IUCN Calls For Environmental Sustainability

World conservation body calls for transition to sustainability

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (also known as IUCN) has called on the environmental movement to play a decisive role in planning and inspiring a transition to a world that sustains abundant and diverse life, human and otherwise, and does so humanely.

The call is outlined in a free book called Transition to Sustainability: Towards a Humane and Diverse World, which IUCN launched yesterday (8 September) and has produced in collaboration with partners including the International Institute for Environment and Development.

The issues the book raises will be discussed next month during the annual IUCN Congress, when 8,000 of the world’s leaders in sustainable development will gather in Barcelona.

The book notes that the world is facing unprecedented challenges from climate change, continuing loss of biodiversity, and the end of the era of cheap oil. All these issues affect nature and people with cascading effects on food, water and energy security. They are coming to a head together, and at a faster pace than most policy makers could have predicted. No one is immune from the influences of these trends, although they hit the poorest and most vulnerable groups the hardest. The future isn’t what it used to be, and there are no road maps for the path ahead. A transition to sustainability is urgent, but is it possible?

The book, written by William M. Adams of Cambridge University and Sally J. Jeanrenaud of IUCN, outlines what is needed to make that transition.

"We must help ‘decarbonise’ the world economy,” says William M Adams, one of book’s co-authors. “Society needs to reduce, redirect and redistribute global consumption, and achieve dramatic reductions in carbon use. We must change the way we think about growth and prosperity, to achieve more with less.”

“We need a new era of conservation that creates a social movement for change and relates to the nature of everyday living – one that embraces sustainable lifestyles and livelihoods as well as endangered species and spaces,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General, IUCN.

“Justice and poverty reduction have to be central to any effective transition to sustainability,” says Steve Bass, from the International Institute for Environment and Development, one of the project partners. “The root causes of environmental problems are often identical to those of social problems – poor governance – and the environmental movement must commit itself to a path of justice and global equity.”

“The environmental movement must make a step-change in the way it addresses the sustainability challenges facing the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century. We must support on-going efforts to mainstream environmental issues into the economy,” says Valli Moosa, President of IUCN.

“The environmental movement must go beyond counting the problems and ‘doom and gloom’ messages to foster the vision that gives us hope, encourages creativity, and inspires us to change,” says Sally Jeanrenaud, one of the book’s co-authors.

To download the book in pdf format (3 MB file size) please visit:
http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/transition_to_sustainability__en__pdf_...

For more information please contact:
Sarah Horsley, IUCN Media Relations Officer, t +41 22 999 0127, m +41 79 528 3486; sarah.horsley@iucn.org

Notes to editors
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. www.iucn.org

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development (see: http://www.iied.org).

For information on the IUCN Congress and its Sustainability Dialogues, see: http://www.iucn.org/news_events/events/congress/forum/dialogues/index.cfm

ENDS

Best wishes
Mike

Mike Shanahan
Press Officer
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7388 2117
Fax: +44 (0)20 7388 2826
Email: mike.shanahan@iied.org
http://www.iied.org

IIED is a company limited by a guarantee and incorporated in England. Reg. No 2188452. Registered office: 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK. VAT Reg. No. GB 440 4948 50. Charity No. 800066