IUCN’s programme is delivered through its more than 1,100 members, its five volunteer commissions, and its secretariat. With official observer status at the UN, IUCN already has a strong relationship with the UN – something this partnership builds on. Its membership base, comprising States, Government Agencies and NGOs gives it a strong, and perhaps unique, advantage of being able to convene both government and civil society to address some of the major conservation and environment issues of our time. This is of particular importance in the UNEP/UNDP/IUCN partnership as IUCN can bring the perspectives of civil society to the table more strongly.
Its evolving programme of work will help leverage other international processes, including: the agreement on the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – the Aichi targets; and the ongoing negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where there is a particular focus on EbA; the Unions core knowledge products of the Red List of Threatened Species, the Red List of Ecosystems, the Key Biodiversity Areas, and, in partnership with UNEP-WCMC, the World Data Base of Protected Areas. These are important aspects of IUCN’s work on EbA, which is delivered through its global thematic, regional and national programmes and through the commissions – with over 50 projects focusing on EbA or/and Disaster Risk Reduction. Our EbA work is also delivered through the Union’s three main programmatic areas of a) Valuing and Conserving Nature; b) Governing Nature’s use and sharing its benefits; and c) Deploying nature-based solutions to climate, food and economy. IUCN’s Ecosystem Management Programme (EMP) is taking a lead in developing a learning framework around EbA, which will also integrate learning on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). UNEP, UNDP and IUCN are also partners in PEDRR (Partnership on Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction).
Through the provision of sound policy advice, and the development and implementation of programmes that help demonstrate sound biodiversity management practices on-the-ground and build capacity to sustain them, UNDP helps more than 140 countries to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, and to secure ecosystem services that are vital to human welfare and their development efforts.
UNDP plays a key role in helping countries to develop climate change adaptation strategies as part of their broad development frameworks, which integrate cost-effective, locally appropriate EbA options based on the available science. UNDP has also been a leader in developing the capacity of developing countries to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, with a total portfolio of 80 projects around the world with UNDP administered funding amounting US$300 million and over US$600 million in co-finance.
UNEP works to equip people and countries to cope with observed and anticipated impacts, reduce their vulnerabilities and increase their resilience. Priorities include building and strengthening national institutional capacities, and supporting national efforts to incorporate adaptation measures into country development planning and policy-making, consistent with countries’ priorities. UNEP has selected EbA as its focus area within its adaptation programme combining its long term involvement in addressing climate change issues and its extensive experience in managing ecosystems. In supporting countries to put in place EbA approaches UNEP focuses on national programmes to undertake vulnerability and adaptation assessments, share scientific and policy-related information for decision-making and carry out pilot demonstrations of how vulnerability to climate change can be reduced. UNEP also works with countries to undertake economic analysis of climate change impacts and adaptation options, and supports countries in accessing bilateral and multilateral sources of adaptation finance. In its support UNEP will seek to build to a maximum on ongoing programmes and to bring in the EbA dimension.
The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme and WCMC 2000, a UK-based charity. UNEP-WCMC is an internationally recognized Centre of Excellence committed to the synthesis, analysis and dissemination of global biodiversity knowledge, providing authoritative, strategic and timely information for conventions (including CBD, CITES and CMS), countries, organizations and companies to use in the development and implementation of their policies and decisions.
