Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to lead the world at the COP27 climate conference by pledging urgent action to protect nature in the UK.

The Trust, along with the 45 other charities that make up the national Wildlife Trusts association, is striving to raise awareness about the links between protecting nature and tackling climate change.

Although many people know that reducing CO2 emissions can have countless benefits for wildlife and humans, the Wildlife Trusts hope to highlight how restoring nature can not only help in this battle, but is in fact essential.

Kathryn Brown, Director of Climate Change and Evidence for The Wildlife Trusts, said:

“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."

In the 12 months since the last UN climate change conference - COP26 - the UK has seen record-breaking weather which scientists have said was made more likely because of anthropogenic climate change, and which also illustrates how the UK climate could change in the long-term:

· Temperatures over 40˚C were recorded for the first time ever. Some habitats became hostile for wildlife, animals suffered heat stress.

· Dangerous fires ravaged heath, grassland and farmland. Land equivalent to 30,000 football pitches has been burnt this year. Some precious heathland habitat was destroyed; some wildlife was unable to escape including silver-studded blue butterflies, adders and the young of ground-nesting birds such as nightjars.

· 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.

The Wildlife Trusts have now prepared a briefing document on the COP27 conference which highlights the trusts' biggest concerns, and calls for action, including:

· 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 to protect 30 per cent 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.

One of the projects that BBOWT has undertaken which will help in the fight against climate change is the £2 million restoration of wetland habitat at the Trust's Chimney Meadows nature reserve in West Oxfordshire: this large-scale project will help the land flood in a more natural way which makes it more resilient against extreme weather, but also helps it to store more carbon.

The project illustrates just one of the many ways that nature can be harnessed to help tackle climate change.

Kathryn Brown added:

“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?”