Shaping a sustainable future

IUCN Programme 2009-2012

Greening the world economy

In recent years, the global economy has confronted many challenges; climate change, volatile food and fuel markets, and the crumbling of the financial system stand out as particularly daunting threats to the wellbeing of societies around the world. The current vulnerability of human welfare can be interpreted as the result of widespread application of an unsustainable model of economic development. As highlighted by the recent crises, there is an urgent need to re-align our economies with the basic principles of sustainability and to bring our political representatives and society at large to understand that true prosperity is only possible if economies effectively support and do not undermine environmental systems. As is increasingly apparent from effects of climate change, the resilience of the global economy is fundamentally determined by environmental factors and the capacity of societies to understand, manage and adapt to natural processes. Unfortunately, the full values of wild nature and the benefits of sound environmental management are still poorly recognized and largely excluded from economic thinking. An important step in the transition to a more sustainable global economy is the fuller integration of ecosystem values in economic policy, finance, and markets.

What do we do about it?

Armed with its unique combination of scientific expertise and convening power, IUCN has a critical role to play in providing decision makers with the knowledge and tools needed to embark on the path towards a greener economy. By reaching out to its broad constituency and mobilizing its membership, IUCN will

IUCN/Alicia Wirz

International Union for Conservation of Nature

The IUCN Programme 2009-2012, Shaping a sustainable future, is articulated around one core programme area, Conserving biodiversity, and four thematic programme areas: Changing the climate forecast, Naturally energizing the future, Managing ecosystems for human well-being and Greening the world economy. It is entirely result-based for greater accountability and transparency.

Greening the world economy

enhance the capacity of the conservation community to effectively engage with and influence economic decisions and policies. These efforts will be complemented by targeted interventions in a range of key economic and business forums, such as through the development of new green markets or by engaging with leading companies.
Greatsky/Dreamstime.com

What do we do about it?

Armed with its unique combination of scientific expertise and convening power, IUCN has a critical role to play in providing decision makers with the knowledge and tools needed to embark on the path towards a greener economy. By reaching out to its broad constituency and mobilizing its membership, IUCN will enhance the capacity of the conservation community to effectively engage with and influence economic decisions and policies. These efforts will be complemented by targeted interventions in a range of key economic and business forums, such as through the development of new green markets or by engaging with leading companies.

What more is needed?

In order to scale up its role in facilitating the transition to a more sustainable economy, an initial priority for IUCN is to enhance its in-house capacity to influence relevant policy processes and business decisions. Internal capacity building goes hand-inhand with enhanced communication and coordination across the Union, to ensure that the conservation community is well-equipped to support the greening of economic systems from local to global levels. It will be important to ensure that the knowledge generated across the Union is continually improved. Thus, IUCN will work on developing and refining appropriate tools, guidelines, and related capacity building efforts. For instance, robust sustainability standards in key economic sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and extractives need to be continually tested and refined. Moreover, IUCN will have a key role to play in pooling experiences and reaching beyond specific industry sectors to generate a more profound change in current ways of doing business. The assessment of the environmental implications of macro-economic policies and trends also needs to be supported through the application of the appropriate and upto-date knowledge and analytical tools.

What has been done so far?

With a leading role in The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study, IUCN is at the forefront of global efforts to generate knowledge and raise awareness of the economic values of wild nature. IUCNs work at the international level also involves the identification and elaboration of innovative opportunities, approaches, tools, and sources of financing for sustainable development. Current work on a Green Development Mechanism (GDM) and International Payments for Ecosystem Services (IPES) are two examples of how IUCN is playing a leading role in exploring the frontiers of conservation finance. Another example of relevant field-based work is found in Ghana, where IUCN is leading a collaborative process to develop standards for the sustainable management of the supply chain of an increasingly important forest commodity: the Allanblackia nut with the support of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO). The guidance resulting from this project on the sustainable exploitation of forest-based resources in the tropics offers useful insights into the greening of trade and markets.

International Union for Conservation of Nature

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN is the worlds oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union of more than 1000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. programme@iucn.org. www.iucn.org.