A partnership of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, formed to promote, facilitate, and catalyze scientific research on biodiversity including its origin, composition, ecosystem function, maintenance and conservation. Its goal is to provide accurate scientific information and predictive models of the status of biodiversity and sustainability of the use of the Earth's biotic resources, and to build a worldwide capacity for the science of biodiversity.

An international global environmental change research programme sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU)