Conservation Congress Sets Ambitious Target to Protect Oceans

A major environmental conference of governments and NGOs has called on nations to set aside at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans as “highly protected” areas by 2030, but delegates said opposition from China, Japan and South Africa had seriously undermined chances of success.

Japan and South Africa Try to Block Proposed Ban on Domestic Ivory Trade

Japan and South Africa have ignited a furore at a major conservation congress by coming out against a proposed appeal to all governments to ban domestic trade in elephant ivory.

Big Oil and Activists Unite to Protect Endangered Whales

A rare case of intensive and decade-long collaboration between Big Oil, scientists and environmental activists has been hailed as a success story in protecting an endangered species of whale from extinction.

Eastern Gorilla, Our ‘Closest Cousin’, Added to Endangered Species List

Our closest cousin in the animal world, the Eastern Gorilla, is sliding towards extinction because of illegal hunting, the IUCN announced today in the latest update of its Red List of Threatened Species.

U.S. and China Formally Join Paris Agreement in Show of Unity

The world’s super-polluters - the United States and China - have formally joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in a symbolic show of unity.

Elephant Census Ramps Up Pressure to Stop Domestic Trade in Ivory

A dramatic decline in Africa’s savanna elephant populations caused by poaching - as exposed by the results of a three-year aerial survey released this week - has piled pressure on reluctant governments to back proposals that would lead to bans on domestic trade in ivory.

Dire Warnings But Also Hope as IUCN Environmental Congress Opens

A congress billed as the world’s largest ever to focus on the environment has opened to warnings that our planet is at a “tipping point” but also with expressions of hope that governments, civil society and big business are learning to work together.

Obama Stresses Climate Change Urgency Ahead of IUCN Congress

U.S. President Barack Obama has stressed the urgency of tackling climate change in a speech to Pacific leaders in his home state of Hawaii.

‘What Can We Do for You?’ Aid Projects Pour Into Myanmar

International aid agencies, big and small, are beating a path to Myanmar, relishing the prospect of launching projects in a nation of 51 million people tentatively emerging from more than five decades of military rule.