Rushcliffe MP Ruth Edwards chaired a panel discussion yesterday on restoring global nature which included a UK Government Minister, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and distinguished experts in global environmental leadership.
The webinar, held for the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), was a warm-up discussion for the UN Biodiversity Conference later this year.
Ruth was joined by expert panellists, UK Minister for Pacific and the Environment the Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change and Special Assistant to Pakistan’s Prime Minister His Excellency Malik Amin Aslam, the Former Chancellor of the Exchequer the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, World Wildlife Fund Executive Director for Advocacy and Campaigns Kate Norgrove and environmental campaigner and former MEP Stanley Johnson.
This discussion took place in the wake of a huge number of Government announcements on the environment including the ten point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the return of the landmark Environment Bill to the Commons and, earlier this week, Government commitments to:
- A Peat Action Plan which will restore, sustainably manage and protect at least 35,000 hectares of peatland by 2025, investing £50m through the Nature for Climate fund.
- An England Trees Action Plan which will better protect our existing trees and expand woodland coverage aiming for 12% woodland cover by the middle of the century. Over £500 million of the £640 million Nature for Climate Fund is dedicated to trees. Tree planting rates in England will treble to benefit our local communities, nature and climate
- Species reintroduction measures to recover threatened species and continue to provide opportunities for successful reintroductions.
The Government is also acting on the recommendations of the Dasgupta Review and will be amending the Environment Bill to create a legally binding target on species abundance for 2030.
Since being elected in 2019, Ruth has pushed for further environmental protections and species restorations. Ruth has also written an article for the European Journal in favour of a Global Oceans Treaty, which you can be found here: https://bit.ly/3bCHWaX.
Speaking after the webinar, Ruth said:
“This was a great discussion which highlighted the exciting possibilities for future policy on biodiversity and environmental protections.
“As this webinar was taking place, the members of the G7 all signed up to the 30 by 30 target to protect 30% of global land and sea by 2030.
“This is a fantastic step forward which I hope builds momentum towards the UN Convention on Biodiversity and COP26 later this year.
“The discussion highlighted the importance of both countries and businesses playing their part to meet ambitious targets towards net zero.
Locally, Rushcliffe is making a great contribution. Aside from plans for the green tech park at Ratcliffe on Soar, we have businesses like BeadaMoss in East Leake who I recently visited.
“They undertake micro-propagation of Sphagnum moss for peatland restoration, which can help mitigate climate change, wildfires and flooding.”
