1. The conservation of biological diversity, our life support system, is vitally important to human life. The Earth’s biological diversity, climate and other planetary boundaries are threatened by human activities, including fossil fuel-based, energy-intensive, unsustainable growth. Our generation has the ethical responsibility and opportunity to avert further deterioration of Earth’s biodiversity and biosphere and we will actively contribute to this.
2. Since its creation in 1948, IUCN has contributed to all of the major global discussions about the environment and sustainable development, and was most recently an active participant in the Rio+20 Conference. The outcome document of the Conference describes ‘The Future We Want’ and states that the governments of the world ‘recognize that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development’. The document calls on all countries to take urgent action on ‘the adverse impacts of climate change’.