities to work together to build resilient ecosystems, sustainable economies, and healthier societies. The evidence is clear: we must act now, and we must act collectively.

This current season of intergovernmental environmental meetings since Mid-November has not been very successful. 

The Convention on Biological Diversity COP 16 could not finish and will resume in February, COP 29 of the Convention on Climate Change left many delegates disappointed and the Convention on Combatting Desertification COP16 finished with the major items of work unfinished. 

Many felt the eleventh meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform (IPBES) might go the same way.  Yet, despite some last-minute drama, and many sessions of arguing over contentious words, a major global assessment on the links among biodiversity, water, food and health (so-called nexus assessment) was approved. 

Although there are many messages in the assessment, for me two key take-aways were: Biodiversity loss and climate change are interdependent and produce compounding impacts that threaten human health and human well-being, resulting in a need to move from current siloed modes of governance through more integrative, inclusive, equitable, accountable, coordinated and adaptive approaches; and that  Indigenous Peoples and local communities already possess capacities for nexus governance approaches. Implementing these messages in other sectors of society will achieve positive change in biodiversity and start to rebuild a sustainable planet.