The most important global summit for nature in decades – the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, also known as COP15 – starts in Canada on 7 December. What happens there will directly affect wildlife in Derbyshire.

The conference comes at a time when the latest study suggests the Earth’s wildlife has plummeted by almost 70% in the last 50 years. The state of nature in Derbyshire is not much better and recent Government actions threaten to make a bad situation even worse. This will mean red faces on the world stage at COP15 and diminish the UK’s power to negotiate.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world – and in Derbyshire, wildlife has suffered over recent decades from intensive farming, river pollution, poorly planned development, and habitat loss/fragmentation. Unfortunately, the Government’s Retained EU Law Bill threatens to remove vital wildlife protections and the targets they propose to set for nature’s recovery are not ambitious enough.

Ben Carter, Director of Income and Activism at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said: 

"We need bold, immediate action to come from COP15 to tackle the twin nature and climate crisis. Unfortunately, our own Government is heading for failure. They say they have committed to protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 but in fact the current Government plan is only to halt further habitat loss by then. This means we will see eight more years of loss before they even start trying to turn the crisis around. This is a shocking outcome for wildlife, especially in one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth.

"Fortunately, many local communities, businesses and leaders here in Derbyshire recognise the urgency and are working right now to restore nature. The rewilding of Allestree Park in Derby, woodland creation along the Derwent to protect residents from flooding, and the thousands of people who have taken action for Wildlife as part of Team Wilder, all show that nature really matters to people.

“We are calling on the Government to do its part both by setting out far more ambitious targets for nature and by actually taking the necessary steps to deliver these."

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust wants to see the UK Government take the following action:

• Set ambitious targets to restore the abundance of nature at home. The Government is due to publish their Environment Act targets – but current proposals will mean even less wildlife in 20 years’ time than there is now. We want to see a target to increase species abundance by at least 20% by 2042, compared to 2022 levels.
• Help set ambitious global targets to halt and reverse catastrophic declines in habitat and wildlife by 2030 at COP15.
• Scrap the Retained EU Law Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, because it threatens the laws which protect wild places and species across the UK from the Scottish highlands to the Isles of Scilly.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust declared an ambition to help the UK reach the 30 by 30 goal two years ago and have since begun a number of new projects to help nature recover. Discover our 30 by 30 projects here.