Bangladesh is exactly one of the places we want IUCN strong: DG

As Bangladesh is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, IUCN is especially important to the country. The Business Standard spoke with Dr Bruno about the challenges the organisation is working to address at the global scale, the relevance of nature-based solutions in Bangladesh, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. 

The director general also opened up about the organisation's ambition to grow in Asia. 

As the Director General of the world's largest environment network, can you tell us about the key challenges IUCN is working to address?

There are a lot of fundamental challenges that humanity is facing at the moment. 

We are using the platform on which we live – the planet – for our development, and this is normal. We use mineral and non-mineral resources, we use biodiversity and we are now using too much. We are taking too much.

We are using one and a half times the number of natural resources that the planet can give us. And the consequences are felt in different fields, the climate is changing and we know what it means. For example, the glacier is disappearing, and extreme events like droughts [are happening]. Also, we see the consequences of pollution, for example, plastic – now we have huge islands [of plastic] in the oceans. 

This is unbelievable in terms of size. We have plastic islands the size of half of India. This is a problem for biodiversity. It is a problem for the fish. And finally, it is a problem for our food. 

We have problems in terms of biodiversity losses. I mean what we eat is biodiversity. What we breathe – oxygen – is produced by biodiversity. The water regime is filtered by diversity. 

If we lose biodiversity, it would be very hard to survive.  So it is a real fundamental challenge that we are facing. 

And these things are evolving quicker and quicker because the number of humans on the planet is growing and the level of consumption by every one of us is increasing too. And the multiplication of people means each one of them is consuming more. 

So we have to find ways to use natural resources, to use nature smarter in a way that is not creating problems. And this means changing our production patterns. We need to change what we produce, the way we produce, and the way we consume. This is the only way to tackle the situation that threatened our existence. 

How is IUCN responding to these challenges?

Humanity has to respond by changing its consumption behaviour and by its changing production behaviour – IUCN has to contribute to this change. 

IUCN is a union. So we have 90 states as members of IUCN. Among them is Bangladesh. 

Also, there are cities as members of IUCN. For example, Paris is a member of IUCN. There are regions that are members of IUCN. And then we have non-governmental organisations as well. 

So all these members work on this topic. The union was created to support them. So, how do we do it? We have an outlook – the first outlook is science. We are a science-policy interface institution. 

So we take the knowledge from science and transform it into tools so that the policymakers can use it to change behaviour. And then based on that science, we can educate, and work on capacity building.  

We can bring people together. We can convene people who can advocate. We can go to the global big events or the regional smaller events or national events and get the information. So we go there and contribute to the discussion. 

Our expertise is less political and more scientific. It is slow work but it is necessary work. And we will not get the solution if we don't make mistakes. 

IUCN is a strong promoter of Nature-based Solutions. How is this concept relevant to developing countries like Bangladesh?

The nature-based solution, as the word says, is a solution to a specific challenge. 

Let's say climate change is caused by CO2. You can curtail CO2 emissions in different ways. You can, for example, stop using fossil fuels. Or you can create a forest or more fertile soil that incorporates CO2 from the atmosphere. 

The problem that Bangladesh has is the flood. How can you get protection from the flood? You can create dams, you can put physical objects like cement, or make the cities a bit higher, or you can create a mangrove forest that naturally absorbs the floods. 

If you have the space to make it, this would be a very cheap solution.

In my country, we are threatened not by floods but by avalanches, and by things falling down the mountains because Switzerland is a mountainous country. 

So in our laws since 1950, there is a provision that says that you don't cut the forest in the mountains because this is the natural protection of the villages, that are down in the valleys, from avalanches. 

It is a classical nature-based solution. It is generally efficient and cheap. But you have to take it. 

Also, there are a lot of fake solutions. This is the reason why we have offered a quality standard.  So you can assess a project of the nature-based solution if it is effective, it protects the rights of the population and nature, and then you can say yes, this is a win-win solution; or no, this is greenwashing. 

How can IUCN support Bangladesh in its efforts to contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?

If Bangladesh wants our support, we can help them in different ways. Bangladesh has to decide. 

One of the objectives that states have agreed on in Kunming-Montreal is the ambition of 30% protection [setting in motion a plan to protect and conserve at least 30% of land area by 2030. The 30x30 effort will move forward in a way that recognises indigenous peoples and local community territories while highlighting the places that provide ecosystem services – the water, food, air and climate stability that is essential for human wellbeing]. 

In a highly populated country like Bangladesh, this is pretty challenging. So, if Bangladesh requests IUCN, we are ready to sit together. 

Asia is fundamental to solving the challenges that we are facing. Half the population of the world is living in Asia. Most of the economic involvement is happening here. 

And Bangladesh as part of Asia is exactly one of the places we want IUCN to be strong. This means we want Bangladesh and Bangladeshi experts to support and contribute more to IUCN on a global scale.