Contact group meetings before Congress
Rule of Procedure 56(d) of the IUCN Statutes states that, in order to increase the time for discussion during Congress, the Motions Working Group may convene virtual contact groups in the three weeks prior to the Opening of the Congress. Given the large number of motions that were sent to the Congress following the online discussion (40 in total), the Group has decided to send 16 of those to early contact groups to take place from 18 September to 8 October 2025.
For the same reason, the Council has decided to convene contact groups for several documents going to the Members' Assembly (Rule 45ter). These include the Programme, Financial plan, Commission mandates, and motions proposing to amend the Statutes.
Please see the schedule of contact groups (updated on 17 September), the guidance note, and the Group’s third update for details. . All contact groups are listed in Gulf Standard Time (GST) / UTC+4.
To participate in contact groups, please sign up in advance in order to receive the meeting link.
Third Motions Working Group Update Tentative schedule for contact groups Guidance note for virtual contact groups
Electronic vote on motions
Members are invited to participate in the electronic vote on 97 motions that the Motions Working Group sent to the ballot following the online discussion.
The vote is open from 27 August until 10 September 2025.
Motions submitted to the e-vote and those sent for further debate in Abu Dhabi
The Motions Working Group (MWG) has selected the motions to be submitted to an electronic vote prior to Congress (from 27 August at 13:00 GMT/UTC until 10 September at 13:00 GMT/UTC) and those that will be tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Following the appeals process, in accordance with Rule 62ter, 97 motions will go to the electronic vote, and 40 will go to the Members' Assembly.
Motions proposing amendment to the IUCN Statutes
The Council has proposed four motions (A-D) amending the IUCN Statutes. They will be discussed at the Members' Assembly, and are available on the Documents page.
Online discussion of motions
From April to June, Members were invited to participate in an online discussion of motions on the Congress website. During this time, Members could support motions, express concerns, debate pros and cons, and suggest amendments to the text, with a view towards reaching a consensus.
Accepted motions
Following the close of the submission period, the Motions Working Group reviewed the admissibility of all submitted motions against the IUCN Statutes and Rules of Procedure of the World Conservation Congress, and decided which of those motions will be accepted to be debated. The Motions Working Group published an update after its first meeting. In April, the Congress Preparatory Committee, acting as an appeals body, reinstated for debate 14 motions which had not been accepted.
Submission of motions
Between 6 November 2024 and 15 January 2025, IUCN Members and Council submitted their motions on a variety of critical issues for conservation and sustainability. All submitted motions underwent a technical review to assess their scientific and technical content.
Guidance Notes
