Story | 20 五月, 2008

IUCN Director General presents a Statement before the Commission on Sustainable Development

15 May 2008—IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefevre expressed the need for greater coordinated action to address the global food and water crisis before the 16th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development today in New York, NY.

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Photo: IUCN

She acknowledged the importance of sustainable agriculture, rural development, and desertification, and summarized IUCN’s position by stating “most urgently…we need action on the ground that turns science and policy into benefits for people and for the ecosystems to sustain us all.” Marton-Lefevre went on to identify the critical role ecosystems services plays in sustainable development, saying “they are tied intimately to human well-being and are essential for production and consumption; they help to alleviate and reduce poverty, and are required for societies to prosper and grow.” Additionally, she highlighted the substantial opportunities second-generation biofuels present in the energy/food debate. IUCN heads the Environment working group of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, which is developing principles for sustainable biofuels production.

Marton-Lefevre closed her statement inviting the CSD delegates to IUCN’s World Conservation Congress from the 4th to 15th of October in Barcelona, Spain, and urging governments, civil society and the private sector to strengthen their commitments to ecosystem services-based approaches.