Media registration now open for IUCN World Conservation Congress

Gland, Switzerland, 16 February 2016 (IUCN) - IUCN has opened media registration for the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016, the first milestone conservation and sustainable development event following the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

‘The time is now,’ says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General. ‘And the IUCN World Conservation Congress is the place to seize this opportunity and start putting last year’s historic agreements on sustainable development and climate into action.

At the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016, top policy-makers and global business leaders will come together with leading scientists, field technicians and civil society organisations to define sustainable options for moving last year’s global agreements into effect.

This year’s Congress takes place 1-10 September in Honolulu, Hawai’i, U.S.A., having received strong endorsement from President Barack Obama, his administration and the State of Hawaiʻi. Hosting the event in Hawaiʻi brings the world’s attention to islands, the oft-forgotten frontline of climate change and microcosms of the wonders of nature, the threats facing it, and the solutions it can provide.

Media opportunities at the IUCN Congress:

• Latest news – IUCN and its Members and partners will announce the latest advancements in conservation and sustainable development
• Government announcements – IUCN Congress is a high-profile opportunity for government leaders to announce major commitments and new conservation initiatives
• Interview opportunities – Interview leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, indigenous peoples, business and academia from around the globe
• Press trips – IUCN will host members of the media on select press trips with IUCN experts to illustrate some of the conservation issues to be discussed at the IUCN Congress

Background on the IUCN Congress:

• Largest regularly-held conservation event in the world
• Held every 4 years
• Attended by 6,000 to 8,000 delegates including Heads of State, CEOs and civil society leaders
• Builds consensus among IUCN’s more than 1300 Member organisations
• IUCN Members include civil society organisations and over 200 government agencies from 173 countries
• In 2 parts: a 4-day open debate called The Forum and the 5-day decision-making Members’ Assembly
• The 2016 theme is ‘Planet at the Crossroads’. Nature conservation and human progress are not a zero-sum game, but we have to make solid decisions now
• IUCN has a 68-year track record of initiating and advising global conservation treaties and initiatives including the World Heritage Convention, the Ramsar Convention, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES),  the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and others.

More information: http://2016congress.iucn.org/

Social media: Follow us at @IUCN #IUCNcongress and Facebook

For more information please contact:

• Goska Bonnaveira, IUCN Media Relations, e-mail: goska.bonnaveira@iucn.org, mobile +41 79 276 01 85
• Mark Gnadt, IUCN Congress Communications Officer, e-mail: mark.gnadt@iucn.org, mobile +41 79 560 62 89