Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects.

IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several international conventions on nature conservation and biodiversity.

[note 1] [7]: 16–38 IUCN was established on 5 October 1948, in Fontainebleau, France, when representatives of governments and conservation organizations spurred by UNESCO signed a formal act constituting the International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUPN).

They jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature Lake Success, US and drafted the first list of gravely endangered species.

In the early years of its existence IUCN depended almost entirely on UNESCO funding and was forced to temporarily scale down activities when this ended unexpectedly in 1954.

IUCN was successful in engaging prominent scientists and identifying important issues such as the harmful effects of pesticides on wildlife but not many of the ideas it developed were turned into action.

[8] IUCN was one of the few environmental organisations formally involved in the preparations of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972).

The income this generated, combined with growing revenue via WWF, put the organisation on relatively sound financial footing for the first time since 1948.

[9] The drafting process, and the discussions with the UN agencies involved, led to an evolution in thinking within IUCN and growing acceptance of the fact that conservation of nature by banning human presence no longer worked.

The Strategy was followed in 1982 by the World Charter for Nature, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, after preparation by IUCN.

The increased attention on sustainable development as a means to protect nature brought IUCN closer to the corporate sector.

The IUCN Global Business and Biodiversity Program (BBP) was established in 2003 to influence and support private partners in addressing environmental and social issues.

Most prominent in the Business and Biodiversity Program is the five-year collaboration IUCN started with the energy company Shell International in 2007.

[11][12] IUCN has been involved in minimum energy consumption and zero-carbon construction since 2005 by integrating energy-saving materials, developed by Jean-Luc Sandoz in the footsteps of Julius Natterer.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) use ecosystems and the services they provide to address societal challenges such as climate change, food security or natural disasters.

[14] The emergence of the NbS concept in environmental sciences and nature conservation contexts came as international organisations, such as IUCN and the World Bank, searched for solutions to work with ecosystems rather than relying on conventional engineering interventions (such as a seawall), to adapt to and mitigate climate change effects, while improving sustainable livelihoods and protecting natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

Some key dates in the growth and development of IUCN: [17] According to its website, IUCN works on the following themes: business, climate change, economics, ecosystems, environmental law, forest conservation, gender, global policy, marine and polar, protected areas, science and knowledge, social policy, species, water, and world heritage.

IUCN states that it aims to have a solid factual base for its work and takes into account the knowledge held by indigenous groups and other traditional users of natural resources.

Education has been part of IUCN's work program since the early days but the focus is on stakeholder involvement and strategic communication rather than mass-campaigns.

IUCN has a growing program of partnerships with the corporate sector on a regional, national and international level to promote sustainable use of natural resources.

They 'assess the state of the world's natural resources and provide the Union with sound know-how and policy advice on conservation issues'.

Additional sources of income are the membership fees, as well as grants and project funding from foundations, institutions, and corporations.

It has been claimed that the IUCN puts the needs of nature above those of humans, disregarding economic considerations and the interests of indigenous peoples and other traditional users of the land.

[5][7] This is linked to another criticism that has been directed at IUCN, namely that throughout its history it has mainly been 'Northern focused', i.e. had a West-European or North-American perspective on global conservation.

[7] More recently, activist environmental groups have argued that IUCN is too closely associated with governmental organisations and with the commercial sector.

[12] IUCN's close partnership with Coca-Cola in Vietnam – where they have together been launching Coca-Cola-focused community centers – has also drawn some criticism and allegations of greenwashing.

[36][37][38] Its decision to hold the 2012 World Conservation Congress on Jeju Island, South Korea, where the local community and international environmental activists were protesting against the construction of a navy base also led to controversy.