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Story 25 Nov, 2024

Collaborating for Nature

With the World Conservation Congress taking place in Abu Dhabi in October 2025, IUCN’s Sonia Peña Moreno shares her tips on how Members can best frame their motions to Congress.

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Abu Dhabi is hosting the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress

Next year, the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) – held every four years – is taking place in the United Arab Emirates. This important assembly brings together thousands of leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, academia and Indigenous peoples’ organisations. These stakeholders discuss how to find conservation solutions and use nature to overcome global environmental challenges.

IUCN Members can work together to submit motions – draft decisions – during a set period before the Congress and right before it, in the form of new and urgent motions, as a way of guiding the IUCN’s general conservation policy and Programme.

After an online discussion of all motions, a good number of them are voted on by Members electronically before the Congress, while others requiring more in-depth discussion and debate are tabled for the Members’ Assembly. Once adopted, motions become Resolutions and Recommendations, and constitute IUCN’s general policy.

Since IUCN was established in 1948, it has adopted 1,466 Resolutions and Recommendations. “More than 600 of those have been already archived, meaning that the main actions have been completed,” says Sonia Peña Moreno, Director of IUCN’s Centre for Policy and Law. “It doesn’t mean they are no longer valid or important, just no longer active.”

GOOD EXAMPLES

Several well-structured motions became Resolutions in 2021’s WCC in Marseille, including a strategic call for a deep sea mining moratorium and a post-pandemic resolution promoting human and environmental health by addressing biodiversity loss. One Council-sponsored motion covering all aspects of IUCN’s position around developing and implementing an effective Global Biodiversity Framework was merged with elements of motions submitted by Members, as they were addressing similar issues. “So, the decision was made to merge them into one big umbrella motion that provides us with clear direction to operate in this space,” says Peña Moreno.

“These motions worked well because they didn’t repeat previous recommendations and they were discussed by a wide variety of Members, and had buy-in from the outset,” she says.

Organisations used the Regional Conservation Fora, online discussions and the Congress itself to allow Members to have their say, ensuring a comprehensive final Resolution.

WORLD CONGRESS 2025

Different Members will have their own priority topics, but certain themes are likely to be popular. For example, exploring IUCN’s role in supporting countries with their implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

IUCN’s Members have helped set the international conservation agenda by issuing over 1,466 Resolutions since 1948

Successful IUCN Resolutions

Climate change: In 1960, an IUCN Resolution called attention to climate change and its impact on conservation several decades before it was generally recognised as a major issue.

Tiger conservation: In 1969, the passing of a moratorium on the hunting of tigers lead to India’s Project Tiger, which has been credited with saving the Bengal tiger.

Indigenous peoples’ rights: A 1994 Resolution on IUCN action on Indigenous people and sustainable use of natural resources led to the permanent inclusion of an Indigenous representative on the IUCN Council.

Protected areas: The proposal for a transboundary protected area between the US
and Canada led to the Kluane/Wrangell-St Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek transboundary World Heritage Site, the world’s largest such protected area.

Plant conservation: The resolution on plant conservation in Europe supported the foundations of the Global Strategy on Plant Conservation, adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity
in 2002.

I see the potential for a motion calling for IUCN to have a more prominent and concrete role in the rollout of GBF’s Target 3 (known as 30x30) or the operationalisation of other Targets

says Peña Moreno.

The IUCN Council can also send motions that fill policy gaps. If Members submit similar topics, she says, they would most likely be merged with the Council-sponsored motion. Other areas of interest, including framing species-related targets, fostering implementation of a future plastic pollution treaty, Indigenous rights, nature education and biodiversity credits, as well as clarifying the meaning of ‘nature-positive’, could also be of interest to Members at the upcoming Congress.

Some more controversial topics – namely geo-engineering in climate change and using synthetic biology in nature conservation – are likely to generate lots of discussion. Members are also very interested in how they can shape IUCN’s thinking about climate liability and redress, and how to pay or compensate for environmental damages.

 

Submitting a Motion

Members may submit motions from 1 November 2024 until 15 January 2025. Before drafting potential motions, Members should first check what’s already in the system. “Do your homework,” says Peña Moreno, stressing the benefit of consulting IUCN’s Resolutions and Recommendations platform.

New motions shouldn’t repeat things already included in existing and active Resolutions. “For example, if you were looking to submit a motion on the conservation of turtles in Costa Rica, check whether we have anything on conservation of turtles more general.

It’s important to make sure there’s a need for new policy guidance and that it has a strong rationale. Ask yourself: “Is it factual? Is it grounded in science?”

The other thing to consider is whether there is enough funding, capacity and resources for implementation. “There is a tendency to submit motions without thinking about how to implement them once they become Resolutions,” she says.

 

Clarity is key. “If it’s too high level and other Members don’t understand what you’re calling for, chances are it will remain in the pool of active Resolutions which are never implemented.”

These Motions have the opportunity to bring lots of our membership together, and that’s important

If you’re sponsoring a motion, you will need at least five more Members eligible to vote to partner up with you. “But the more Members involved, the better,” she says. IUCN’s dedicated platform is set up to make this easy. “You can start putting together ideas and save a draft,” she explains. If you’re preparing a motion around protecting the vaquita in Mexico and another Member is interested in this topic, they can see your draft on the system and contact you, so you can work together on one single strong motion.

This collaboration between Members around the world, working together for conservation, is key to IUCN’s value. “These motions have the opportunity to bring lots of our Membership together,” says Peña Moreno. “And that’s not only important but very powerful.”