Combatting the climate and nature emergency

Joe Cornish/2020Vision

Combatting the Climate and Nature Emergency

A global emergency

We are in the middle of a climate and nature emergency, and the two are inextricably linked. Climate change is driving nature’s decline, and the loss of wildlife and wild places leaves us ill-equipped to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to change. One cannot be solved without the other.

When healthy, our natural habitats can reduce the risk of flooding, help prevent coastal erosion, improve people’s health and wellbeing, as well as maintain healthy soils, clean water and the pollinators needed for our crops – and therefore sustain us.

What are The Wildlife Trusts doing?

For decades, Wildlife Trusts up and down the country have been working on the ground to restore nature. We protect and recover important habitats, including peatland, saltmarsh, fen and woodland, which lock carbon safely away and limit the effects of climate change.

Read The Wildlife Trusts' Climate Statement

In response to the climate crisis, The Wildlife Trusts are:

Stepping up our work to restore vital habitats and natural climate solutions on a landscape scale
Calling for investment in natural climate solutions and nature's recovery, as a priority in tackling climate change, such as plans to achieve net zero
Pushing for the creation of a national Nature Recovery Network to restore thriving ecosystems and give wildlife space to adapt
Ensuring natural solutions are at the heart of local and national decision-making, such as planning, and working to protect them from damaging development and infrastructure projects
Working to ensure people of all walks of life can connect with and enjoy nature, for the benefit of our health and wellbeing
Raising awareness of the climate crisis and actions that can be taken; watch our coverage of COP26 and read our statement on what must happen next
Committing to publishing regular climate adaptation reports, that examine the impacts and risks associated with the changing climate across our land holdings and outlining actions that we will take in the future to help nature adapt; our first report, Changing Nature, was published in July 2022.

Download our reports

Changing Nature Adaptation Report.pdf

Let Nature Help - COP26 Report

The Wildlife Trusts Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2020-21

Quantifying the potential impact of nature based solutions on greenhouse gas emissions from UK habitats

Addressing our own carbon footprint

From travel to running our visitor centres, to powering our operations and even our conservation work, The Wildlife Trusts recognise that our activities can have an impact on the climate crisis. We are currently assessing the footprint of all 46 Wildlife Trusts and will set out our ambitions to become carbon neutral - or even carbon negative - as a movement.

Reducing our carbon footprint (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AKnKZZHFPI)

COP26: What is needed next

Read The Wildlife Trusts' statement (https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/cop26-baby-steps-forward-when-giant-leaps-were-needed)

We've long called for changes in laws and practices that properly protect and restore nature, including a Nature Recovery Network to map, join up and restore habitats.