My project is entitled "What role should the concept of ecosystem service play in the response to the ecological crisis?". In it, I'm looking at the relationship between science and society, particularly as regards ecology and the erosion of biodiversity.

The concept of ecosystem service refers to "the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems", which can be the production of wood and food, the purification of air and water, or the ability to admire a beautiful landscape. This concept has enjoyed great success since the 2000s, and has been used by the scientific community to formulate recommendations for limiting the erosion of biodiversity and its deleterious effects on human life. However, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the main international group of experts on biodiversity under the aegis of the United Nations, took the decision to reassess the relevance of the ecosystem service concept in developing its recommendations in 2015. Indeed, the lack of inclusiveness of the ES concept, deemed too Western-centric, and the failure to take account of indigenous and local knowledge systems would limit the political credibility of their recommendations, risking delaying or preventing action to counter biodiversity erosion. The approach developed by IPBES has been criticized for losing scientific rigor in favor of political objectives. I argue that the IPBES approach is scientific and consistent with the objectives the platform has set itself. To this end, I draw on feminist epistemology and decolonial thought.