Around the world, women and girls are leading conservation and adaptation efforts – yet all too often their leadership goes unrecognised and their voices unheard. At IUCN we are committed to breaking these barriers by fostering gender-responsive policies; championing equitable conservation initiatives; and ensuring that all people, regardless of gender, have a seat at the table in shaping a nature-positive future.

By Sara Inés Lara, Founder of Women for Conservation

At the heart of this movement is a story deeply rooted in family, passion, and purpose—one that spans three generations of women dedicated to safeguarding nature and empowering communities. Founded by myself, Sara Inés Lara, Women for Conservation has grown from a grassroots initiative into a global movement dedicated to empowering women in conservation.

By IUCN Youth Advisory Committee (YAC)

IUCN YAC invites you to the upcoming webinar on youth engagement at the Global Youth Summit and World Conservation Congress. Young people have always been at the heart of global conservation, and IUCN has long advocated for their voices. Since the founding of the International Youth Federation for Environmental Studies and Conservation in 1956, IUCN has continuously supported youth-led initiatives.

This publication releases new IUCN data on the number of women leading environmental ministries, compared with previous data.

Governments and environmental organisations need to better understand the links between gender-based violence and the environment, advance greater legal protections and take gender-specific risks into account in their policies and interventions.

This brief provides insights on scoring criteria through guiding questions and promising examples from current NDCs that can support policymakers to include more ambitious and comprehensive gender commitments in the 2025 update of their NDCs.