World News | IUCN President Razan Mubarak opens 109th Council meeting

dubai [UAE]24 May (ANI/WAM): Razan Al Mubarak is chairing the 109th Council meeting of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which began yesterday and will run until 25 May.

Al Mubarak, who has been at the forefront of important local and international environmental initiatives for many years, was elected IUCN President in September 2021 for a four-year term. She is the second woman to lead the prestigious conservation organization and the first from the Arab world.

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One of the key issues on the agenda this week in Gland, Switzerland is integrating nature and biodiversity conservation into the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) process. COP28 will be held in Dubai Expo City from 30 November to 12 December 2023.

“It is a fact that climate change is directly contributing to the extinction of species,” said Al Mubarak, who is also a high-level UN climate change advocate on the UAE leadership team at COP28.

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“Rising levels of greenhouse gases and corresponding increases in temperature and other adverse impacts are putting additional pressure on thousands of species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,” she said. “At the same time, natural ecosystems provide critical services that help address the climate challenge. They store carbon and protect people from the worst effects of climate hazards such as rising sea levels, floods, heat waves and drought.”

“Because of this, exploring the convergence of agendas between biodiversity and climate change is a logical and critical step,” Al Mubarak said.

IUCN Council meetings are usually held twice a year, the most recent meeting being held in Abu Dhabi in January this year. As Chair, Al Mubarak’s role is to convene the Council, facilitate discussion, acknowledge differing perspectives, represent IUCN membership, and help build consensus among Council members.

The IUCN is one of the main proponents of the view that nature-based solutions are key to efforts to keep global warming well below the 2°C threshold above pre-industrial levels agreed through the United Nations framework part. In addition to reducing emissions, nature-based solutions — such as tackling deforestation, restoring ecosystems and improving farm management — will enhance adaptation as humans grapple with some of the inevitable climate change impacts. For example, the IUCN estimates that nature-based solutions can reduce the intensity of climate- and weather-related disasters by nearly a third.

There have been some efforts to incorporate nature-based solutions into UN climate change negotiations. At the end of last year, during COP27 in Egypt, the host country launched the ENACT initiative together with Germany and the IUCN. This voluntary coalition of state and citizen actors is coordinating global efforts to apply nature-based solutions to climate change, ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. One outcome is the publication of the annual State of Nature-Based Solutions report. The first issue of the report is expected to be shared at COP28 in the UAE.

In the UAE, Al Mubarak, who is also managing director of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency (EAD) and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, has been an active advocate for the idea that restoring natural habitats is not only good for biodiversity but also for climate and livelihoods . EAD has been a pioneer in researching and protecting mangrove habitats and seagrass beds and raising awareness of their strategic importance to the UAE.

The UAE has been a staunch supporter of the IUCN for decades. Abu Dhabi is a former framework donor to the organization and has hosted the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s expert group chair meetings four times since 2008.

UAE-based IUCN members include the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Al Ain Zoo, Houbara International Conservation Foundation, and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, UAE WWF – WWF and Emirates Environment Group. (ANI/WAM)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)