Razan Al Mubarak, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), delivered a keynote address at the opening of the ChangeNOW Summit in Paris on March 30, 2026, calling for stronger global cooperation and the integration of nature at the heart of economic and political decision-making.
Speaking to an audience of global leaders from business, finance, science, and civil society, she emphasised the urgency of addressing interconnected environmental crises, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation, as these challenges continue to accelerate amid global uncertainty and geopolitical challenges.
In her address, President Al Mubarak stressed that nature underpins all economic systems, urging leaders to rethink how it is valued.
Al Mubarak said: “It is especially in moments like this that we see clearly that nature, energy, society, and finance are not separate conversations. They are deeply interconnected.
“Yet too often, they are not aligned in our attention, not aligned in our investment, and not aligned in our actions.
“The reality is that nature cannot be separated from human systems. It is affected by all that we do. At the same time, energy sources, markets, financial systems, supply chains, economies are human constructs. The result of our choices and our creativity and, perhaps sometimes, the lack of our creativity.
“And the results of our choices are visible in the loss of ecosystems and the pressures we place on the natural world. And because of that, they can be changed. They can be reinvented into systems that better serve both nature and people.
“It is time to recognise that nature is essential to our economy, to our stability, and to our humanity.”
She underscored that environmental challenges require inclusive, cross-sector solutions and that platforms such as the ChangeNOW Summit demonstrate what effective cooperation can look like in practice.
“We do not gather because all is well. We come together because we believe things can, and must, be better. And because we are willing to work together to create something different, something of greater collective power,” she said.
Her remarks aligned with the summit’s overarching focus on planetary boundaries – the environmental limits for a stable earth. She noted that while science provided clarity on these limits, showing us that we have crossed seven of the nine identified boundaries, we all share the responsibility for action, with multilateral cooperation and coordination across governments, countries, businesses, science and communities.
Reflecting on recent outcomes from the IUCN World Conservation Congress, President Al Mubarak pointed to the Union’s newly adopted 20-year vision and programme of work, as well as global commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. She said focus must now shift from commitments to implementation.
Representing more than 1,400 Member organisations and over 18,000 experts, IUCN continues to play a leading role in translating science into practical conservation action worldwide.
President Al Mubarak’s intervention formed part of a high-level opening session, highlighting the importance of collaboration across business, Indigenous leadership, and policy. Her address sets the tone for three days of discussions focused on advancing solutions within planetary boundaries, including ocean protection, regenerative agriculture, water security, and nature-based approaches to economic resilience.
