Election of the IUCN President
1. At its 98th Meeting in February 2020, the Council decided to nominate the following
candidates for election as IUCN President1:
- Mrs Razan AL MUBARAK, United Arab Emirates - Mr Malik Amin Aslam KHAN, Pakistan
2. In accordance with Articles 27 of the IUCN Statutes and 32 of the IUCN Regulations, Mr John Gwilym ROBINSON (United States of America), has been nominated as an additional candidate for the Presidency of IUCN.
The candidates have declared their willingness to serve if elected.
3. For consideration by the World Conservation Congress, the biographical information on the candidates is attached hereafter. More information can be viewed on the
Biographical information on the Candidates for President
Mrs Razan AL MUBARAK, United Arab Emirates
Current employment and/or position/title:
Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) Species Conservation Fund; Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD); Emirates Nature WWF – Managing Director
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:
With an academic background in international relations and environmental studies, Razan will bring extensive technical and executive expertise to the IUCN. With more than two decades of conservation experience in a region rife with competing interests, Razan is well prepared to lead the IUCN into a new era focused on solutions that protect nature while ensuring sustainable development. Her global accomplishments at Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) include overseeing one of the world’s most ambitious mammalian species reintroduction programs: the breeding of captive Scimitar-horned oryx in Abu Dhabi and reintroducing it back into the wild in Chad, thus seeing a species that is listed as Extinct in the Wild increase its numbers in its natural habitat. Under her leadership, the EAD also established global partnerships like the Eye on Earth environmental data initiative, convened four meetings of IUCN Species Survival Commission since 2008, and hosts one of the Convention on Migratory Species’ two offices. If elected IUCN President, Razan would be only the second woman to lead the organization in its 72-year history and the first female president from Asia. She would also be the first IUCN president from the Arab world since 1978.
Particular qualifications to be IUCN President:
Razan Al Mubarak’s diverse experience leading a large government agency, an international philanthropic organization, and a conservation NGO focused on citizen engagement provides her with a unique perspective from which to lead the IUCN at this critical moment.
o As the head of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), the Gulf region’s largest environmental regulator, Razan convinced the government to adopt targets to double the state’s protected areas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030. She also worked globally to reintroduce endangered species, such as the Scimitar-horned oryx, into the wild. o Razan is the founding director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species
Conservation Fund, which under her leadership has supported more than 2,000 species conservation projects in over 160 countries.
o As a managing director at Emirates Nature, an NGO affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, Razan has helped lead initiatives to protect the country’s wilderness, coral, and nesting and migrating sea turtles.
o As a member of Masdar's board of directors, Razan helped the company become one of the Middle East's largest developers of renewable energy. Since 2006, it has invested US$ 13.5 billion in mainly solar and wind projects in over 25 countries.
Mr Malik Amin Aslam KHAN, Pakistan
Current employment and/or position/title:
Government of Pakistan – Advisor to Prime Minister /Federal Minister for Climate Change
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:
Valuing and respecting nature is central to the philosophy of IUCN. This has also been the umbilical cord binding my career progression to IUCN as we partnered on a diverse range of conservation activities. It has been an association of passion as we collaborated on a diverse range of initiatives which included rescuing and trans-locating a snow leopard cub in the northern areas of Pakistan, reviving the dwindling populations of blind dolphins, markhors and sea turtles and partnering to restore the vanishing mangroves along the coastline of Pakistan. In time, as my career progressed from a NGO researcher to a political policy practitioner, this partnership also graduated to initiatives with a much larger scope such as the development and implementation of the landmark Green Growth Initiative in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, planning and executing the “Billion Trees Tsunami”
afforestation as well as working on the, ongoing, country wide “Recharge Pakistan” project aimed at restoring wetland ecosystems as well as recharging ground water aquifers. All these collaborative engagements, I have reinforced my belief in the value and worth of IUCN as well as the fact that Nature-based Solutions work. They not only create a
harmonious balance of nature with development but also provide a payback through green jobs and unforeseen political dividends – which in turn has helped me to galvanise a national “green agenda” and inculcate it into a political movement through a mainstream political party. These continuing diverse experiences make me a “natural ally” to serve IUCN. Particular qualifications to be IUCN President:
Firstly, I possess extensive governance experience with a strategic knowledge of IUCN. IUCN is a body with unique strengths but also an organisation with immense complexity which, for effective governance, has to be grasped and understood. My understanding of IUCN has developed over years serving at different tiers, starting at the bottom from chairing the Members’ National Committee to Council membership to two terms as Vice-President. Also, I have had the exposure across its wide ranging strategic functions from serving on the Governance and Constituency (GCC), Finance and Audit (FAC), Congress Preparations (CPC) and selection of the DG (DGSC) Committees, as well as taking up the challenge of presiding over Council meetings and the passionately driven Members’ Assembly sessions. All this has kept me actively involved with strategic directions of IUCN while keeping me abreast of the prevailing challenges and allowed me to develop a clear vision for its future progression.
Secondly, I offer a capability of overseeing policy formulation with an influential global outreach. Having served in national parliament, country climate negotiations and the federal cabinet twice (including current serving term), I would be able to bring a wealth of global influence and highest-level network connections to the access and benefit of IUCN. I also bring to the table a unique skill set of not only overseeing diverse policy development, ranging from wildlife to national parks to carbon markets to electric vehicles, but also
Thirdly, I have a passionate commitment to conservation along with an in-depth
understanding of its challenges. My solid theoretical grounding (McGill/Oxford) is balanced with a practical experience of planning, managing and delivering conservation successes on the ground (Green Growth Initiative/Billion Tree Tsunami/5 point Green Agenda) as well as negotiating these issues through intricate multilateral processes and negotiations. In addition, the ability to leverage this knowledge base to influence behaviour change towards a “green” direction- has been the hallmark of my career and will certainly be an asset for IUCN, which strives to do this at the global level.
Finally, I can offer IUCN a practical knowledge of developing and delivering innovative “Green” financing. I have managed to not only increase the government financing for our Ministry 16 fold but have also overseen the increased access to concessionary global finance for our Ministry (now reaching U$500 million) over the past year. This has been achieved through development of innovative “green” financing mechanisms such as the “Eco-system Restoration Fund” (ERF). This ability for “out of the box” thinking is something which, as President, I can leverage for IUCN to attract innovative avenues of financing. With this useful background and diverse governance experience, I believe I am well suited to effectively contribute to IUCN’s governance and future leadership in conservation.
Mr John Gwilym ROBINSON, United States of America
Current employment and/or position/title:
Joan L. Tweedy Chair in Conservation Strategy, Wildlife Conservation Society Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:
I have been active in the field of conservation throughout professional career. I oversaw the programs of the Wildlife Conservation Society in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and the Marine realm from 1990 until the end of 2019, when I retired from the position. Today WCS has programs in 64 countries, a staff of about 4,000, and an annual budget approaching $ 125 million. With a Ph.D. in Zoology, I joined the Smithsonian Institution in 1977, then moved to the University of Florida in 1980 where I established a graduate program to train students from tropical countries. In over 200 books, book chapters and journal publications, I have written extensively on conservation research, practice and policy. I have extensive board experience, serving among others with the Christensen Fund (2001–2011, the last year as Chair), Foundations of Success (from 2001–2012 as Chair), the Tropical Forest Foundation (2000–2015), World Parks Endowment (1994–2004). I have served on the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology (1999–2010), and as its President (2005–2007). In recognition of my contributions to conservation, I was inducted into the Royal Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 2003, in recognition of lifetime achievement and service to conservation. In 2016, I was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Zoological Society of London, England. I am a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. Presently, I am a 2020 Finalist for the Indianapolis Prize, a biennial prize for ‘extraordinary contributions to conservation efforts’.
Particular qualifications to be IUCN President:
I have a long history of involvement with IUCN, and I endorse the mission and understand the opportunities and constraints of IUCN’s organisational structure and capabilities. I have worked closely with IUCN Members, both governmental and non-governmental, throughout the world. I have long been active in the Species Survival Commission (SSC), originally joining as a member of the Primate Specialist Group in 1985, and serving on the Steering Committee (1991–2000, 2003–2010). I represented IUCN on the TRAFFIC Board
(1998–2009). I chaired the Sustainable Use Advisory Group (1994–1997), a special IUCN task force, which helped draft IUCN Sustainable Use Policy. I participated in the Sustainable Use Specialist Group (1992–2009) as member of the Executive Committee and Vice Chair. I joined the IUCN-US Board in 2012, and served as its President through 2016. I was elected by the 2012 World Conservation Congress to the IUCN Council. I have served on the Search Committee for the last two IUCN Director Generals. I have been a member of the Programme and Policy Committee since 2012, and participated in the Congress Preparatory Committee in the lead up to the Congresses in Hawai’i and France. I have been active on a number of IUCN Task Forces, including the Private Sector Task Force (which I currently chair), the post-2020 Task Force, and the IUCN Urban Alliance. Today I remain the IUCN Councillor for North America and the Caribbean, a member of Bureau, and as a Vice President for the Council.
