• “Countries are taking a very shortsighted view of the need to fuel their economies at the expense of nature, so much so that we’re now at crisis point when it comes to the loss of biodiversity,” says Jane Smart, Director, IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group. “This year we have a one-off opportunity to really bring home to the world the importance of the need to save nature for all life on earth. If we don’t come up with a new plan now, the planet will not survive.”
• “21 percent of all known mammals, 30 percent of all known amphibians and 12 percent of all known birds assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species are under threat,” says Bill Jackson, IUCN Deputy Director General. “If the world made equivalent losses in share prices there would be a rapid response and widespread panic, as we saw during the recent economic crisis. The loss of biodiversity, crucial to life on earth, has, in comparison, produced little response. By ignoring the urgent need for action we stand to pay a much higher price in the long term than the world can afford.”
• “SBSTTA is a crucial step in the process to stop the extinction crisis. If governments accept the science that’s presented to them in Nairobi, we stand a chance of reversing the current loss of biodiversity,” says Sonia Peña Moreno, IUCN Policy Officer- Biodiversity. “ If they choose to reject the facts that the natural world is in real danger, the effects could be devastating”
Press Materials and Events:
Thursday 6 May – IUCN statement on SBSTTA
Mon 17 May - 1100-1130 Press Briefing/Statement on IPBES
Wed 19 May - 1100-1130 Press Briefing/Statement on Invasive Species
Fri 21 May - Closing Statement
Photos/Audio/Video/Statements can be downloaded from the Media Section at www.iucn.org/media
Nicki Chadwick, Media Relations Officer, t +41 22 999 0229, m +41 79 528 3486, e email@example.com
Pia Drzewinski, Media Relations Officer, t +41 22 999 0313, m +41 79 857 4072 e firstname.lastname@example.org
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
The world's oldest and largest global environmental network, IUCN is a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. IUCN's headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.