Summary
IUCN members convened in plenary for the 4th sitting of the Congress on Wednesday morning to continue discussing issues of strategic importance for the Union. Members also considered how the IUCN should address the challenge of building constituencies for nature. The Chairs of the respective IUCN Commissions then delivered their reports.
In the 5th sitting in the afternoon, IUCN introduced the Regional Councillor candidates from the eight regional panel discussions, and invited candidates from each region to respond to two questions: what critical issues are currently facing IUCN and what role the Council should play in addressing them; and how they would make IUCN more relevant in their respective region. Members were then invited to vote for 28 Councillor seats, before approving the mandates of the IUCN Commission 2017-2020 and hearing the report of the meeting of all recognized National and Regional Committees, held on 1 September 2016. Members voted in favor of the motion on strengthening corporate biodiversity measurement, valuation and reporting.
Contact groups met throughout the day to advance deliberations on Motions, including on: incorporating urban dimensions of conservation into IUCN's work; protection of primary forests, including intact forest landscapes; IUCN’s response to the Paris Climate Change Agreement; and taking greater account of the ocean in the climate regime.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has produced daily reports, daily web coverage, summary videos from the Forum and the Members Assembly, as well as a summary report from the IUCN Congress 2016, which is available in HTML and PDF format.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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4th Sitting of the Members’ Assembly
View of the dais during the 4th sitting of the Members' Assembly
Simon Stuart, Species
Survival Commission, IUCN
Michael Wilson, Election Officer, IUCN
John Robinson, Councillor for North America and Vice President, IUCN
Rossana Berrini, Ministry of Housing, Land
Planning and Environment, Uruguay
Cath Wallace, Environment and Conservation
Organisations of New Zealand
Gloria Ujor, Nigerian Environmental Study Action Team
Om Sophana, Mlup Baitong Organization
Panel speakers discussing issues of strategic importance for IUCN - building constituencies for nature
Miguel Pellerano, Regional Councillor for
Meso and South America, IUCN
Margaret Otieno, Wildlife Clubs, Kenya
Malik Amin Aslam Khan,
Vice-President, IUCN
Nizar Hani, Lead Advisor, Ministry
of Envrionment, Lebanon
Kobie Brand, Regional Director, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
Ramiro Batzin, Indigenous Sotzil of Guatemala
Roberto Vides-Almonacid, Regional Vice Chair,
Latin America, IUCN
Delegates during the meeting
Zhang Xinsheng, President, IUCN
Piet Wit, Chair, Commission on Ecosystem Management, IUCN
Kathleen MacKinnon, Chair, World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), IUCN
Antonio Herman Benjamin, Chair, Commission on Environmental Law (CEL), IUCN
Aroha Mead, Chair, Commission
on Environmental, Economic and
Social Policy (CEESP), IUCN
Nancy Colleton, Chair, Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), IUCN
5th Sitting of the Members’ Assembly
Regional Councillor candidates from the African Region
Regional Councillor candidates from the West Asia Region
Regional Councillor candidates from the West Europe Region
Regional Councillor candidates from the Meso and South American Region
Delegates vote for regional candidates
View of the dais
Around the Venue
Zhang Xinsheng, President, IUCN, and Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General
Delegates speak informally
With backgrounds painted by the elephant Rama, this 'inter-species' art from the
Rama Exhibition
aims at raising awareness about the plight of endangered species