Support Our Campaign to Prioritise Nature

A Message from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Nature is in crisis. That’s one of the main reasons I joined the Green Party and campaigned so hard with them in the run up to the election. I was absolutely delighted that we managed to send four excellent Green Party MPs to Westminster. It gives me hope that we really can turn the nature crisis around, both here in the UK, and internationally too. But now the hard work begins.

A UN biodiversity summit, Cop16, is taking place in Columbia to discuss the nature crisis. It’s not as high profile as the annual climate summit which gets more media attention, but its task is just as critical. Because we can’t tackle the climate emergency without tackling the nature crisis. The two crises are deeply connected. That’s why I am proud to back the Green Party’s Nature Action Now campaign.

Nature is essential for our survival – and fundamental to our well-being. But it is in freefall. Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates with over 10,000 mammals, plants, birds and insects in the UK threatened with extinction. The country is way off track meeting its own nature targets too. In fact, the Government hasn’t even published a new nature strategy, something it promised to do by now at the last global nature summit two years ago.

But we can get biodiversity thriving again with the political will. And our four Green MPs are critical to getting nature prioritised in parliament. They will push Labour to act to protect and restore nature, boost nature friendly farming and keep fossil fuels in the ground. Bold action that will benefit our quality of life, our mental health, and our optimism about the future beyond measure. But it won’t be easy.

That’s why I didn’t hesitate to sign up to the Green Party’s timely Nature Action Now campaign. The odds were against getting four Green MPs elected but we did it by working together to make real change happen. Now we need to do it again to push this faltering Government to do better, much better, to turn around nature’s decline and restore our precious planet.

I would urge you to donate to support this crucial work.

A Message From Caroline Lucas: This is The Battle of Our Lives

Back in May, in my last few months as MP, I secured a parliamentary debate on nature and biodiversity loss.

It was the dying days of Sunak’s government, and amidst the chaos and election fever, I wanted to focus attention on the upcoming nature summit in Colombia.

Because nature is in freefall. In the course of my lifetime, the abundance of species across the UK has fallen on average by almost one fifth, Without urgent action here and internationally, our land, skies and seas will be even emptier and even quieter.

We now have a new Labour Government which is better on nature and climate than the Tories, but that’s a stunningly low bar to clear, and nowhere near good enough. While internationally, both the nature and climate summits have failed to deliver the change we need, and Trump has been elected to the White House.

So, what can we do to make progress when nature is in crisis and our political leaders aren’t even doing enough to deliver on pledges they have already signed up to, to protect and restore nature?

Getting behind the work of our four MPs to prioritise nature action in this parliament is crucial. I am hugely proud that Carla, Adrian, Ellie and Sian have made such a formidable start in Westminster. They are brilliant politicians and campaigners and will work tirelessly to push Labour to do better – much better.

But they need your help. Ultimately, it’s not winning elections that counts. It is the difference our Green MPs will make to bringing about a huge prize – real hope and real change on the nature crisis.

We are living out of kilter with the natural world, destroying nature, and putting our own very survival at risk – a situation which must be turned around.

This is the battle of our lives and it’s worth fighting for.

Please get behind our four MPs and donate what you can to our Nature Action Now campaign.

Nature Action Event: Can We Get Nature Recovery Back On Track?

The Government is way off track meeting its own targets to protect 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030. At the current rate of progress, we will not reach this goal until the next century. Is it all over for 30×30 or can we get nature restoration back on track?

Watch panellists Adrian Ramsay MP, peer Natalie Bennett, Lucy Pegg from the Green Alliance and the Marine Conservation Society’s Gareth Cunningham discuss farming practices, land use, soil health and the use of pesticides and agri-chemicals in a hugely informative online event on 12 November.

The UK grows a huge amount of sugar beet which is not just bad for human health but bad for the soil as it’s harvested in autumn when wet soil clings to the beet. This is then sold on by British Sugar to golf courses and offices creating green space, adding to their own profits, at the expense of biodiversity, food security and social justice.

Watch a recording of the event here (click the ‘subtitles/closed captions (c)’ button next to the settings wheel on the video to get auto-generated subtitles):

Rupert Read: We Are All On The Climate Frontline Now

The Green Party is the only political force taking the climate and nature crises seriously. Our current Government is far too complacent, and probably think that we’ll be spared the worst outcomes of ecological breakdown. But, as the horrific recent scenes in Spain demonstrate, in actual fact nowhere is safe from worsening disastrous impacts; we are now all on the climate frontline. Our Government’s inability and unwillingness to take the linked nature and climate emergencies seriously is why I am supporting the Nature Action Now campaign. 

There’s something we very badly need to do in the UK; we need to build resilience in our communities so that we are better prepared for rising, devastating climate impacts. And here’s the thing: building resilience goes hand in hand with nature restoration. A complex and diverse ecosystem is better at sequestering carbon, regenerating soil, and preventing large-scale flooding. Think peatlands, for instance. Sadly, the UK is not at all on track to meet its own nature protection targets, and we remain one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

With the destructive Republicans now reigning in the USA, and our Government lacking any mission to pursue the literally vital agenda of ecosystem-based climate adaptation that I’ve just described, our four Green MPs are pushing for Labour to do what is necessary but not in any Government plans: make the UK a global leader on nature action. We want an environmentally healthier and more diverse UK, we want regenerative farming to replace monoculture deserts, and of course we want fossil fuels to stay in the ground! 

A strategy centred in ecosystem-based adaptation is going to be crucial for  our collective survival, in the hard times we are moving into. So our MPs need your help. If you are able, please donate to Nature Action Now, and share with other green-minded friends so we can make this initiative as impactful as possible. And if you’re fortunate enough to be able to afford a substantial gift, then please join those of us who have given four or five figure sums to the Party. That kind of generosity is the kind of thing that’s needed, if we are to actually step up to this epochal challenge of our times.

Nature Action Event: How Do We Clean Up Our Rivers?

Our rivers are contaminated by a filthy cocktail of sewage, agricultural runoff and road pollution. How do we clean them up?

A timely Nature Action Now event on 7 November discussed how better regulation, more sustainable nature friendly farming, the enforcement of existing laws, different funding models and the rights of nature movement, all have a role to play.

Did you know that 30 per cent of Thames Water bills goes on servicing bad debt?
A fascinating panel discussion with Ellie Chowns MP, James Wallace, River Action UK CEO and Lewes town councillor Matthew Bird, chaired by Green Party campaigns coordinator Tom Scott.

Watch a recording of the event here (click the ‘subtitles/closed captions (c)’ button next to the settings wheel on the video to get auto-generated subtitles):

Adrian Ramsay: Living In a Rural Constituency Makes Me Very Aware of Nature’s Alarming Decline

I made history in July when I was elected MP for the new constituency of Waveney Valley. The constituency spanning the Norfolk/Suffolk border is rural, combining wonderful market towns with beautiful villages and countryside, and my constituents are hugely proud of the wonderful landscape. Living in a rural area makes you very aware of the alarming scale of nature’s decline, and the need to protect and restore nature was a big issue in the election campaign.

The environment is deeply important to the British people, yet the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We have signed up to legally binding targets to protect 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030, but at the current rate of progress, we will not reach that target until the next century. That’s why along with the other Green MPs, I am determined to prioritise nature action in this parliament.