During the Science and Technology in Society Forum 2025 in Kyoto, Japan, Prof. Phoebe Koundouri spoke at the Biodiversity Session, which focused on the urgent need to address the accelerating loss of biodiversity and the challenges of translating scientific evidence into effective policy and action.
In her intervention, Prof. Koundouri approached biodiversity from an integrated economic modeling and valuation perspective, emphasizing holistic, science-based solutions to implement global biodiversity commitments within the UN Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She presented a three-stage framework developed by the UN SDSN Global Climate Hub, which she chairs, to guide biodiversity resilience and conservation management. This framework involves measuring and monitoring biodiversity using satellites, drones, IoT, and AI; modeling and co-designing interconnected systems that link biodiversity with climate, land use, agriculture, and marine ecosystems; and financing and embedding biodiversity within economic and financial systems by valuing natural capital and integrating it into cost–benefit analyses and national accounts.
Prof. Koundouri emphasized that effective biodiversity management depends on recognizing and valuing its contribution to the sustainable interaction among nature, the economy, and society.
The session was chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, President of the International Science Council (ISC), and featured inspiring contributions from Prof. Andrew Fire (Stanford University School of Medicine, Nobel Laureate 2006), Dr. Doug Hilton AO (CSIRO, Australia), Philippe Mauguin (INRAE, France), and Adam Falk (Wildlife Conservation Society).
