Razan Al Mubarak, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), announced yesterday that IUCN will hold its 108th Council Meeting in Abu Dhabi from January 18-20, 2023. The meeting convenes just one month after the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework where nations pledged to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and to protect at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas.

 

With over 1,450 member organizations and more than 15,000 international experts, IUCN provides public, private, and non-governmental organizations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development, and nature conservation to take place together.

 

The IUCN meeting will bring together nearly 100 Council members, staff, and expert volunteer conservationists from around the world, including West and Southeast Asia, Oceania, South and North America, Africa, and West, Central, and East Europe. The meeting will focus on these latest developments in nature conservation and explore opportunities to incorporate nature and biodiversity conservation into the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) process, which will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023.

 

This is not the first time that Abu Dhabi has hosted IUCN functions. Beginning in 2008, and again in 2012, 2015, and 2019, Abu Dhabi sponsored the leadership and planning meetings of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission – an entity responsible for the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Over 200 delegates from around the world convened in Abu Dhabi during each of those four events.