O relatório de avaliação global sobre biodiversidade e serviços ecossistêmicos: o IPBES e as línguas indígenas e locais

Abstract

The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2019) documents the state of global biodiversity and ecosystem services and their consequences for humanity. It calls on governments, policymakers, managers, and the general public to engage in conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of nature. Considering languages and the sustainability of ancestral knowledge as inseparable, this study analyzes how Indigenous and local languages are incorporated into the report, published by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - IPBES. Can we truly speak of a consistent language policy in favor of Indigenous and local languages? Using a discursive orientation, we compiled an archive of 34 discursive sequences (DSs) containing the term language. Of these, 12 occurred in the titles of referenced works. Our initial analysis explored whether these works addressed Indigenous and local languages in the context of biodiversity conservation. Most cited works oppose the linguicide of Indigenous and local languages, either explicitly or by promoting respect for diverse cultures and worldviews. The remaining DSs also revealed support for incorporating these languages. Our findings highlight a contradiction between the report’s recommendations on linguistic plurality and IPBES’s own structure, which relies solely on the six official UN languages.