COP15

Our reliance on fossil fuels is a big driver of climate change.

The Act established powers to declare National Nature Reserves (NNRs); to notify sites of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI's) and for local authorities to establish Local Nature Reserves (LNRs).

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. 

Visit their website

This is the primary mechanism for wildlife protection in Britain. This legislation covers four areas:

1. Wildlife protection, including protection of wild birds, their eggs and nests, protection of other animal and protection of plants

2. Nature Conservation, Countryside & National Parks

3. Public Rights of Way

4. Miscellaneous provisions

Find out more about UK Wildlife Law

The 3 main goals of The Convention on Biological Diversity are: 

• The conservation of biological diversity 
• The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
• The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

Each COP is hosted by a different nation and some are about climate, whilst others are about nature, as well as other topics. Two of the noteworthy climate COPs took place in 2015 and 2021.

COP21, which was hosted by Paris in 2015, resulted in the Parties (the 197 nations and territories) signing a new legally binding global treaty. This treaty committed those nations to ambitious action to limit average temperature change to 1.5^oC above pre-industrial levels.

In May 2009, the Scottish Beaver Trial released the first beavers to live wild in Scotland in over 400 years. The successful five year trial led to a decision by the Scottish Government in 2016 to allow beavers to remain in Scotland!

Find out more about The Scottish Beaver Trial

COP26, held last year in Glasgow, was the first real test of the commitment to delivering this agreement. During this meeting the Parties debated how they would achieve limiting temperature change to the agreed level.

The resulting Glasgow Climate Pact kept the ambition alive - but only just. Commitments to 'phase down' coal and end inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, were more aspirational than previous commitments - and smaller groups of countries also agreed to reduce methane emissions, halt deforestation, tackle transport emissions and end financing of overseas fossil fuels.

But action was missing on how to manage loss and damage from climate change, and provision of climate finance for countries on the frontline of climate impacts.

The nature and climate crises are two sides of the same coin, and one cannot be solved without tackling the other. So as the gavel finally rests on a deal at COP27, and with just a handful of weeks until the international biodiversity conference in Montreal, we review COP27’s key outcomes for nature. 

Read our blog