What are your hopes for the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025? How does the event align with your priorities in terms of driving change for nature and people?
As Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), my hopes for the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 are rooted in the urgent need to accelerate transformative action for both nature and people. This Congress is a pivotal opportunity to galvanise political will, scientific innovation, and inclusive partnerships at a time when the world faces unprecedented biodiversity loss, climate instability, rampant pollution and growing inequality.
I hope the Congress will serve as a powerful platform to translate global commitments, such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, into concrete, localised action. UNEP is particularly focused on integrated solutions that address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss – including land degradation – and pollution and waste. Therefore, we look to this event to catalyse scalable initiatives that restore ecosystems, enhance nature-based solutions, and strengthen the rights, knowledge, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
This Congress also aligns strongly with UNEP’s priorities of promoting inclusive, science-based policymaking and fostering collaboration across governments, civil society, the private sector, and academia. We hope to see renewed investment in economies that are nature-positive and inclusive, with nature embedded in decision-making across sectors – from finance and infrastructure to agriculture and urban planning.
Another key priority for UNEP is ensuring environmental multilateralism delivers results. The Congress offers a critical space to reinforce coherence among international environmental agreements, encourage accountability, and promote innovation through digital and financial tools that can track and amplify conservation outcomes. The discussions, commitments and results of this Congress are part of the international drumbeat for strengthening environmental multilateralism that will culminate at the 7th session of the UN Environment Assembly in December in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ultimately, my hope is that the IUCN Congress 2025 will not only inspire commitment but drive measurable impact, shifting conservation to the mainstream of sustainable development. It must reaffirm that protecting nature is not just an environmental imperative but a foundation for peace, health, and prosperity for all. UNEP stands ready to support this global movement with the science, partnerships, and leadership it requires.
How can events such as the IUCN Congress accelerate action and ambition for nature and people?
I believe events like the IUCN World Conservation Congress play a crucial role in accelerating action and ambition for nature and people. These gatherings bring together governments, civil society, Indigenous peoples, scientists, and the private sector to forge partnerships and catalyse solutions that address our planet’s most urgent environmental challenges.
The Congress provides a unique platform for aligning conservation goals with the global sustainability agenda, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By showcasing best practices, scaling up nature-based solutions, and fostering innovative financing, the Congress helps move commitments from paper to practice.
Crucially, the Congress elevates the voices of communities on the frontlines of environmental change, particularly Indigenous peoples, women, and youth, ensuring that conservation efforts are inclusive, rights-based, and effective. It also helps set the tone for multilateral environmental processes by highlighting advanced science and policy innovation.
UNEP sees this Congress as a catalyst for unified, bold action. It strengthens momentum for a just transition toward economies that are nature-positive and inclusive and reinforces the principle that protecting nature underpins human well-being and sustainable development. This convergence is essential to securing a thriving, resilient planet for current and future generations. Convening private sector and creating entry points for businesses looking to engage in ambitious conservation efforts will help to turn ideas into collective and meaningful action.
Which IUCN Congress 2025 themes do you see as particularly critical to current global conservation efforts, and why?
I view three themes of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 as especially critical to advancing global conservation: Scaling Up Resilient Conservation Action, Delivering on Equity, and Transitioning to Nature-Positive Economies and Societies.
Scaling Up Resilient Conservation Action is vital amid escalating climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation. Conservation must move beyond small-scale efforts to holistic, landscape-level approaches that strengthen both ecological resilience and community well-being. UNEP supports ecosystem-based solutions that integrate restoration with climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, particularly for vulnerable populations. Recognising the role of trophic and functional biodiversity is essential to maintaining ecosystem services and stability.
Delivering on Equity is both a moral and practical necessity. Conservation cannot succeed without the active inclusion and leadership of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth. These groups are often most affected by environmental change yet are essential stewards of biodiversity. UNEP champions rights-based, inclusive governance that ensures fair and equitable sharing of both conservation benefits and responsibilities.
Transitioning to Nature-Positive Economies and Societies addresses the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss. A redefinition of prosperity is needed; one that recognises the true value of healthy ecosystems. Shifting financial flows and policies towards restoration, strengthening of livelihoods and sustainable use is central to this transition. UNEP is actively working to integrate the value of nature into public and private decision-making, aligning with Goal B of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the broader 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Together, these themes lay the groundwork for a new, transformative conservation paradigm. The IUCN Congress 2025 offers a vital opportunity to unify global action around these priorities and turn ambition into practical, scalable solutions. UNEP is committed to supporting this effort through science, policy, and partnership.