1 September 2016: The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Conservation Congress (WCC), ‘Planet at the Crossroads,’ opened on 1 September in Honolulu, Hawai’i, the US. The WCC will focus on the challenge of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 15 years. Over 6,000 participants from around the world are expected to attend the WCC, making it the largest gathering of environmental policymakers since the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and agreement on the SDGs.

The WCC is IUCN’s highest decision-making body and meets every four years to bring together leaders from government, the public sector, non-government organizations (NGOs), business, UN agencies and indigenous and grassroots organizations to discuss and decide on solutions to global environment and development challenges.

Among other objectives, the World Conservation Congress will launch the Hawai’i commitments: globally transformative and innovative conservation initiatives to meet the critical challenges and opportunities of our time, including the imperative to scale up action on biodiversity and the SDGs. The event will consist of the Members’ Assembly, which will deliberate on IUCN resolutions and recommendations regarding key conservation issues, and a four-day Forum with debates, workshops, dialogues, round-table discussions, training courses, music and exhibitions focusing on protected areas (PAs), natural capital, biodiversity offsets, ocean governance, oil palm expansion and ecotourism.

The WCC will convene from 1-10 September. [WCC Website] [IISD RS Coverage of the WCC] [CITES Secretary-General Opinion Piece]