Highlights and images for 12 October 2025

“Nature is more than a goal. It is a teacher of wisdom, resilience, and renewal.” On Sunday, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Business Summit provided space for exchanging success stories and insights on achieving outcome-driven impacts on nature.  

The morning sessions saw conservation and financial professionals convene to bridge the gap in understanding expectations from both sides of the equation. Focusing on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 3, to conserve 30% of lands, waters, and seas by 2030, panelists in the Business Pavilion showcased outcome-based mechanisms driving area-based conservation. These included the Coral Triangle Conservation Fund set up to protect biodiversity in the Coral Triangle, and the use of certifications and innovative finance by the Sango Nature Project in Zimbabwe. Delegates further underscored the role of the IUCN Green List, among others, in providing the international-level credibility in area-based conservation efforts that financial partners seek.

A fireside chat invited global business leaders to reflect on careers spent integrating nature into their industries, with panelists spotlighting the human side of business and nature. They made the case for hope in the face of political and fiscal headwinds, underscoring the decisive shift toward implementation for nature-positive outcomes by businesses and conservation practitioners alike. 

Over in the Asia Pavilion, delegates heard about the strategic role of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in meeting global biodiversity and sustainability objectives, including GBF Target 3. Panelists emphasized wider society engagement and buy-in through these projects, highlighting best practices from OECMs implemented across the Asia Pacific region, and insight across levels of governance and implementation. Among others, they pointed to the availability of risk-assessing tools such as the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool, to enable informed decision making by businesses regarding their nature-based dependencies.

An event on the new Collaborative Initiative on Invasive Alien Species (IAS), led by IUCN alongside institutional partners and businesses, informed delegates of the definition, risks, and costs of IAS. Business representatives on the panel shared insight as to why and how they take these species into account throughout their operations. Delegates discussed the need for awareness raising and collaborating across different levels, including practical implementation with local entities – illustrating as an example the importance of ensuring that plant IAS, when removed, can be replaced by endemic or local species.

Later in the day, delegates came together for a reflective dialogue, sharing take-aways, ideas on how to engage businesses further, and lessons learned across the plethora of events hosted under the Summit’s auspices. Among others, they: underscored that integrating nature is essential for successful transition strategies; highlighted the need for knowledge and imagination; called for more storytelling and promoting stories of hope; building trust; and seeking out stakeholders with differing views to reach mutual understanding.