The second day of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 shifted the main target from ambition to motion, mobilising enterprise management for nature, advancing built-in supply of the SDGs, and championing community-driven conservation. Hosted by the United Arab Emirates and co-organised by the Ministry of Local weather Change and Surroundings (MOCCAE) and the Surroundings Company – Abu Dhabi (EAD), the Congress, which runs from 9 to fifteen October, welcomes greater than 10,000 delegates throughout its Members’ Meeting, Discussion board and Exhibition.
On the coronary heart of the Congress venue, the UAE Pavilion continued to function a dynamic platform for data alternate and partnership constructing, reflecting the nation’s enduring bond with nature. Day Two programming spotlighted the UAE’s cross-sector innovation in local weather adaptation, freshwater resilience, and marine biodiversity. Classes corresponding to Nature With out Borders: Bridging the UAE and Asia-Pacific for Local weather and Catastrophe Resilience, attended by HE Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi, Vice Chairman of EAD Board of Administrators and Chairman of EAD’s Govt Committee, highlighted the Constructing Local weather Resilient Programme, a daring new regional initiative incubated within the UAE by Emirates Nature–WWF and main Asia-Pacific consultants.
The launch of the World Financial institution report ‘Continental Drying: A Menace to Our Frequent Future’, hosted by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs (MOFA), underscored the UAE’s convening energy in connecting areas dealing with comparable environmental challenges.
Among the many day’s most participating classes, Thriving Towards the Odds: Marine Megafauna Conservation in Excessive Environments highlighted EAD’s management in monitoring and defending key species corresponding to dugongs, sea snakes, sea turtles and cetaceans in Abu Dhabi’s coastal waters—ecosystems uniquely challenged by excessive salinity, temperature and eutrophication. The session additionally explored rescue and rehabilitation programmes for marine species and the restoration of seagrass meadows, an important meals supply for dugongs. Later within the night, Designing Resilient Cities: Integrating Nature, Individuals and Innovation and Framing the International Freshwater Problem for Arid and Water-Scarce Areas emphasised the UAE’s holistic strategy to sustainability—bridging city design, data-driven conservation and environmental governance to advance resilient futures for each folks and planet.
The UAE’s participation on the Congress underscores its management in world conservation diplomacy. Emirati consultants, youth delegates, and associate organisations are participating in classes on climate-resilient ecosystems, marine safety, and biodiversity financing. Led by MOCCAE and the EAD, the host nation is showcasing nationwide achievements corresponding to milestone restoration initiatives, advances in blue-carbon analysis, and the rewilding of iconic desert species. The EAD additionally hosted a youth session titled the invisible thread: ‘Mentorship and collaboration throughout generations’, that includes Sheikha Osha Bint Mohamed Al Nahyan, younger inventor and Worldwide Greenwich Olympiad winner.
Collectively, these efforts exhibit how the UAE hyperlinks ecological restoration with financial alternative and invitations the world to unite with nature for the wellbeing of all life.
A spotlight of the day was the opening of the IUCN Enterprise Summit at ADNEC, which introduced collectively CEOs and senior enterprise leaders to embed nature in company decision-making and speed up funding in nature-positive economies. Day Two additionally marked the fruits of the three-day World Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nature, recognising the central position of Indigenous management and conventional data in attaining world conservation outcomes.
Within the afternoon, a high-level Nature, Local weather and Individuals Nexus Panel, led by the UAE International SDG Council and chaired by representatives of 4 interconnected SDGs, explored actionable pathways linking freshwater, marine, terrestrial and local weather priorities. Co-sponsored by the UAE SDG Secretariat and EAD, the session underscored how built-in governance is crucial to attaining real-world progress towards the 2030 targets.
Discussion board plenaries explored how fairness, innovation and financing can form a resilient, nature-positive future, whereas classes throughout the Studying Zones highlighted advances in inexperienced finance, restoration expertise and inclusive conservation management.
Youth management was one other thread of the day, with classes spotlighting inexperienced jobs and neighborhood motion as the subsequent frontier of conservation engagement.
Her Excellency Dr Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Local weather Change and Surroundings, stated: “Immediately demonstrated how built-in governance throughout authorities, enterprise and communities turns commitments into measurable outcomes. The UAE’s mannequin hyperlinks local weather and nature motion with meals, water, well being and jobs in order that progress for folks and planet advances collectively.”
Her Excellency Razan Al Mubarak, President of IUCN, added: “The Enterprise Summit’s name to mainstream nature into monetary and strategic selections, alongside the Indigenous Summit’s attraction to raise conventional data, reveals the inclusive management wanted to attain the Kunming–Montreal International Biodiversity Framework.”
Her Excellency Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary-Common of the Surroundings Company – Abu Dhabi, IUCN Councillor for West Asia and Vice Chair of the International Council on SDG 14, concluded: “From the SDG Nexus Panel to community-led classes within the pavilions, Day Two affirmed Abu Dhabi’s position as a platform the place options are co-created, grounded in science, knowledgeable by tradition and scaled by way of partnerships.”
The day concluded with a reception on the British Embassy within the UAE, celebrating joint conservation initiatives between EAD and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and reinforcing the significance of worldwide partnerships.
Because the Congress strikes into its third day, the momentum continues to construct round inclusive conservation and measurable affect. Delegates will flip their focus to scaling up ocean resilience, inexperienced finance and youth engagement, additional reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s place as a world hub for nature diplomacy and collaborative local weather motion.