At the opening of the day, Rosina Bierbaum, STAP Chair, provided an overview of scientific developments related to the GEF-8 agenda, explaining that we have now transgressed six planetary boundaries, including climate change, biogeochemical flows, biosphere integrity, land system change, novel entities (toxics and plastics), and green water. She called attention to the “transformation/risk/innovation trio,” saying transformational change will require innovation, which can entail risks.
Among other conclusions from the nine new papers prepared by STAP, Bierbaum noted that policy coherence creates synergies, helps manage trade-offs, avoids damaging behaviors, and ensures global environmental benefits are not undermined by misaligned policies. She highlighted many possibilities for future work, including a report for the GEF Assembly focusing on the transformation/risk/innovation trio, developing a training course on the theory of change and multi-stakeholder dialogues, and developing a data and knowledge management platform on mercury.
