Council supportive of IUCN’s new “The Future of Sustainability” Initiative

23 May 2006

What is the future of sustainability? Is the conceptual framework of sustainable development moribund? How can we review the paradigm to bring the ecological dimension back into the sustainability debate? These are questions debated by the new “Future of Sustainability” Initiative, driven by the IUCN Council and by IUCN President Valli Moosa.

The 65 th Council meeting debated and supported the report on a first meeting of “renowned thinkers” held in Zurich at the end of January. Dr. William Adams, Professor of Conservation and Development at Cambridge University, UK, presented the outcomes of the Zurich meeting entitled: The Future of Environmentalism: rethinking sustainability for the 21 st century. The meeting explored the ways in which the concept of sustainable can be reframed to respond to the challenges of the twenty-first century..

There were many layers to the debate, including a review of the three pillar model of sustainability; the call for systemic analyses of the challenges and opportunities of globalization; the lack of metrics to measure progress towards sustainable development; new innovations in sustainability; the role of social business entrepreneurs, key alliances and the market place; an emphasis on solutions; and the need to recapture hearts as well as minds. A sense of urgency and, at the same time, a sense of a historic opportunity – with major emerging economies like China and India - prevailed in the discussions.

What could be the role of IUCN in shaping this debate? This was one of the questions put forward to Council. It could represent something of a historical milestone for IUCN, for example in providing a focus for working towards the 4 th IUCN World Conservation Congress, to be held in 2008.

Council was very supportive of the initiative and asked IUCN to take it forward. Positive remarks were made about IUCN convening its members and partners to help develop and articulate a new vision and strategy for sustainability, through a series of events and communication products over the next 30 months..

A proposal on the “Future of Sustainability” initiative, building on the Zurich meeting and engaging the whole World Conservation Union, including its members and the secretariat, is being discussed by the Council Programme and Policy Committee on 23 May. Council will take a decision on 24 May on the way forward.

For more information

Please contact Sally Jeanrenaud at sally.jeanrenaudiucn.org;