It has been a bleak countdown to the international climate conference, COP27, which starts in Egypt on Sunday. In the 12 months since COP26, the global and national mood has flipped from cautious optimism to fear and division. In the UK alone, we’ve seen the following since COP26: 

• Temperatures over 40˚C recorded for the first time ever. Habitats became hostile places for wildlife, animals suffered heat stress and retreated wherever they could to shaded, wooded or damp areas. Swifts fell out of the sky, trees shed leaves, bumblebees were grounded.  

• Dangerous fires on heath, grassland and farmland – equal to 30,000 football pitches have been burnt so far this year. Some of our most precious habitats such as heathlands were destroyed; wildlife was unable to escape including silver studded blue butterflies, adders and the young of ground-nesting birds such as nightjar. 

• Drought across much of the UK, with the driest July on record in south-east England. Rivers ran dry leaving dead fish and amphibians, and grey herons, otters, water voles and kingfishers struggling to find food. Ponds and lakes dried-up and plants died – the subsequent lack of nectar affected insects.  

We cannot address climate change without restoring nature. Natural habitats have a critical role to play in storing carbon and helping us adapt to the inevitable consequences of climate change. To have a global voice, the UK must ensure it is taking the right action at home – especially as we are one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. 

Paul Hadaway, Director of Conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust said: “Whilst COP 27 plays out on an international stage, the issues discussed there have a significant impact on people in Kent. The State of Nature in Kent Report concluded that by 2040 Kent’s summer months will be two to three degrees hotter on average, that 79% of our lakes and rivers do not meet the required standards of the Water Framework Directive and levels of air pollution are double the average recommended by the World Health Organisation.  

“The UK government has continued to make poorly planned environmental policy announcements, followed by U-turns, which is deeply damaging to confidence in their manifesto commitments. It also makes it very hard for all of those who are committed to sustainable growth, including developers, farmers and conservationists, to work together to ensure that our environment is protected, and climate change mitigated. 

“It is crucial that our leaders use this opportunity to bring about change and help us adapt to the crisis crises we face. Whilst other difficulties faced by the UK may appear to have more immediacy, if we do not have an environment that can sustain life – it is all in vain.” 

See The Wildlife Trusts’ COP27 briefing. It addresses: 

• Time is running out to avoid catastrophic warming above 1.5C – we are still on track for at least 2.5°C of warming by the end of this century, which would result in catastrophic impacts for people and wildlife, with a much greater chance of ecosystem collapse. 

•  If the UK wants to be a world leader on climate and nature, it must ensure it is taking the same urgent action at home. Progress must be made by all governments in the UK on commitment to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030 and the UK must strengthen, not weaken, its environmental protections. Earlier this week the Government broke the law by failing to set Environment Act targets – it is not on course to halt the decline of nature let alone restore it. 

• Protecting nature and prioritising resilience is becoming even more critical in the wake of global extreme weather events in 2022. Investment in nature must be central to decisions on finance at COP27, with wealthy nations ensuring global majority countries can invest in nature to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts. 

Kathryn Brown, director of climate change and evidence for The Wildlife Trusts, says: “It’s vital that the Prime Minister shows climate leadership by championing nature’s recovery at COP27. The climate and nature crises are two sides of the same coin – we must restore nature because natural habitats have a critical role to play in storing carbon and helping us adapt to the inevitable consequences of climate change. At the same time, climate change is one of the biggest threats to nature at a time when it is already in freefall globally; the latest assessment reveals we have lost 70% of our biodiversity since 1970. 

“The UK must do more than simply turn up to COP27. We need assurances that the Government will rapidly increase efforts to protect at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 and strengthen environmental protections at home. Government’s failure to publish nature recovery targets this week – breaking the Environment Act – does little to reassure us they are acting to address the magnitude of the challenge we face. 

“How can we expect other countries to prioritise nature in tackling climate change if we aren’t doing the same ourselves?”