Environment Secretary calls for action to protect and restore nature at COP27

Today is Biodiversity Day at COP27!

Environment Secretary calls for action to protect and restore nature at COP27 - Defra

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey sets out UK support to protect the world’s oceans and natural habitats, and Government pledges £30 million to the Big Nature Impact Fund

The Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey has today called for renewed global action on nature as she sets out an ambitious path forward for nature at COP’s Biodiversity Day (16 November).

Outlining the importance of next month’s vital meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal , she is calling on countries to come together at that summit and agree a robust global plan for tackling nature loss. While significant progress has been made, more action is needed from both the public and private sectors to bridge the reported $700 billion funding gap needed to stop nature loss.

Our security, livelihoods and productivity depend on the global web of life including our forests and the ocean, with over half of the world’s GDP reliant on nature.

Today at Biodiversity Day, the UK Government continues to drive global efforts to embrace nature to help lower global temperatures and build a sustainable future. It will:

Commit £30 million of seed finance into the Big Nature Impact Fund – a new public-private fund for nature in the UK which will unlock significant private investment into nature projects, such as new tree planting or restoring peatlands. Managed by Federated Hermes and Finance Earth, these habitat creation projects will aid small business growth and job creation as well as soak up carbon emissions and support cleaner air and water.
Pledge an additional £12 million to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance to protect and restore vulnerable coastal communities and habitats
Commit a further £6 million to provide capacity building support to developing countries to increase commitments to nature and nature-based solutions under the Paris Agreement, through the UNDP Climate Promise.
Announce new UK climate finance contribution of £5 million toward the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the Amazon. This will help to tackle deforestation through community-led projects harnessing local knowledge to protect the world’s most precious forests that the planet relies on, whilst providing sustainable business opportunities to Indigenous People whose livelihoods depend on forests.
Raise awareness of the incredible importance of mangroves and their role in coastal resilience by endorsing the Mangrove Breakthrough led by the UNFCCC High-Level Champions and the Global Mangrove Alliance. This vital project aims to secure the future of vital coastal mangrove forests.
Highlight the climate benefits of blue carbon through continued support for the new Global Ocean Decade Programme for Blue Carbon (GO-BC), which has now launched a new Global Graduate scheme for early career blue carbon researchers.