What Can Nature offer COP26, and vice versa?

November 10, 2021

Nathalie Seddon outlines the importance of protecting carbon-rich and biodiverse ecosystems and local resource rights.

‘Nature is our life support system’ says Professor Nathalie Seddon in a new video from the University of Oxford, ‘and to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, it is critical that we work with nature’.

Professor Seddon is one of around 30 official ‘friends’ of COP26, is a member of the UK delegation at COP26, and Director of the NbSI. We research the effectiveness of nature in fighting the impacts and drivers of climate change. With advice sought by governments, UN agencies and businesses, NbSI’s research has played a key role in moving NbS up national and international policy and business agendas, putting biodiversity at the heart of the debate.

COP26 asks: Professor Seddon calls on signatories of the Paris Agreement to adopt four policies:

NbS are not used to substitute the rapid phasing out of fossil fuels
NbS must involve a broad range of ecosystems on land and in the sea, not just forests
NbS should be implemented by or in partnership with local communities
NbS should provide measurable benefits for biodiversity.

Watch the video on Youtube, and find out more about these four policies on the NbS guidelines website.