071 Calling for a United Nations Decade of Island Resilience

ACKNOWLEDGING that islands are both hotspots and hope spots for biodiversity;

MINDFUL that over one-third of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometres of the ocean and that coastal and island populations are on the front lines of the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, declining ocean health and the impacts of climate change;

CONSCIOUS of the importance of acknowledging and learning from Indigenous and Local communities’ traditional knowledge and natural resource management;

REAFFIRMING that concerted action is necessary to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, keep the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change alive, stem and reverse biodiversity loss through the Montreal-Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and meet the ambition of a healthy, rejuvenated global ocean;

NOTING the burden of plastic waste and the need for global action to address plastic pollution;

CONCERNED that the pace and scale of action and funding to address the triple planetary crisis is not aligned with the level of expressed ambition, nor with the scenarios informed by the best available science;

WELCOMING the increasing recognition of the powerful nexus between biodiversity, climate and ocean action to deliver tangible outcomes for nature, communities and sustainable development;

ACKNOWLEDGING that nature is the first line of defence against climate change and that resilient, restored biodiversity is the planet’s greatest Nature-based Solution (NbS) to the inter-related climate-biodiversity-ocean crisis;

CONSIDERING that many island ecosystems are globally important for the persistence of biodiversity; and

RECOGNISING that, while vulnerable, islands are also catalysts for impact and highly effective laboratories for scalable solutions, innovative approaches and measurable outcomes that demonstrate the multisectoral benefits that holistic restoration efforts can bring, integrating science-based biodiversity, ocean and climate action alongside genuine community engagement and quality partnerships;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025, at its session in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates:

ENCOURAGES the Director General and IUCN Members to call for a United Nations Decade of Island Resilience with the theme “Islands for Impact” that:

a. establishes a new convening framework and a platform for ambitious partnerships and concrete action to truly harness the potential of holistic island restoration for nature, oceans and people worldwide;

b. promotes heightened ambition, financing and action for holistic island restoration to restore resilience, including removal of alien invasive species, protection and rewilding of native biodiversity, authentic community engagement, and partnerships between organisations, governments, and Indigenous and Local communities;

c. catalyses science-based action in and around islands across the planet to preserve, protect and restore biodiversity, address the ongoing effects of climate change and reverse the decline in ocean health; and

d. contributes to advancing the objectives of the IUCN Global Species Action Plan and, looking to 2050, highlights the contribution island restoration can make to global biodiversity preservation, sustainable use and resilience.