IUCN Digest – 3rd October 2023

IUCN
October 11, 2023

IUCN Digest

Welcome to the bi-weekly digest for IUCN Members and IUCN Commission members.

Message from the President and Acting DG

Dear Members,

The IUCN Leaders Forum is almost here. Next week, from11-13 October in Geneva, Switzerland, global leaders and changemakers from different sectors will gather to discuss the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Under the theme of “Global goals for nature: Tracking progress, financing success”, the exciting programme features many high-level speakers. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all Members, Commissions, National and Regional Committees who submitted a proposal for an event at the IUCN Pavilion Unite for Nature at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai. Applications are currently under review by a selection committee, comprised of representatives from Council, Commissions and the Secretariat. Lastly, we are pleased to share with you the IUCN Position Paper for COP28. We look forward to socialising our 10 key messages with all stakeholders in the run-up to this momentous event. We hope to work with all of you in this crucial process, and invite you to share these messages with your own partners and networks.

Sincerely,

Al Mubarak Grethel Aguilar

President Acting Director General

News

IUCN News pages

Launch of Publication ‘International Applications of Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction in Coastal Areas’

IUCN and AI2 to provide AI technology at no cost to fast-track implementation of newly signed UN High Seas Treaty

Bolstering Biodiversity: Kenya Species Specialist Group Launched at Inaugural Wildlife Scientific Conference

IUCN at International Open Access Week : Get Involved Pathways to a meaningful engagement: discover, communicate, leverage

Major natural areas receive World Heritage protection, based on IUCN advice

Applications for the Prestigious 2023 UN Global Climate Action Awards Now Open

Check out the IUCN Member magazine Watch the new IUCN Commissions Video

IUCN ENGAGE

Ahead of the UNEA Global Consultation on Nature-Based Solutions, taking place 9-13 October 2023 in Nairobi, join one of our 2 webinars on the IUCN Nature-Based Solutions Standard. Interpretation in French and Spanish will be available. Learn more and register: Morning session, 9-10am CEST Afternoon session, 4-5pm CEST

Events

IUCN Events IUCN at the 25th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to the CBD, Nairobi, Kenya, 15-19 October 2023. Interregional Committee for Europe, North and Central Asia(ICENCA), Meeting for the IUCN Member community in Europe, North and Central Asia, Yerevan, Armenia 16 – 18 October 2023. IUCN Leaders Forum 2023, Geneva, Switzerland, 11-13 October 2023. IUCN at the Third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution (INC-3),Nairobi, Kenya 13 – 19 November 2023. UNFCCC COP28, UN Climate Change Conference, Dubai 30 November to 12 December 2023.

Resolutions and Recommendations

From 15 to 19 October 2023, the international community will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, for the 25th Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SBSTTA-25). The meeting will consider ways to facilitate the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) and the monitoring of its progress, and will make recommendations derived from the work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), among other things. You will find below a selection of IUCN Resolutions that relate to these aspects. Resolution 7.043 – Enhancing implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) calls on Members to advocate for the role of ambitious NBSAPs and a ratcheting mechanism for enhancing the implementation of the KM-GBF, and requests IUCN’s Secretariat and Members to assist Parties in the development of NBSAPs based on science. Resolution 7.057 – Accounting for biodiversity: encompassing ecosystems, species and genetic diversity requests IUCN to partner with UNSD and others in the application of accounting to support the derivation of indicators of biodiversity change, and to underpin the production of data for assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Resolution 7.096 – Maximizing return on conservation investments and sustainable development: eradicating invasive alien species (IAS) to conserve island biodiversity and benefit societyrequests the relevant Rio Conventions to incorporate polices that promote the increased scale, scope and pace of IAS eradications from islands worldwide, to promote and support transfer of knowledge products that inform prioritisation of efforts, and to track returns on investments to biodiversity, people and local communities. Resolution 7.116 Develop and implement a transformational and effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework provides detailed information on what the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework should include, and makes a specific call for an equitable, nature-positive and net-zero world to ensure there is more nature globally in 2030 than there was in 2020. It therefore calls on Members to support the implementation of a GBF that clearly addresses both direct and indirect drivers of the loss of biodiversity, aims to half the footprint of production and consumption, and mainstreams biodiversity across all sectors, among other things. The IUCN Position Paper for SBSTTA25 is available here. We invite all our Members to share it widely!