Greens welcome new Wildlife Trusts report on need to tackle nature crisis
8 October 2021
- Climate and nature emergencies need to be tackled in tandem
- Climate and Ecology Bill would enshrine action in law
Greens have welcomed a new report by the Wildlife Trusts which says that COP26 must be a turning point for nature and that the climate emergency cannot be tackled without ambitious plans to address the nature crisis too.
The report says that Net Zero needs nature but nature needs Net Zero; that restoring nature locks up carbon, but these carbon stores are at risk if we fail to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Similarly, the Climate and Ecology Bill, which has been tabled in parliament by Green MP Caroline Lucas, calls for a joined-up approach to address the nature emergency and climate crisis together. The Bill now has the support of 110 MPs across 8 political parties.
Amelia Womack, Deputy leader of the Green Party, said:
“This new report throws a spotlight on the importance of nature in addressing the climate crisis but also how rising temperatures and the chaos being caused by our changing climate are devastating and disrupting nature and wildlife. It is essential that we tackle the climate and nature emergencies together.
“This is exactly what the Climate and Ecology Bill, put forward by our Green MP Caroline Lucas, seeks to do. It would address the nature emergency shoulder to shoulder with the climate crisis.
“This would mean that many of the demands made by the Wildlife Trusts, such as upland peat restoration, a complete ban on bottom-trawling fishing and incentivising farmers to manage their land for nature, would be enshrined in law.”
ENDS