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Recap | COP27 Biodiversity Day | Developments & Resources

Biodiversity Day

The seventh thematic day of COP27 focused on "Biodiversity". As noted by SocEnv Board member and COP delegate Simon Benfield CEnv: "Biodiversity and climate change are intrinsically linked but we cannot lose sight of the fact that a very significant proportion of biodiversity loss is not because of the changing climate. Modern farming methods and food consumption trends, the lack of education and support for soil and wider ecosystem preservation and the short termism of political will have all contributed to the crisis, but unlike climate change, there is a great deal that we can do now, simply and cheaply, to reverse biodiversity loss. It is vital that COP27 takes this opportunity to galvanise the nations of the world to work together to provide tangible solutions and funding."

What happened on Biodiversity Day?

UK environment minister Thérèse Coffey pledged £30m for nature projects the Big Nature Impact Fund, the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance and the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the Amazon. Find out more about these projects and the UK’s pledge here.

The COP27 Presidency announced the Enhancing Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Climate Transformation (ENACT) in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Find out more about this initiative here.

Also on the topic of nature-based solutions, ‘Beat the Heat: Nature for Cool Cities Challenge’ was launched aimed at cities in developing countries.

Looking ahead to the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) taking place on 7 – 19 December, the architects of the Paris agreement have called for COP15 to be a turning point in reversing nature and biodiversity loss. Read more here. You can also find out more about COP15 via the useful resources section below.

Recap a roundtable event hosted by Building and Atkins featuring experts including Claire Wansbury CEnv of Atkins. The event focused on the role of the construction industry in finding and implementing solutions to the biodiversity crisis. Read the article here.

Finally, the barriers to negotiating a climate deal by the weekend deadline were outlined in this article, with negotiators urged to reach an agreement.

 

Some upcoming Biodiversity related events:

IES webinar (17 November) IEMA COP15 webinar (22 November)

Biodiversity resources:

Brazil President-elect Lula speaks at COP27 High-Quality Blue Carbon Principles and Guidance Mott MacDonald: nature-based solutions CIEEM blog: benefits from woodland creation SocEnv Biodiversity Hub CEnv Blog: Biodiversity Net Gain SocEnv: Biodiversity webinar series SocEnv: Natural Capital webinar series

Resources looking ahead to COP15:

UN: COP15 WSP: what you can expect from COP15 CIEEM: COP15 position statement

Videos:

UN Interview with Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity UN Interview with UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP26 Rappler event: role of communities
What is COP27? light shining over the earth a view from space for COP27 the road to net zero conference

COP27 Hub

Find out more about COP27 as a whole, SocEnv activity, upcoming events and more, via our dedicated hub.