Noticias 08 Oct, 2024

IUCN Leaders Forum to harness innovative solutions to global challenges

Geneva, Switzerland, 8 September 2024 –The third edition of the IUCN Leaders Forum opened today in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme “harnessing innovation, enabling conservation”. The event is unique as experts in environmental science and conservation meet directly with business leaders to formulate actions to achieve global sustainability and a liveable planet for people and nature.

“The IUCN Leaders Forum is more than just a platform for dialogue – it’s a catalyst for impact. In this era of intertwined crises – climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and social inequality – we must embrace innovative and inclusive conservation approaches. Our aim here is to create, share, and scale solutions that drive transformative change, ensuring that sustainability is a journey and that we can all take part,” said Dr Grethel Aguilar, Director General of IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The IUCN Leaders Forum will include an array of leading speakers, including Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General for the Environment, European Commission, Patricia Danzi, Director-General, Swiss agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Amna Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates, Serge Wilmes, Minister of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Government of Luxembourg, and several private sector leaders such as Antonia Gawel, Global Director of Sustainability & Partnerships, Google, Ingrid De Ryck, Chief Sustainability Officer, AB InBev, Lucita Jasmin, Group Sustainability Director, RGE (Royal Golden Eagle), and many more.

“Our partnership as the EU with IUCN is a deep one and has delivered a lot of successes. Internally, driving us to new conservation measures, but also internationally,” said Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General for the Environment, European Commission. “This Leaders Forum comes at the right moment. Not just because you as leaders will be defining and identifying the new themes that will be brought forward at the World Conservation Congress next year, but also at the three COPs that are just ahead of us.”

“We believe that protecting our natural heritage is not a choice but a responsibility that falls on everyone. The UAE is deeply honoured to be the host of the next IUCN World Conservation Congress, which will take place in one year and one day from now. Let’s continue the momentum and let’s make sure that the conversation and dialogue stays alive from now to the next CBD COP, and all the way to next year,” said Amna Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates.

“I am pleased to welcome you in Geneva, with Switzerland as host of IUCN and co-host of this Forum. Following the success of the IUCN Leaders Forum 2023 edition, here we are again to build a bridge between nature and the economy,” said Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative to the Office of the United Nations, Swiss Confederation.

The Leaders Forum will see the launch of an IUCN report that calls on countries to rethink agricultural incentives to help biodiversity. The new publication explores the complex relationship between farming and conservation, finding that the amount of agricultural support is positively correlated with the number of species threatened.

Further business leaders, Indigenous peoples’ representatives, young changemakers and Ministers will be leading sessions at the conference.

The inaugural IUCN Leaders Forum took place in Jeju Province, Republic of Korea, in 2022 and focused on building nature-positive economies and societies. The second edition of the IUCN Leaders Forum was held in Geneva, Switzerland in 2023, and focused on moving the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15) in December 2022, into action.

This edition of the IUCN Leaders Forum is hosted in Geneva by the Federal Office for the Environment of the Swiss Confederation.

The full programme of events, and speaker line-up, can be accessed here.