What is the IUCN?
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a Membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. The organisation seeks to find pragmatic solutions to the world’s most pressing environment and development challenges. Created in 1948, the IUCN is the world’s oldest global environmental organisation. It is also the largest, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 government and NGO Members and almost 16,000 volunteer experts in 160 countries.
IUCN World Conservation Congress
The World Conservation Congress is IUCN’s highest decision making body and meets every four years. The Congress brings together several thousand leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, Indigenous peoples, business, and academia with the goal of conserving the environment and harnessing the solutions nature offers to global challenges. The Department of the Environment and Energy, as a government member of the IUCN, actively participates in World Conservation Congress meetings.
- 2012: IUCN World Conservation Congress – Jeju, Republic of Korea
- 2016: IUCN World Conservation Congress – Hawai’i
The Australian Committee for IUCN
The Australian Committee for IUCN Inc. provides a forum for Australian member organisations of IUCN and organisations with primary interests or responsibilities in nature conservation to come together in an equal and constructive partnership to exchange information and views and, through consensus, to develop policy advice, publications and actions to promote IUCNs global mission.
Mr Sean Sullivan, First Assistant Secretary, Policy Analysis and Implementation Division, from the department is the current Chair of the Australian Committee for IUCN.