IUCN World Conservation Congress: The Program

The World Conservation Congress is a major international event that aims to adopt a binding global framework for the preservation and restoration of natural biodiversity. 

What will happen there?

The Forum, the congress’s space for debate, will be organizing over 500 events, including panel discussions, training and Conservation Action Cafés, from 4 to 7 September. The General Assembly, reserved for members which include France, will be held from 8 to 10 September to elect the new IUCN Council, approve its program and adopt new motions.

At the same time, other spaces are planned for the general public: the Exhibition, where a number of organizations will present their actions from 4 to 9 September, as well as Nature Generation Areas for the general public from 4 to 11 September, which will highlight the actions and commitments for biodiversity of non-State actors and citizens.

AFD will be addressing strategic themes: green recovery, greening finance, cross-cutting approaches to biodiversity, convergence between biodiversity and the climate. Indeed, it is essential to take better account of nature in order to address the current global challenges. Nature is also a source of solutions for fairer and more resilient development.

Find out about our main events below:

Saturday 4 September

14:00 | Thematic session: How Can Public Development Banks (PDBs) Support the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework?

16:00 | High-level dialogue: Unlocking a Nature-based Recovery: How to Rebuild after the Pandemic 

Sunday 5 September

9:00 | Partnerships for Biodiversity: Opportunities for Development and Growth 

15:00 | Presentation of the Data4Nature Initiative
Business and Nature Hub Stand

17:45 | Session: Cultivating Biodiversity Together, Heading for COP15
French Pavilion

Monday 6 September

11:00 | The One Planet Summit delivers for biodiversity
(H9 - B 1 Auditorium – Mercantour ou en ligne) 

11:00 | Conservation Trust Funds as one way of safeguarding high biodiversity areas – what is innovative about the Legacy Landscapes Fund
(H8 - 4 Martinique ou en ligne)

16:00 | Thematic session: Reconciling Conservation and Development in Protected Areas in Africa and the French-Speaking World

16:00 | Thematic session: Finding Ways for Taxonomy to Keep Up with the Urgent Knowledge Needs of Conservationists

16:00 | Kiwa Initiative High-Level Session: Nature-based Solutions and Climate Adaptation

17:45 | Accelerating the Great Green Wall: implementation and future perspectives
(H3 France Pavillon)

Tuesday 7 September

9:00 | Thematic session: How to Mobilize the Financial Sector to Integrate Nature-Related Risks and Seize Favorable Investment Opportunities for Biodiversity Conservation?

11:00 | Nature-based Solutions Partnerships: moving together from words to action
(H1 Plenary – Calanques ou en ligne)

14:00 | Presentation of the Evaluation of AFD/FFEM Supports to conservation trust funds (CTFs)
(Conservation Finance Alliance Pavillon)

18:00 | How to finance the protection of biodiversity in developing countries?
(H3 - The IUCN French National Committee)

Wednesday 8 September

14:00 | Natural Capital Accounting serving the decade of ecosystem restoration: experience of a regional network to promote nature-based solutions
(H3 - Nature-based Solutions and Ecosystem Restoration)

Throughout the Congress

AFD will have a stand in the Nature Generation Areas from Saturday 4 to Wednesday 8 September.

The Nature Generation Areas (NGAs) are a new addition compared with the previous editions of the congress: they are open to the general public for free and without registration. Various activities will be proposed to raise awareness of biodiversity and the importance of conserving it.

AFD will be at the NGAs from Saturday 4 to Wednesday 8 September inclusive with a  dedicated 30 m² stand proposing a walk through three spaces: discovery, threats to biodiversity, solutions.

_{© Raphaël CEI/AFD}

Come visit us at our stand during the following hours:

• On 4 September from 10:00 to 22:00
• From 5 to 8 September from 10:00 to 19:00

Our dedicated space (Stand B17) will propose a walking course that will help you understand what’s at stake in conserving biodiversity, here as well as in far-off places. There will be three corners with original and fun activities, through which AFD will have you discover what “biodiversity” signifies throughout the world, the threats it faces, and the solutions being invented each day all over the planet to conserve it. AFD experts will also be present to discuss key issues with the public. 

You can come meet us at Stand B17 at the following times: Sept. 4 from 10 am to 10 pm, and Sept. 5 to 8 from 10 am to 7 pm.

Biodiversity Storytelling

One of AFD’s partners, the association Ars Anima, will conduct storytelling activities on biodiversity for the general public. Under the title “À Fleur de Peau,” two tales will be recounted by actors in the NGA agoras. Based on the life of characters from Cameroon and a Pacific island, they will describe the sustainable development goals and the ways in which they are intertwined. 

The two tales will be performed from Saturday, Sept. 4 through Tuesday, Sept. 7 at the following times: 

AFD will also offer school children (middle and high school students), workshops that simulate negotiations on biodiversity. These workshops will be held at Stand C17 (stand of the OFB - French Office for Biodiversity) between 6 and 8 September. 

They will be run by the Landestini association, a partner of AFD. 

AFD and biodiversity

• Biodiversity: Reconciling Development with Nature
• Biodiversity: 2020 Activity Report
• AFD and the Ocean

Finance and biodiversity

• The Little Book of Investing in Nature
• A “Silent Spring” for the Financial System? Exploring Biodiversity-Related Financial Risks in France

Data and biodiversity

• Biodiversity: better data sharing for effective ecological transitions (published in ID4D)
• Biodiversity data: development banks as part of the solution (published in ID4D)
• Data4Nature Initiative: Share to Protect (brochure)
• Data4Nature: Share to Protect, more information on the GBIF website
• Sharing Data to Protect Biodiversity with Data4Nature (video)
• Data4Nature: Practical Recommendations Guide for Publishing Primary Biodiversity Data
• GBIF: Open Access to Primary Data on Biodiversity

Private sector and biodiversity

• Private Sector and Development issue 35 : Preserving Biodiversity, the Private Sector in Action

Research and Environmental sustainability

• New Caledonia: a new tool to measure environmental sustainability, research project description
• “Data opportunities and challenges for calculating a global Strong Environmental Sustainability (SES) Index,  AFD Research paper n°133
• “A single indicator of strong sustainability for development: Theoretical basis and practical implementation, AFD Research paper n°112

AFD’s Partners are holding a number of events throughout the weeklong Congress. Here’s a snapshot of French Facility for Global Environment’s Program:

Saturday, 4 September
11h15-11h45 |The Future of Conservation Trust Funds: Innovation from Stability
Conservation Finance Pavilion

16h -17h30 | Global pressures on mangroves and their communities: solutions from conservation and restoration
Room H6-I Guadeloupe

19h | Marine Protected Areas: A New Dynamic in the Mediterranean
Online

Sunday 5 September 
10h-10h45 | Global Alliance of networks of MPA Managers and Conservation Trust Funds
Conservation Finance Pavilion

11h-11h45 | Project BRIDGE: Bridging private finance and conservation towards the 2030 action targets – an initiative by RedLAC and CAFÉ, funded by FFEM
Conservation Finance Pavilion

Monday 6 September 
10h-12h30 | The High Seas: From Science to Decision-Making 
H3 Ocean & Islands Pavilion

11h-12h | Forming local networks to better protect the great apes 
Room H8 - 10 Alpilles

Tuesday 7 September 
9h30-10h30 | Funding Overview in the Mediterranean: bilateral and multilateral donors 
Mediterranean Pavilion 

10h-10h45 | Nature-Based Solutions: France’s Efforts to Adapt to Climate Change  
France Pavilion 

15h30-16h10 | Regional programs for conservation and civil society empowerment in the Mediterranean 
Mediterranean Pavilion 

Throughout the Congress: 

Photo Exhibition: “An Oasis at the Summit of the Andes” in the Nature Generation Areas