IUCN calls for stronger collaboration among Rio Conventions at COP30 in Belém

Speaking at a Ministerial roundtable convened by the Brazilian COP30 Presidency, IUCN carried the call from its Members at the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress, held last month in Abu Dhabi. The Union urged bold, coordinated action to enhance synergies across multilateral environmental agreements – particularly the three Rio Conventions: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

“We all know that climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation are deeply interlinked on the ground. Therefore, so must be our policy responses,” said Dr Sandeep Sengupta, IUCN’s Head of Delegation at COP30 and Global Policy Lead for Climate Change. “The scale and urgency of the crisis means that the planet, and especially the most vulnerable – whether Indigenous Peoples or fragile ecosystems – can no longer afford us to keep working in siloes.”

As the first UN climate conference to be held in the Amazon, COP30 presents a crucial opportunity to harmonise national policies, align reporting processes and strengthen meaningful collaboration across conventions, Sengupta noted. He expressed IUCN’s hope that COP30 will serve as a springboard for building synergies that can achieve a net-zero, climate-resilient and nature-positive future.

“IUCN is keen to see concrete outcomes and decisions from Belém that advance cross-convention coherence, including potentially through joint work programmes, where helpful,” he added.

IUCN’s intervention took place during the COP Presidency’s high-level event “From Rio to Belém: securing a renewed legacy for climate, biodiversity, land and sustainable development at COP30” on Wednesday, 12 November, which invited governments and other stakeholders to share successful examples of synergistic policies and discuss how COP30 can help accelerate coordinated action.

IUCN also highlighted its contributions to the COP30 Action Agenda, particularly on forests, oceans and biodiversity, and spotlighted the ENACT Partnership, co-chaired by Egypt and Germany, as a concrete and practical implementation vehicle that can enable the accelerated scaling-up of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in support of all the Rio Conventions, supported also by the IUCN Global NbS Standard.

For more information on IUCN’s key messages for COP30, read the IUCN Position Paper for UNFCCC COP30.