Green Party co-leader
Adrian Ramsey has warned that environment secretary Therese Coffey will be
going into a key UN summit on biodiversity ‘empty handed because the government
has failed to put forward plans to give legal protection to nature.
The UN Biodiversity
Conference (COP15) will take place in the Canadian city of Montreal between the
7th and 19th of December. It brings together scientific
experts and representatives of governments to agree a set of global goals to
reverse nature loss [1].
Adrian Ramsey said that
the environment secretary would be “attending the UN biodiversity summit empty
handed, despite the UK being one of the most nature depleted countries in the
world [2].
He added that there was
“little
confidence” in the government “meeting its target to halt the decline in
species by 2030”.
Ahead of the COP 15 summit the government has faced
criticism for failing to meet even its own unambitious targets in areas such as
protecting threatened habitats.
Speaking to the Guardian Elliot Chapman-Jones, head of
public affairs at the Wildlife Trusts said, “we are losing nature at a faster
rate than at any time in our history”, yet the government’s “culture of delay” meant
they were missing their targets [3].
Adding that “Current plans will mean even less wildlife in
20 years’ time than the much-depleted state that we have now. A truly ‘world
leading’ target must aim to leave the next generation with more nature – not
less.”
The Green Party are calling for the introduction of a
Rights of Nature Act enforced by an independent Commission for Nature.
This will, Adrian Ramsey said provide “legal protection for
wildlife and habitats in England and Wales”, it would also put the regeneration
of nature “at the heart of all policy considerations”.
Announcing the policy in October last year Green Party
spokesperson on the Natural World Jonathan Elmer said “We face an ecological
emergency which threatens the survival of all life on the planet including our
own. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world with
about half of its biodiversity lost” [4].
Going on to say that a “bold approach” was needed to “challenge
the government and other parties to go further in addressing the tragic
depletion of nature and wildlife and creating a thriving natural environment
for the future.”
Issuing this fresh call to action Adrian Ramsey said “the
pace that we are losing nature continues to accelerate and there is no sign of
a reversal in this trend. We face an ecological emergency which poses real
threats to human society - to food and water supplies, to clean air, to our
ability to adapt to a warming world”.
Adding that “If the UK government wants to demonstrate a
genuine commitment to halting and reversing species decline, and avoid arriving
at future biodiversity summits empty handed, it will show leadership by
introducing a Rights of Nature Act.”
[1] https://www.unep.org/un-biodiversity-conference-cop-15
