We should recognise the interdependence between nature and climate

This blog is part of our COP16 miniseries, a collection of blogs spotlighting this year’s UN Biodiversity Conference.

Right now, ministers and experts are meeting at COP16 in Columbia, or “nature cop”, to discuss how to reverse global biodiversity loss. Just 10 days after nature cop closes, the spotlight will shift to Azerbaijan for “climate cop”. At the more well known COP29 we can expect to see even more ministers and experts gather, this time, to confront the threat of climate change.

Two separate conferences suggest two separate issues. Yet that couldn’t be further from the truth. We cannot tackle the climate emergency without similar ambition to meet the nature crisis head on. And we cannot reverse declines in biodiversity, without urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Healthy nature can mitigate the effects of climate change

Nature has an incredible ability to trap carbon safely out of the atmosphere. Peatlands, trees and woodlands, mangroves, the seabed, and other habitats across the world, are all proven to be holding vast stores of carbon. The Amazon alone stores the equivalent of almost two years of global carbon emissions, whilst the world’s oceans absorb 25 per cent of all carbon emissions. In the UK, 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon are locked into our peatlands, with another 213 million tonnes stored in our woodlands.

Yet these habitats are under threat. Not only will irresponsible development and the impacts of western overconsumption leave them in poor condition, but the intensifying turbulent effects of climate change put them at risk of being destroyed altogether. Degraded habitats are less effective at storing carbon. In worst case scenarios, rather than serving as carbon sinks, areas that absorb more carbon dioxide than they release, they can become net carbon emitters. For example, the UK’s peatlands are in such poor condition they are currently a net emitter of carbon, adding four per cent to the nation’s previously estimated annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Policymakers must join up nature and climate

If we return nature to full health, it will not only prevent climate change from worsening, but it will also help us to adapt to the wetter, hotter and more extreme weather events that are now inevitable as a result of previous human action. Habitats like woodlands and hedgerows can prevent flooding by regulating water supply and provide a cheaper and more multifunctional solution than other flood defences. Trees and green spaces can cool urban environments by up to eight degrees as temperatures increase, whilst sand dunes and mangroves can protect at risk communities from storm damage.

Both internationally and at home, it is essential that politicians and policymakers recognise the interdependence between nature and climate. If we do this, whilst also recognising the urgency and ambition needed to tackle both crises, positive solutions can be found to our biggest environmental dilemmas.

For global leaders, that means ensuring there is join up between the discussions at COP16 and COP29, with nature woven through core negotiations in Azerbaijan rather than simply being a side event. A fair share of climate finance must also be given to nature-based projects, particularly those supporting indigenous communities to continue playing their vital role as custodians of biodiversity. Ahead of COP16, it was reassuring to hear UK Nature Minister Mary Creagh recognising the importance of making this happen.

On the domestic front, we need a holistic approach taken in the government’s upcoming planning reforms to ensure we don’t forego nature protection whilst also unlocking crucial development of housing and renewable energy infrastructure. Recognition of the link between climate and nature will also be key to a successful Land Use Framework, ensuring we make space for creation of more carbon storing habitats on less productive land, whilst keeping the most productive land for food production.

Both the nature crisis and climate emergency are urgent and existential threats. But if we acknowledge the link between the two, solving one crisis will make it easier to tackle the other.