The call for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to not only halt but reverse nature loss by 2030 was aptly delivered by Zero Hour and a youth delegation to No. 10 on World Environment Day. The United for Nature petition, supported by more than 17,000 people, aims to preserve our ecology and offers us the best chance to mitigate some of the worst effects of climate change—yet disturbingly, the UK has the accolade of one the most nature-depleted countries in the world.
The hand-in came with support from UK Youth for Nature along with the launch of our origami action to run throughout Great Big Green Week (10-18 June) and on through the summer. The paper artist Tina Luo, developed instructions for making some of the UK’s most endangered species in origami—the Common Nightingale, the Red Helleborine (an orchid), and the Northern Pool Frog. Campaigners are encouraged to make their own and send them (or hand deliver) to their MPs and Councils—to join the fold, head here.
This urgent call for action has been championed by Mya-Rose ‘Birdgirl’ Craig—and supported by broadcasters, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Dr George McGavin; demanding a new, serious, and science-led environmental law. The Climate & Nature Bill needs to be that law.
These nature experts are calling on the UK Prime Minister to urgently enact the CAN Bill to set a new, legally-binding target to put Britain’s disappearing wildlife on the road to recovery by 2030.
Here in the UK we have lost over half of our nature (which is above the global average) and NGOs are warning that the targets in existing legislation, the Environment Act 2021, could see the UK’s natural world in a worse state in the decades ahead than they are today.
The lead petitioner, UK Youth for Nature director, Ellen Bradley, said: “This is the last call for UK nature. With the catastrophic situation of sewage in our rivers, vanishing wildlife, and polluted air, we need bold, new legislation—the Climate & Nature Bill—to make sure we stop tinkering around at the edges, and achieve the transformational changes we need to restore our natural world. The Government has already agreed to reverse nature loss by 2030 at the UN biodiversity summit, COP15—and now we need the Prime Minister to agree to lock this target into national legislation by enacting the Climate & Nature Bill.”
To find out more about how you can get involved – click here.