The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the UK Presidency of the global climate conference COP26 to tackle the nature crisis alongside the climate emergency – or neither will be solved. Today the charity publishes a COP26 edition of its nature-based solutions report, 'Let Nature Help'. It explains how climate change is driving nature’s decline, whilst the loss of wildlife and habitats leaves us ill-equipped to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing world.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“Net zero needs nature. Nature needs net zero. Both need to be resilient to the climate of the future. Nature’s fantastic ability to trap carbon safely and provide other important benefits is proven – peatland, woodland, saltmarsh and other wild habitats are vital carbon stores. But these natural places are in decline and face even greater risk of degradation from the extreme climatic conditions that are already inevitable over the next 30 years. It’s becoming a vicious spiral of damage – one that has to be stopped right now.
“In addition to the urgent task of cutting emissions at source, we need to see an enormous rise in the amount of land and sea that’s protected for nature – and increase it to at least 30% by 2030. Also, the Government must embed climate action – mitigation and adaptation – across every department and take urgent steps to stop carbon-emitting activities such as new road building, peat burning and trawling the seabed.”
The Wildlife Trusts call on the Government to:
PEAT
- Significantly increase peatland restoration and repair 100% upland peat before 2050
- Implement an immediate ban on peatland burning and end farming on deep peat
- Ban the sale and use of peat in gardening and compost products, including imports
THE SEA
- Implement a ban on bottom-trawling the seabed in England
- Give all seagrass habitats highly protected status
- Renew pledges to protect coastal habitats and invest more in natural sea defences
FARMING
- Give a boost to sustainable farming that locks carbon into the soil and helps wildlife
- Publish details on how Environmental Land Management Scheme will incentivise farmers to manage their land for nature-based solutions
WOODLAND
- Increase the natural regeneration of woods and where this cannot be done, plant resilient native trees instead
- Ensure a mix of trees are planted in every location so as to have the best chance of survival in unpredictable conditions and in the face of increased pests and diseases
PLANNING
- Make more space for nature everywhere including in towns and new developments. By 2030 we need to have protected 30% of our land and seas for nature. Create a new designation, Wildbelt, which protects places, including degraded land, that is put in recovery for nature
- Ensure that planning reforms deliver the Government’s legally binding target in the Environment Bill to halt species decline by 2030