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PRESS RELEASE

The World Bank and IUCN – The World Conservation Union:
Growing Collaboration in the Field of Natural Resources Management
Press Backgrounder

WORLD BANK AND IUCN SOLIDIFY PARTNERSHIP FOR FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL COLLABORATION

WASHINGTON, June 29, 1999 — World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn and newly-arrived IUCN Director-General Maritta R. von Bieberstein Koch-Weser today signed a Memorandum of Understanding, solidifying the current relationship, and welcoming a new era of strategic collaboration between the two institutions.

Cooperation between the World Bank and the IUCN-World Conservation Union has been piloted over the past four years to explore how the two institutions could obtain mutual advantage in delivering services to IUCN’s members and volunteer networks and the Bank’s developing country clients and beneficiaries. This collaboration proved to be very successful, and both parties felt it warranted consolidating and confirming for an indefinite period, subject to annual performance reviews.

"As the of erosion of the natural capital base on which sustainable development depends proceeds, we need to reach out to form unusual partnerships to help our developing country clients meet the challenge of wise natural resource management," says World Bank Senior Advisor for the Environment Kenneth Newcombe. "With its networks of scientists and conservationists on the ground all over the world, IUCN has shown us that it has an enormous amount to offer the Bank and its clients if we join forces. The potential power of this partnership has been well demonstrated in the past four years. We now hope to build on this foundation and make our respective development work ever more effective."

Today’s Memorandum of Understanding sets out basic principles and methodologies that will guide future collaboration, and the two institutions encourage their staff to make use of it to explore new opportunities for partnership.

"At the heart of all efforts to eradicate poverty and move development to a more sustainable path, is the ability of communities and countries to conserve and sustainably manage natural resources and to share the benefits equitably," said Rachel Kyte, IUCN Senior Multilateral Policy Advisor. "This MOU between IUCN and the World Bank is a chance to focus our energies on the global challenges that shape the potential of people to act at the local and national level. It is an important component in the struggle to generate the political will to implement the promises made to the environment in the last decade."

Key elements of the collaboration in the past four years have been the establishment of the World Commission on Dams, including mobilizing more than $7.5 million for its work; and the engagement of the IUCN as facilitator of stakeholder consultations for the Bank’s Forest Policy Strategy (FPIRS) development — a multi-year, multimillion dollar program, which is designed to review forest sector issues and the Bank’s role in helping to reverse global trends of forest loss and degradation, due to complete its work in mid-2000.

The World Bank-IUCN Memorandum of Understanding will finalize an informal partnership across the spectrum of the World Bank’s sustainable development agenda. In addition, the two organizations have identified areas for possible future collaboration:

Providing balanced environmental stakeholder consultations, forums, and mediation on emerging environmental issues in the field, as well as on a national, regional, or global basis. Areas of special interest in this regard might include trade and environment, sustainable management of marine environments, water, culture development, or themes associated with the implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements and conventions, such as those on Biological Diversity, Climate Change, Desertification, International Trade in Endangered Species, and Wetlands.

Sharing knowledge to promote environmentally and socially sustainable development worldwide. The IUCN and World Bank will carry out internal and external training programs, and, through local membership institutions and country and regional offices, be of assistance in local training and stakeholder consultation programs.

Building and strengthening national environmental institutions, especially in the areas of environmental law and policy, by working on environmental policies and economics, and especially in work programs focusing on sustainability issues in the context of progressive globalization. The two institutions will work together on the scoping of Environmental Impact Assessments, Monitoring and Evaluation, or local stakeholder engagements, environmental sector work, country assistance strategies, and the development of ecosystem-based regional environmental management approaches, to enhance, for example, trans-boundary river basin or marine and coastal zone management.

A staff exchange program to promote the sharing of knowledge and expertise between the World Bank and IUCN. An example of this is the secondment for two years of Mr. Charles di Leva from the Bank’s Legal Department to work as General Counsel to Director General and Director of IUCN’s Environmental Law Program located in Bonn.

For more information contact:

At IUCN Headquarters: Javed Ahmad, Director of Communications;
Tel: +41 22 999 0001, Fax: +41 22 999 0010, E-mail: press@hq.iucn.org
Other IUCN contact: Rachel Kyte (202) 387-4826
At World Bank: Alicia Hetzner (202) 473-3379
Kristyn Schrader (202) 458-2736
This press release and general information on IUCN is also available on http://www.iucn.org