August 31, 2016 — Some 8,000 heads of state, policymakers and environmentalists convene in Hawaii this week for the world’s largest gathering aimed at forging a path forward on the planet’s toughest conservation problems.
US President Barack Obama is expected to be among the world leaders in Honolulu as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) opens its World Conservation Congress, held every four years in a different location around the globe.
This year, the conference theme of “Planet at the Crossroads” is aimed at exposing the plight of island nations that are at risk of disappearing in the coming decades due to rising seas.
It is the first major environmental meeting of global leaders since the Paris climate talks last year.