Summary
After enjoying a day of excursions and respite from discussions in plenary, apart from some contact group meetings, IUCN members reconvened on Friday for the 6th sitting of the Members’ Assembly. In the morning, members considered and adopted the draft IUCN Programme 2017-2020 and the Report of the Congress Programme Committee. Members called for: coherence of motions with the programmatic themes on species, governance and nature-based solutions; recognition of agreed-upon language and definitions of “biodiversity” from other UN processes; elaboration on the biodiversity-agriculture linkages, particularly regarding freshwater; and greater emphasis on ecosystem-based adaptation, mitigation measures and nature-based solutions.
In the afternoon, during the 7th sitting of the Members’ Assembly, members heard presentations by, and voted for candidates for the positions of: President, Treasurer and the Chairs of: the Species Survival Commission; the World Commissions on Environmental Law and on Protected Areas; and on the Commissions Education and Communication; Ecosystem Management; and Environmental, Economic and Social Policy. The Secretariat presented: the IUCN's Financial Report by the Director General and Treasurer for the period 2012-2016; the report of the Congress Finance and Audit Committee of the Audited Financial Statements for the years 2012-2015; and the appointment of the external auditors, assigning this role to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In the evening, the Members’ Assembly resumed voting on a number of motions. The Secretariat also presented the outcome of the elections for positions of the IUCN Regional Councillors, Commission Chairs, Treasurer and President for the period 2017-2020. The Members’ Assembly re-elected Zhang Xinsheng as IUCN President and Patrick de Heney as Treasurer for the period 2017-2020. A contact group met in the evening on motion 7 on closure of domestic markets for elephant ivory.
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6th Sitting of the Members' Assembly
View of the dais during discussions of the draft IUCN programme 2017-2020
Zhang Xinsheng, President, IUCN
Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General
John Robinson, Councillor for North America and Vice President, IUCN
Tamar Pataridze, Regional Councillor
for Eastern Europe, North and
Central Asia, IUCN
Cyriaque Sendashonga, Global Director, IUCN Policy and Programme Group
Delegates during the session
Gabriela Pignataro,
Cultura Ambiental, Uruguay
Manu Monge Ganuzas,
Geological Society of Spain
José Brilha, European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage
Abdou Kane, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Senegal
Nicholas Robinson, International Council
of Environmental Law (ICEL)
Tereza Thompson, State Nature Conservancy, Slovakia
Marina von Weissenberg, Department of the Natural Environment/Biodiversity, Finland
View of the dais during the discussion on the progress report of the Resolutions Committee
Malik Amin Aslam Khan, Vice President, IUCN
Simon Stuart, Species Survival Commission, IUCN
Cath Wallace, Environment and Conservation Organisations
of New Zealand
Antonio Claparols,
Ecological Society of the Philippines
Margaret Beckel, Canada National Committee, IUCN
Skumsa Mancotya, Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa
Delegates vote for various motions throughout the morning
7th Sitting of the Members' Assembly
Delegates gather for the 7th sitting of the Members' Assembly to elect the IUCN Commission Chairs, Treasurer and President
Michael Wilson, Election Officer, IUCN
Delegates vote for the officers
Patrick de Heney, Treasurer, IUCN
Spencer Thomas, Chair, Finance and Audit Committee, IUCN
Delegates applaud the election of the IUCN Regional Councillors, Commission Chairs, Treasurer and President
Sean Southey, Chair, Commission on Education and Communication
Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair,
Species Survival Commission
Angela Andrade, Chair,
Commission on Ecosystem Management
Antonio Herman Benjamin, Chair, World Commission on Environmental Law
Kathy MacKinnon, Chair, World Commission on Protected Areas
Kristen Walker Painemilla, Chair, Commission on Environmental,
Economic and Social Policy
Patrick de Heney, Treasurer, IUCN
Zhang Xinsheng, President, IUCN
Around the Venue
Delegates speak informally between sessions
Sione Leolahi, Niue Island United Association of NGOs,
with Siosiua Latu, Ministry of Meteorology, Energy
and Information, Tonga
Susan Lieberman, Wildlife Conservation Society, US, with Dawud Mume, Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority
A delegate reads the IISD website for
coverage of the IUCN Congress
Jaime Bonilla Barbosa, Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation, Mexico, and Olivier Chassot, Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation, Costa Rica
