IUCN World Conservation Congress

The IUCN World Conservation Congress is the largest gathering of nature conservation experts, leaders and decision-makers in the world. It will help shape global priorities for nature conservation and climate change for the coming decade and beyond.

The IUCN Congress 2025 will take place 9–15 October in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, under the slogan Powering transformative conservation. Held every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress brings together world leaders and representatives from governments, science, academia, Indigenous peoples’ groups, non-governmental organisations, regional and local authorities and businesses to help address the world’s most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 will address the following five themes:

• Scaling Up Resilient Conservation Action
• Reducing Climate Overshoot Risks
• Delivering on Equity
• Transitioning to Nature-Positive Economies and Societies
• Disruptive Innovation and Leadership for Conservation

These themes emphasise the need to accelerate the implementation of the global biodiversity framework, to climate-proof conservation solutions, and to combine ancestral Indigenous knowledge with cutting-edge innovation at all levels, from local to global. They also stress the importance of including all voices, from Indigenous peoples to civil society to rangers, shift to nature-positive economies globally, and empower the next generation of leaders.