WCC 2020 Res 114 - Progress Report

The implementation of the resolution continued to make strong progress over the last year with the support of multiple constituents across the Union, including the Inter-Commission Task Force on Biodiversity and Climate. A joint statement issued by the chairs of all seven IUCN Commissions on the importance of integrating solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises ahead of UNFCCC COP28, as well as the IUCN President assumption of the role of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the UAE COP28 Presidency, highlighted the more visible and prominent positioning of the Union in the biodiversity-climate space. The growing global momentum in support of integrated climate and biodiversity action was also directly evident in the formal outcomes of COP28, for example in the global stocktake decision, where governments explicitly underlined the ‘urgent need to address, in a comprehensive and synergetic manner, the interlinked global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss’. The need for such integration was also reinforced in the ‘COP28 Joint Statement for Climate, Nature and People’ co-led by the UNFCCC COP28 and CBD COP15 Presidencies, and through other high-level ministerial roundtables, which IUCN actively supported, including through the ENACT Partnership. This effort towards greater integration was continued through to UNFCCC COP29, where in addition to its active policy advocacy, IUCN, for the first time, co-hosted a dedicated Nature and Biodiversity Day jointly with the Azerbaijan COP Presidency, convening global leaders from across government, civil society, indigenous peoples and business to align and strengthen collective nature and climate action. In addition, important technical work in support of the resolution was also advanced over the last year. These included a CEM-led publication on ‘Climate Mitigation and Biodiversity Conservation’, which explored the impacts of some climate mitigation initiatives and carbon market mechanisms on biodiversity, the production of two joint technical briefs ‘Connecting the Dots 1 and 2’ by WCPA and the Climate Crisis Commission, which made the case for stronger synergies between the CBD and UNFCCC processes, including through potential joint work programmes, and new guidance produced jointly with members and partners, as part of the Nature4Climate coalition, on better integrating nature-based solutions within the 2025 NDCs, among others. IUCN also closely engaged in and contributed to advancing the biodiversity and climate change agenda within the CBD process, and supported the enhancement of synergies, through nature-based solutions, across all the three Rio Convention COPs that were held in 2024, respectively in Cali (CBD COP16), Baku (UNFCCC COP29) and Riyadh (UNCCD COP16).