As environmental defender issues receive unprecedented international attention, questions arise about the role and response from promoters of conservation activity and cooperation in general (Bille Larsen et al., 2020) and the current and potential role of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in particular, as demonstrated by a recent virtual dialogue co-organised by the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) and the University of Geneva entitled “Environmental human rights defenders in the pandemic: the Geneva Roadmap & strengthening IUCN action” (IUCN, 2021a). Although IUCN has long addressed environmental defenders in policy frameworks and activities, we suggest that approaches have mainly been reactive rather than preventive and strategic. A new motion in the making potentially signals change, yet much will depend on resolving outstanding issues and mitigating the risks of existing environmental defender and human rights resolutions being ‘retired’ prematurely.