Essential Biodiversity Variables.

This article discusses the development of a global observation system for the collection of data on biodiversity change as part of biodiversity conservation efforts established by the Parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) Aichi Targets. Topics include the establishment of internationally accepted Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to standardize biodiversity monitoring processes, the concerns posed by species populations and community compositions that could necessitate representative sampling across taxonomic groups, and the involvement of groups such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), nongovernmental organizations, and citizen-scientist communities in the process.