The Adhoc Global Assessment Dialogue (AGAD) is an informal process that brings together the Heads of Secretariats and the Co-chairs of major global environmental assessments supported by the United Nations and its Member States. It leverages inputs from thousands of scientific authors and stakeholders, with the main objective of finding synergies and opportunities for coordination across major assessments.
The process is not only informal but also technical in scope, reflecting the separate and independent governance systems, mandates, and work plans involved for each of the major global assessment processes—hence the ad hoc term.
The dialogue also aims to serve as an informal mechanism to strengthen the voice of the scientific community and civil society and trigger science-based policy change and action for the urgent transformative change necessary to achieve sustainable development.
The ongoing Adhoc Global Assessments Dialogue (AGAD) was first convened under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Chief Scientist in October 2018 and is coordinated by the UNEP Global Environment Outlook (GEO) team in the Science Division. Its mandate was also reinforced in 2019 through UNEA-4 Resolution 4/23 on keeping the world environment under review that requested the Executive Director of UNEP “to continue to promote greater coherence and coordination of global assessments undertaken within the United Nations system and in cooperation with relevant international bodies and the secretariats of the multilateral environmental agreements”.
The first meeting was attended by Secretariats and Co-chairs of GEO, the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the International Resource Panel (IRP). The participants discussed their governance structures, basic guidelines for consulting assessments and feedback from their Member States. The second meeting was held during the fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly in March 2019, where the production of the “Making Peace with Nature” report was first discussed. The outcomes of this meeting served as an input to EA.4/RES.23, specifically paragraphs 7 and 10.
As the staff at Secretariats and Co-chairs have changed over time, a new round of consultations was started in July 2020, aiming to reinitiate the process. New partners were invited to participate to ensure a more transparent representation of the assessment landscape. This also allows the AGAD to consider various environmental issues and related scientific assessment processes.
In May 2021, a new work plan was approved. The participants agreed to meet quarterly. The main elements of the plans are to have sessions focused on specific potential synergy items, including:
- Mapping the production schedule and major activities of global assessments to increase potential collaboration across assessments;
- Terminology and glossaries: ensuring precise and consistent communication of science is a key goal of all assessment processes;
- Modelling and scenarios: communicating possible futures to decision-makers is one of the most challenging tasks of any assessment.
Since May 2021, the quarterly calls of the group have focused on these topics, peer-review processes, and the need to digitalize them.
The AGAD also agreed to form two subgroups, one focused on glossary development and the other on modelling and scenarios.
The modelling and scenario subgroup, formed by experts nominated by the different assessments, met for the first time in September 2022 and agreed on some ToRs (please see document below).
A list of partners engaged in the dialogue to date includes:
- GEO-7 Secretariat and co-Chairs
- IPCC Secretariat and co-chairs of all thematic working groups
- IPBES Secretariat and co-Chairs
- Chemicals Outlook team at the UNEP Chemicals Branch in Geneva
- Waste Management Outlook Secretariat at the International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) in Japan
- Global Land Outlook team of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and UNCCD Chief Scientist
- Global Sustainable Development Report of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in UN New York
- IRP Secretariat and co-Chairs
- Global Biodiversity Outlook at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat and CBD Chief Scientist
- The Human Development Report
- The World Water Quality Alliance
- The Science Policy Panel on sound management of chemicals and waste
- The Secretariat (based at the European Environment Agency) of the SOER, European Environment – State and Outlook
For further information on the AGAD process, pierre.boileau@un.org and adele.roccato@un.org
This project is co-funded by the European Union.
