This is a global crisis and we need British leadership and investment globally.
we, Co-Donor StatementFourteen countries jointly committed to increasing international biodiversity finance and persuaded the G7 to align all international development assistance with the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
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British negotiators, supported by ministers, played a key role in securing agreement on a new treaty to protect the high seas and another to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.
None of these successes would have been considered particularly newsworthy by the mainstream media, but taken together they offer real opportunities to tackle what are objectively the greatest challenges facing humanity – and the UK has played a pivotal role in delivering these successes.
Yet just two years after the historic agreement in Montreal, and just months before the 2025 deadline to fulfill the $20 billion commitment, our country, and unfortunately the current government, are not on track to meet the financial obligations we agreed to.
according to New reports A study by the international affairs think tank ODI, commissioned by Campaign for Nature, found that the UK would need to increase its annual conservation budget to 1.46 billion pounds ($1.87 billion) to meet its fair share of the $20 billion.
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In terms of nature finance performance, we rank just 14th, behind Australia, Germany, France and Luxembourg. For a country where the environment consistently ranks in the top five public concerns, we are not performing well enough.
Biodiversity is declining at a rate unprecedented in human history: we are currently losing approximately 45 football fields of tropical forest every minute.
Nearly half of the planet’s species are in decline, with one million at risk of extinction within decades; and Research suggests The UK is one of the worst countries in the world for nature loss, with up to one in six species at risk of extinction.
We are destroying these precious creatures and places without recognizing that we depend on them for our own survival. If the rapid loss of biodiversity continues, we will all suffer, with serious implications for food and water supplies, disease outbreaks, and global peace and security.
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But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. Healthy ecosystems underpin essential services, support huge numbers of jobs, drive sustainable economic growth and ensure long-term prosperity and resilience. Investing in nature delivers strong returns for our countries and planet.
Much of the world’s remaining biodiversity resides in developing countries, making them crucial to maintaining a sustainable planet.
There is a real opportunity for the UK to rebuild relationships with our partners in the Global South and put words into action. Political parties have a real opportunity to seize control of the nature agenda.
The good news is that Labour’s David Lammy, Ed Miliband and Steve Reid have all spoken positively about protecting nature in the UK. But biodiversity loss doesn’t stop in Dover – it’s a global crisis that requires British leadership and global investment.
Two years ago we boosted the world’s ambitions for nature conservation. Now we need to keep our promise before it’s too late.
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Sir Zac Goldsmith is a former UK Secretary of State for the Environment and a member of the International Steering Committee of Campaign for Nature. Ecologist.
