Exclusive
benefits for IUCN State Members
While all members access the benefits
outlined above, State membership allows for
increased and exclusive benefits such as:
Greater influence: State membership
carries more weight than Government Agencies
and NGOs as State members have more voting power.
They enjoy three votes, one of which is shared
with its Government Agencies. This is how a
state can directly influence IUCN's planning
process and help shape the Union's policies,
its Programme and governance. This includes
the opportunity to formulate and enforce multilateral
agreements. State membership creates an influence
which cross-cuts the boundaries of Government
Agencies - a crucial fact given that conservation
of biological diversity and sustainable use
of natural resources lies within the realm of
sectors such as agriculture, forestry, tourism,
transport, energy, trade and aid.
Increase capacity through inter
state-cooperation: By being a member of IUCN,
a State joins a powerful alliance capable of
influencing other States that it may not otherwise
reach on its own. This is the only solution
to changing the way natural resources cutting
across State borders are managed. For example,
no single part of the world can save a migratory
species if the habitat of that species is preserved
in one country and destroyed in another; no
downstream State can prevent the flooding from
natural resource misuse by an upstream State.
Good global environmental governance:
State membership to an international organization
such as IUCN underlines the country's good foreign
policy and confirms the State's commitment to
a just world that values and conserves nature,
thereby boosting the country's image as a "good
international citizen."
