AI and conservation resolution adopted at the IUCN World Conservation Congress

AI and conservation resolution adopted at the IUCN World Conservation Congress

At the recent IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC), evidence of the AI revolution was everywhere, from gleaming tech on display in the exhibition space to the content of hundreds of speeches and presentations. This makes sense, because the implications of AI for conservation are enormous, both positive and negative. AI has the possibility to greatly enhance the efficiency of existing work, as well as enabling completely new approaches. However, the use of AI could also drive-up energy and water consumption, embed algorithmic biases in decision making and (further) disconnect conservation from local realities on the ground. 

Perhaps most importantly, AI could unleash societal transformations that radically shift the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss – a point that is alarmingly absent from current discourse around AI governance, including the recent UN Resolution on this topic (A/RES/79/325), which does not mention the environment (or nature or climate) at all.

Prof. Chris Sandbrook, Professor of Conservation and Society, and Director of the Conservation Research Institute (CRI), at the University of Cambridge, has been conducting research on the implications of AI for conservation (including this paper published earlier this year). He attended the World Conservation Congress, and was concerned that there were no draft resolutions on AI and conservation - particularly as the IUCN has a well-deserved reputation for providing authoritative guidelines for the conservation sector, such as on the establishment of protected areas or the translocation of endangered species. Chris, therefore, worked with colleagues in a variety of IUCN member organisations to develop a ‘new and urgent’ resolution about AI and conservation, led by Wildlife Trust of India and Exploralis Tunisia, respectively. The resolution was selected for consideration by the Members Assembly at the current WCC (as Motion 143), and the final version had the support of over 30 proponent IUCN member organisations from around the world.

After a lot of last minute rewriting, lobbying and debate, the resolution was passed with overwhelming support from IUCN members. It will now go forward as Resolution 140, which  requests the IUCN Council and Director General to convene an inclusive working group to develop an IUCN Policy on AI and Conservation, along with practical guidelines for ethical and ecologically responsible AI use. The resolution further  requests capacity-building through the IUCN Commissions on Education and Communication (CEC) and the Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), focusing on media literacy, ethical understanding, and equitable access to AI tools. Finally, it urged collaboration with the newly established UN International Scientific Panel on AI and related global initiatives to ensure that nature conservation priorities are integrated into emerging AI governance frameworks. 

Work is now being initiated to turn the aspirations in the resolution into firm action. Chris and colleagues in CRI are hoping to be heavily involved in this important process.