Highlights and images for 12 October 2025

In an increasingly interconnected world, it is clear that nature conservation can no longer be addressed in isolation. From considering the biodiversity impacts of renewable energy infrastructure to the cross-cutting role of tax reforms and auditing practices, conversations on the fourth day of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress 2025 explored how to foster greater interlinkages and encourage creative collaborations across different sectors, levels, and communities. In the afternoon, the Congress’s Forum concluded with a recap of the many new initiatives, partnerships, and knowledge products launched.

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

High-level Dialogues

The dialogue on Transformational Change from Rio and Beyond: An All-out Push for the 2030 Goals served as a platform to discuss the importance of greater synergies among the three Rio Conventions on desertification, biodiversity, and climate change. Speakers called for a whole-of-society approach to foster momentum for the transformative change required to achieve land, nature, and climate goals.

The Balancing Act: Feeding People, Sustaining the Planet dialogue explored ways to reconcile agricultural production for a growing population with healthy ecosystems and people. High-level speakers took stock of progress made since the 2021 Food Systems Summit and noted food as a cross-cutting issue affecting biodiversity and climate change. Throughout the conversation, agroecology and agroforestry emerged as meaningful approaches to transform food systems and empower smallholder farms, as well as Indigenous Peoples and youth.

Selected Thematic Sessions

The session Nature Positive Renewables: Aligning Climate and Energy Goals opened with keynote speaker Marco Lambertini, Nature Positive Initiative, who recalled the recent news that global renewable energy generation has now surpassed fossil fuels. The discussion then turned to the risks of harming biodiversity in the race to achieving net zero carbon emissions, contrasting, among others, the “net zero” approach in climate policy with the “net positive” approach in biodiversity policy, where active restoration is needed. Speakers also showcased different success stories, aligning renewable energy projects with biodiversity objectives.

Given that 55% of the world’s population currently resides in urban areas, the session Rethinking Urban Conservation: Framing New Opportunities for Urban Protected Areas provided a platform to spotlight the role of Urban Protected Areas (UPAs) as a “first point of contact between people and nature.” Participants lamented the lack of funding for UPAs and welcomed the upcoming 11-year update of the IUCN Urban Protected Areas Guidelines. Positive examples mentioned included Guatemala City’s transformation into a green city with over 5000 hectares of green spaces and London’s designation as a National Park City.

A Global Strategy for Conserving Freshwater Biodiversity session revolved around the development of IUCN’s first global, union-wide Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. The session highlighted the importance of freshwater ecosystems as biodiversity hotspots and ecosystem service providers but also noted a stark decline in freshwater species populations, with a quarter of them threatened with extinction. Experts laid out the Strategy’s pillars, discussed the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and highlighted the need to monitor the various freshwater biodiversity-related motions before the Members’ Assembly.

Changemakers Pitch

The changemakers pitch event, A Journey with the Changemakers: Lessons and Growth, reunited former IUCN changemakers to reflect on their projects. They demonstrated how their initiatives have grown and diversified, and discussed ongoing challenges, such as lack of proper mentorship and bias against female and youth social entrepreneurs.

Exhibitor Event

Under the heading The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund: Early Successes and Perspectives, representatives from Mexico, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Madagascar shared experiences in developing and implementing projects under the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBF Fund), launched in 2023 to enhance implementation of the Kunming-Montreal GBF. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Chair and CEO, Global Environment Facility (GEF), lauded the GBF Fund’s reduced project approval time and its diverse capitalization, combining government contributions with private sector funding.

Forum Closing

As the curtains closed on the Forum, IUCN Director General Grethel Aguilar emphasized that “one truth has become undeniably clear: conservation works.” She highlighted some key announcements made during the Congress, including the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3, the launch of the Rapid High Integrity Nature Positive Outcomes approach, the second Nature-based Solutions Global Standard, and the IUCN Glacier Action Network. She closed by affirming the message: “put nature at the heart of everything we do.”