Crucial discussions on the environment and conservation began in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with a call to protect nature amid a polarised world.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress is expected to draw 10,000 visitors – from climate campaigners to scientists – with more than 1,000 scheduled sessions on arresting the global decline in biodiversity.
It is the first time the event that is held every four years has been staged in the UAE and comes less than two years after the country hosted Cop28.
“We stand at a critical juncture,” Surangel Whipps Jr, President of Palau, said at the opening ceremony. “Around the world we see shrinking resources, wavering commitments and shifting priorities. While we must acknowledge these realities, we cannot be paralysed by them.
“The decisions we make here will shape our future. Local action can create global impacts.”
Dr Amna Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said the “protection of the planet is a humanitarian responsibility”. She said everyone was “united in agreeing on a plan of action”.
Scientists believe climate change and biodiversity are intertwined. A changing climate can disrupt biodiversity through hotter days and habitat loss, while weaker diversity can hurt an ecosystem’s resilience.
There are more than 169,000 species on the current IUCN Red List, with more than 47,000 species threatened with extinction, including 44 per cent of reef-building corals and 41 per cent of amphibians.
What can be achieved?
Over the course of the gathering, which runs until October 15, those on the front lines of conservation aim to find solutions.
An updated IUCN Red List is expected along with a new European Red List with a focus on pollinators.
Conservation awards will be presented and IUCN members -ranging from NGOs to Indigenous groups - will vote on hundreds of motions. Although they are not legally binding the motions can help shape policy.
The event is also expected to honour conservationist Jane Goodall, who died on October 1. National pavilions, including one representing the UAE, will showcase conservation efforts.
Razan Al Mubarak, president of the IUCN, said the congress comes at a “decisive moment for the world”.
“Multilateralism, once a cornerstone of global progress, is under strain,” she said. “But amid these challenges a new spirit of co-operation is emerging and taking shape, led by nations and communities that recognise that the well-being of people and the well-being of nature are inseparable.
“As we open this congress, we must also ask ourselves: is it enough? Are we moving fast enough to hold biodiversity loss? Are we restoring ecosystems at the scale that nature demands? And is finance and technology reaching the people on the front lines. Our answers must not only be honest but they have to be ambitious."
The 2030 deadline is looming for significant global agreements such as the Paris climate pact’s aim to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – a global deal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
Next month, the Cop30 climate talks will begin in Brazil as the tense geopolitical situation, with wars in Gaza and Ukraine, draws the focus away from climate change.
US President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly in September that climate change was a “con job”. The US is also withdrawing from the Paris agreement. Scientists believe that since the Paris accord was adopted projected global temperature rises have dropped from 4ºC to 2.6ºC, providing current national climate plans are followed through.
Despite these efforts, climate records have continued to be broken in the UAE and around the world.
The UAE recorded its hottest April this year while, globally, last year was the hottest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
Dr Grethel Aguilar, director general of IUCN, said the world faces many “daunting” challenges such as biodiversity loss, funding cuts for nature and growing polarisation.
But she said: “We do not give up because we know life on Earth depends on the actions we take today. We do not give up because we trust science and traditional wisdom. We do not give up because we have experience and courage on our side. And we do not give up because together we are an unstoppable force for change.”
Mr Whipps also said there was a “volatile global context” but respect for the limits of nature were essential. He reiterated calls for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining, stating it posed “an existential risk”.
The opening ceremony also heard from Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco and featured a panel to discuss key biodiversity themes.
The IUCN is being held under the patronage of President Sheikh Mohamed and the opening ceremony was attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
“In the words of the late Jane Goodall, let us choose clarity over complacency, let us choose courage over caution and co-operation over division,” Ms Al Mubarak said. “Let this congress light the path to 2030 and beyond. Let it be the moment the world's union for nature rose to meet the challenges of its time, together with urgency and resolve.”
