IUCN World Conservation Congress: Demonstrating the power of many
The Congress set a bold vision for nature conservation over the next 20 years and called for action on the solutions needed to ensure nature continues to underpin human and planetary health.
By Dr Noëlle Kümpel, Senior Policy Advisor
We just wrapped up the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, after a packed, inspirational and exhausting seven days, working with passionate and knowledgeable advocates for nature from across the globe, within and beyond the BirdLife Partnership.
Dr Lesley Dickie, Executive Vice President for Conservation and the Regions at BirdLife International, said:
“Bringing thousands of conservationists together, the IUCN World Conservation Congress has stimulated vital debate about how we shape our world. It is an ever more important imperative that open dialogue takes place when the stakes are so high. The IUCN Congress gives space for the conversations we must have to save our precious nature. Now, we get back to action.”
The Congress in numbers:
- Over 10,000 participants with representation from more than 45 BirdLife Partners (totalling over 80 BirdLife Partnership delegates)
- 147 resolutions adopted (and 41 motions co-sponsored by BirdLife Partnership)
- 1,360 bird species reassessed as part of the IUCN Red List Update
- 100+ new IUCN Members welcomed, including six new State Members
- 100+ Indigenous Leaders gathered for landmark World Summit
- New IUCN leadership (2026-2029) elected with various BirdLife Partners and supporters on board
A unique forum happening only every four years, the Congress is a big deal for the future of our planet. The world’s largest and most influential gathering on nature, it brought together around 10,000 participants from governments, civil society, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, donors, academia and business. Together we raised the alarm on pressing threats to nature, highlighted solutions and innovations, and set the agenda for policy and action on the ground, endorsing a new 20-year vision for the Union.
The BirdLife Partnership – the world’s oldest and largest global partnership for nature, with 123 national NGO Partners around the world – was there in force, with more than 80 staff from over 45 IUCN Member/BirdLife Partners joining forces for nature. This is always the biggest BirdLife delegation we see in any global meeting, which allows us to catch up with each other as a Partnership and to learn from what is working in different parts of the world.
Header Image: Joseph Daniel Onoja, Director General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation. © IISD/ENB | Anastasia Rodopoulou
“From local roots to global skies, united for nature, we are BirdLife International!”
Korsh Ararat, Project Manager at Nature Iraq
“Bringing thousands of conservationists together, the IUCN World Conservation Congress has stimulated vital debate about how we shape our world. It is an ever more important imperative that open dialogue takes place when the stakes are so high. The IUCN Congress gives space for the conversations we must have to save our precious nature. Now, we get back to action.”
Dr Lesley Dickie, Executive Vice President for Conservation and the Regions at BirdLife International
Taking stock halfway to 2030
This Congress came at a key juncture, midway to 2030. It was a moment to take stock of progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the Paris Agreement on Climate, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The ongoing geopolitics and financial climate continue to challenge the current operating environment. However, an emergency motion reaffirming the importance of IUCN’s role in multilateralism and international cooperation highlighted the need for us to work together. It called on us to underscore the importance of nature as the foundation of economies and societies, and to make clear the links to climate ahead of the COP30 climate talks in Brazil next month.
The power of many: scale and collaboration
We at BirdLife went into the Congress having launched an incredibly exciting new partnership with the World Bank, working with a strategic network of more than 50 of our Partners to scale up implementation and innovative finance for nature across the Africa-Eurasia flyway. It’s exactly this idea of scale and collaboration, which is at the heart of IUCN, BirdLife and our wider partnerships, that are needed to deliver action and finance at the necessary scale and pace to reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030.
The BirdLife Partnership was involved in events across the Forum, which took place on the first days of the Congress, and co-sponsored 41 motions. These were discussed in groups and then voted on in the Members’ Assembly over the final three days.
Highlighting issues and showcasing solutions
Many motions and events highlighted key issues and solutions relating to species, sites, systems and society and covering science, partnership, advocacy, and implementation. With the latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species revealing increasing declines in birds and other taxa, we highlighted how citizen science, such as birding, can help us understand the status and trends of birds and biodiversity to inform policy and action.
Like BirdLife, IUCN continues to champion species and the importance of species data, which underpins some of the critical knowledge products (including the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and Key Biodiversity Areas) and tools (such as IBAT – the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool, AVISTEP – the Avian Sensitivity for Energy Planning, and TESSA – the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment), that help guide conservation and development to ensure optimal and efficient outcomes for nature, climate and people.
Throughout the Congress, we highlighted some of the big initiatives that apply this knowledge and experience together with on-ground expertise through our Partners. We shared insights about our regional flyways initiatives and the Conserva Aves initiative focused on identifying, designating and effectively managing locally-led protected and conserved areas across 11 countries in the Americas. We also talked about our Forest Impact Accelerator initiative, which has just received funding from the UK government to establish sustainable finance initiatives in priority tropical forest landscapes to help secure 1 million hectares of Key Biodiversity Areas alongside economic benefits for 200,000 local people.
We held a side-meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species Energy Task Force, which we coordinate, where we discussed and showcased ways to achieve a just renewable energy transition that contributes to both net zero and nature positive global goals. And we discussed how our new Nature Action Tracker can hold governments to account, understand what works and incentivise efforts, and shared our new guidance on just and effective engagement in landscape restoration.
“This was my first IUCN World Conservation Congress, and I was happy to be there as part of the BirdLife Partnership delegation. Interacting and exchanging with the Partners from other countries is always such a rich experience. The Global Team’s daily briefings and the support on the motions were extremely helpful for us during the Members’ Assembly.”
Alice Reisfeld, Director of Conservation at SAVE Brasil
“The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we work together for nature. It was inspiring for Audubon to stand alongside our BirdLife partners to showcase innovative conservation and advance resolutions that will benefit birds, people, and the planet across the Americas and beyond.”
Christine Dragisic, Managing Director of Global Policy at Audubon Society
The business-end of the Congress
One of the most important outcomes of the Congress is the discussion and agreement of motions, which, if passed, become resolutions or recommendations and guide the work and advocacy of the Union over the coming quadrennium. IUCN members passed 147 motions in total, 97 through an electronic vote last month, and the remainder following discussions in small ‘contact groups’ and when necessary, in plenary before being taken to the vote. While emotions ran high on some, with varying opinions reflecting the diversity of IUCN, the tone remained civil and constructive, enabling compromise to be reached in nearly every case.
Successful motions covered a wide range of issues. We proposed one which passed through the e-vote on ensuring companies disclose and take action to minimise negative impacts on biodiversity in ways that will achieve the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). This highlights the importance of global biodiversity data, such as the IUCN Red List and Key Biodiversity Areas, in helping to guide both development and conservation. It also links to other motions on the need for businesses, sectors such as renewable energy and mechanisms such as biodiversity credits to contribute to the nature positive global goal, which is aligned with the KMGBF mission of halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity by 2030.
Christine Dragisic, Managing Director of Global Policy at Audubon Society (one of our BirdLife Partners in the US) added: “The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we work together for nature. It was inspiring for Audubon to stand alongside our BirdLife partners to showcase innovative conservation and advance resolutions that will benefit birds, people, and the planet across the Americas and beyond.”
Several motions debated and voted on at the Congress focused on area-based conservation. They called for stronger protections against unsustainable tourism, such as the proposal from PPNEA, our Partner in Albania. Other motions addressed the protection of seamounts, the integrity of mesopelagic ecosystems in the oceans, and forest integrity in the Congo Basin. Together, these efforts highlighted the need to deliver both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the ‘30×30’ target of the KMGBF — to effectively and equitably protect and conserve at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine areas by 2030. This includes key areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services, while also beginning to look ahead to more ambitious targets beyond 2030.
There were also several motions relating to the rights of nature, as well as one calling for recognition of the crime of ecocide – interesting developments which would provide additional legal channels to protect nature.
Finally, key motions supporting the non-proliferation of fossil fuels (and an urgent, just, nature-positive renewable energy transition), the need to address plastic pollution following the collapse of negotiations to agree a plastics treaty, and the endorsement of an IUCN policy on synthetic biology provide a strong legacy of this Congress.
Joseph Onoja, Director General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, said:
“From over 40 countries, one flock, one purpose. At the IUCN World Conservation Congress, BirdLife Partners stood united — speaking for nature, people, and the planet we all share.
It was, as always, a great pleasure to join the BirdLife flock at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. We demonstrated remarkable camaraderie, working with clear purpose and unity. Together, we supported motions that not only strengthen the work of IUCN but also advance our shared mission to conserve nature and improve the wellbeing of people.”
I come away from the Congress exhausted but feeling proud and privileged to be working alongside so many amazing, inspirational people, and reinvigorated by the importance and urgency of our cause.