The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global organization that works in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use. It is a membership union of government and civil society organizations. IUCN monitors the impacts of climate change on nature and works to guide the conservation and restoration of ecosystems to help mitigate and adapt to it. The organization also works to provide everyone with fair access to clean water and to protect the freshwater ecosystems on which humanity depends. IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. Its experts are organized into six commissions.