Yesterday, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, a resolution was passed which recognises the role of wild animals in ecosystems as enablers of natural solutions to tackle climate change. The resolution echoes what WFA has been advocating for years – that protecting wild animals is not just about their well-being, but vital for carbon capture and ecosystem resilience, helping to draw down CO2, and limit the impacts of climate change.
A number of animal welfare organisations were pivotal to this resolution, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Born Free Foundation, advising on scientific evidence and insight for its development.
“Wild animals are underappreciated climate heroes – the ecosystems we rely on as natural carbon sinks work best with thriving animal populations. As lead proponent of this resolution, IFAW is delighted to see it adopted by IUCN Members at the Congress,” said Matt Collis, Senior Director of Policy at IFAW.
This resolution urges the Director General to:
- advocate for recognition of the role of wild animals in climate mitigation and adaptation in relevant international agreements and frameworks, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, CBD, CMS and IWC, and to highlight relevant science to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; and
- ensure this role is reflected in relevant IUCN knowledge products and tools, such as those relating to Nature-based Solutions, the Global Species Action Plan and re-wilding guidelines.
Furthermore, it requests the IUCN Climate Crisis Commission to make recommendations on how to incorporate the evidence into relevant policy frameworks, and urges IUCN Government Agency Members to prioritise protecting, conserving and restoring wild animal populations. It calls on them to ensure coherence between national biodiversity and climate policies by recognising the climate mitigation benefits of conserving and restoring wild animal populations in their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans under the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Wild animals contribute significantly to natural carbon sequestration and ecosystem resilience by maintaining land and ocean ecosystems. They are vital to the health, integrity, and functionality of these ecosystems, supporting processes like pollination, seed dispersal, and fertilisation that increase carbon storage and help mitigate climate change. Science backs this up – recent research found that forests with robust animal populations store four times as much carbon.
At COP29 in Baku in November 2024, WFA launched the Animals 4 Climate tool, which aims to guide policymakers in integrating animal welfare into climate and biodiversity strategies. The innovative online tool provides practical recommendations for governments to boost their climate resilience and increase their carbon sequestration by safeguarding wild animals and their habitats, including examples of successful projects across the world that have done so.
Ed Goodall, our Climate Policy Specialist, comments, “From fish in the open ocean transporting carbon to the deep sea, to forest elephants spreading the seeds of carbon-dense trees, to grazing bison encouraging plant growth and nutrient recycling, there are countless examples of wild animals acting as climate allies. This resolution marks an important step in further acknowledging the crucial role wild animals have to play as we tackle climate change, and why policies must be implemented to improve their welfare, whilst protecting and restoring their populations. The science shows us that they are a missing link to tackle the greatest challenge of our time. We congratulate our friends in the animal welfare movement for their role in this groundbreaking resolution, and urge policymakers to adhere to recommendations and take meaningful action to prioritise the protection of wild animals, to enhance climate resilience.”
Photo credit: Thomas Machowicz / We Animals
