Dear Secretaries of State,

Many congratulations on your appointments at a critical time for climate and nature. We are writing to offer you our strong support on your ambitions to integrate nature into climate policy on net zero and adaptation.

It is well understood that nature’s decline is accelerating climate change, and vice versa. Both crises are risking other Labour priorities - the economy, food security, health and wellbeing. In the UK, peatlands store over three billion tonnes of carbon, woodland ecosystems four billion tonnes, permanent grasslands two billion tonnes*, and blue carbon habitats at least 500 million tonnes. The natural environment is the only UK carbon sink that currently works. Leaving these habitats in poor condition, and vulnerable to further damage as the climate changes, is releasing carbon rather than storing more of it and reducing the resilience benefits provided by nature. Restoration of nature is key to building thriving and resilient rural landscapes, as well as improving health and wellbeing of people living in urban areas.

The loss of nature also poses fundamental risks to global and domestic economic stability and growth. Analysis from the University of Oxford published last year highlighted that more than half of global GDP, $44 trillion, is dependent on nature and its services, yet nature-related risks are not being priced into financial markets despite a recorded 69% decline in species abundance globally since 1970. Indeed, research by Oxford with the Green Finance Institute showed that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and this poses significant financial risks to the UK economy and the government itself; with potential impacts on GDP of 6 - 12% in the coming decade, and 50% of nature-related risks coming via international supply chains. If the UK Government does not succeed in reversing the staggering declines in nature in this country, it will not just fail to deliver our commitments on nature restoration - it will also risk any chance of delivering both net zero and achieving a climate resilient society and economy.

Both the previous Government’s Net Zero Strategy and the Climate Change Committee’s earlier carbon budgets have treated nature in a piecemeal way. Its inclusion has been limited to modelled estimates of future potential sequestration in woodlands and peatlands, with limited consideration of the critical need for resilient and nature-friendly farming, and without a robust assessment of habitat condition and restoration potential. Blue carbon and the climate risks from nature loss have barely featured at all up to now. Similarly, actions to manage the risks to nature from climate change in the National Adaptation Programme and support its role in protecting people remain inadequate compared to the scale of action needed.

We stand ready to support you in any way necessary in unlocking the economic, social and environmental benefits from a bold, integrated climate and nature agenda.

Signed:
Richard Benwell, CEO, Wildlife and Countryside Link
Kathryn Brown OBE, Director of Climate Change and Evidence, The Wildlife Trusts
Brendan Costelloe, Director of Policy, the Soil Association
Rosanna Downes, Head of Campaigns, Friends of the Earth
Professor Alastair Driver, Director, Rewilding Britain
Adam Eagle, CEO, The Lifescape Project
Professor Hayley Fowler, Director of the Centre for Climate and Environmental Resilience, Newcastle University
Angela Francis, Director of Policy Solutions, WWF
Nicola Hutchinson, Director of Conservation, Plantlife
Katie-Jo Luxton, Executive Director, Global Conservation, RSPB
Professor Yadvinder Malhi CBE FRS, Director, Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, University of Oxford
Carina Millstone, Executive Director, Feedback Global
Doug Parr, Policy Director, Greenpeace UK
Dr Nicola Ranger, Director, Global Finance and Economy, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Professor Pete Smith FRS, FRSE, University of Aberdeen
Professor Rachel Warren, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia
John Watkins, CEO, National Landscapes Association
Matt Williams, Senior Advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council
Mark Workman, Affiliate Researcher, Imperial College London

* Ward, S. E., Smart, S. M., Quirk, H., Tallowin, J. r. B., Mortimer, S. R., Shiel, R. S., Bardgett, R. D. (2016). Legacy effects of grassland management on soil carbon to depth. Global Change Biology, 22(8), 2929-2938