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IUCN Director General’s open letter to Members ahead of UNEA5.2
24.02.2022

Dear IUCN Members, With the pandemic still affecting daily lives around the world, the year begins with international gatherings of importance to our Union and its mission.

IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) postponed
03.02.2022

The Inaugural IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC), previously scheduled for 7-12 March 2022, has been postponed to 18-23 July 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda.

A tribute to Professor E.O. Wilson
25.01.2022

IUCN is deeply saddened by the death of Professor E.O. Wilson – recipient of the IUCN John C. Phillips Memorial Medal in recognition of his outstanding service in international conservation. As Pellegrino University Research Professor and Emeritus in...

Remembrances of Tom Lovejoy - the "godfather" of biodiversity
04.01.2022

IUCN is deeply saddened by the passing of conservation pioneer Dr Tom Lovejoy on Christmas Day 2021. Among many other roles, Dr Lovejoy served as Chair of the Board of Directors of IUCN-US and was a long-time member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (...

IUCN mourns the loss of leading conservationist Professor Richard Leakey
04.01.2022

IUCN is deeply saddened by the passing of IUCN Patron of Nature Professor Richard Leakey – an eminent paleoanthropologist and conservationist celebrated for his fossil discoveries and his efforts to preserve the wildlife of the African continent.

IUCN report identifies sites with World Heritage potential in Himalaya and beyond
16.12.2021

Gland, Switzerland, 16 December 2021 (IUCN) – A new report lists seven broad areas in the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram mountain ranges where new natural World Heritage sites could be found. It also identifies possible extensions of existing...

Dragonflies threatened as wetlands around the world disappear - IUCN Red List
09.12.2021

Gland, Switzerland, 9 December 2021 (IUCN) – The destruction of wetlands is driving the decline of dragonflies worldwide, according to the first global assessment of these species in today’s update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Their decline is...

All coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean at high risk of collapse within 50 years
06.12.2021

Gland, Switzerland, 6 December 2021 (IUCN) - A new assessment of the coral reefs of the Western Indian Ocean shows that they are all at high risk of collapse within the next five decades. Ocean warming and overfishing were identified as the main threats...

Spanish government renews support for IUCN’s activities in the Mediterranean
19.11.2021

On 18 November, the Spanish third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, and the Director General of IUCN, Bruno Oberle, signed a Collaboration Protocol to continue promoting the...

IUCN welcomes recognition of nature’s role at COP26 and calls for more ambition
12.11.2021

IUCN welcomes the progress made in Glasgow, including with respect to nature. However, it stresses that this headway will not be sufficient to “keep 1.5°C alive”, and calls for significant and meaningful step change at COP27. We are running out of time and...

IUCN statement to UN Climate Change Conference 2021
10.11.2021

During the 10 November plenary session of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland (COP26), IUCN Director General Dr Bruno Oberle delivered IUCN’s statement on the many ways nature can help address the climate crisis. Read the full...

Corporate disclosures related to nature lagging far behind climate
05.11.2021

Gland, 5 November 2021 (IUCN) - New analysis from CDP and the IUCN suggests that companies are failing to adequately recognize and take action on risks posed from nature in their environmental plans and strategies, with an overwhelming focus on climate.

Nature-based solutions for climate resilience receive €10 million boost
05.11.2021

Glasgow, 8 November 2021 (IUCN) - At the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the Federal Environment Ministry of Germany (BMU) announced it will provide an additional €10m to the Global EbA Fund, a pioneering funding mechanism implemented by IUCN...

To keep global warming below 1.5°C, a significant contribution from Nature-based Solutions is necessary and possible: report by UNEP and IUCN
05.11.2021

Strong safeguards and additional finance will be required. Gland/Nairobi, 5 November 2021. Analysing scientific literature, the new report by UNEP and IUCN finds that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can deliver emission reductions and removals of at...

IUCN applauds decision to place climate finance in the hands of nature's most effective stewards
02.11.2021

Glasgow, United Kingdom, 02 November 2021 (IUCN) – Today at the World Leaders Summit at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 26th Conference of Parties (UNFCCC COP26), a landmark announcement was made by a coalition of governments and...

IUCN statement for the G20 Rome Summit
29.10.2021

As the Rome Summit begins, IUCN calls on the G20 leaders to step up efforts and live up to their role, demonstrating with clear commitments that building forward better is not only desirable but possible.

Human activity and climate change mean forests in 10 UNESCO World Heritage sites were net carbon emitters
28.10.2021

The first ever scientific assessment of the amounts of greenhouse gases emitted from and absorbed by forests in UNESCO World Heritage sites has found that at least 10 key sites have been net carbon sources ...

IUCN closing statement – part one of the UN Biodiversity Conference
18.10.2021

The first part of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) closed on Friday 15 October 2021. As we look to the UN Climate Change Conference beginning on 31 October, we must also reflect on the conclusions...

IUCN Director General’s statement for World Food Day
16.10.2021

Agriculture and conservation both rely on healthy nature. Rich biodiversity lives in the agricultural soils and landscapes covering 40% of the planet. There is huge potential for sustainable agriculture to conserve and restore nature – but current practices...

IUCN statement on UN recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
11.10.2021

IUCN applauds the United Nations Human Rights Council’s decision that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right. A decades-long effort, the new resolution is a crucial and timely decision as humanity grapples with the planetary threats of...

IUCN Director General’s statement for the UN Biodiversity Conference
11.10.2021

Biodiversity continues to decline at unprecedented rates. The resulting global loss of life and livelihoods is an existential emergency. Last month, IUCN’s 1,500 Members discussed the post-2020 global biodiversity framework at the IUCN World Conservation...

IUCN Congress closes with call for a post-pandemic recovery based on nature
10.09.2021

Marseille, France, 10 September 2021 (IUCN) – The IUCN World Conservation Congress closed today in Marseille and online, setting the nature conservation agenda for the next decade and beyond. The IUCN Congress urged governments to implement a nature-based...

IUCN Members elect new leadership
08.09.2021

Today, 8 September 2021, Members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) elected Razan Al Mubarak as the new President at the ongoing IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille. IUCN Members also elected the Treasurer, Commission...

Threats to crop wild relatives compromising food security and livelihoods
07.09.2021

Marseille, France, 6 September 2021 (IUCN) – Over 70 wild relatives of some of the world’s most important crops are threatened with extinction, according to a new IUCN co-authored study launched today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille....

IUCN and German government support post-COVID recovery through sustainable tourism initiative
05.09.2021

Marseille, France, 5 September 2021 (IUCN) – At the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, IUCN and the German development agency GIZ today announced a new programme to strengthen the resilience of community-based tourism in and around protected and...