Environment Organisations Bring Nature's Voice to Heart of COP27

With less than 50 days to the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC-COP27), some of the major groups are coming together in a global effort to raise the profile of action to protect, manage and restore natural ecosystems for the benefit of biodiversity.

The Nature Conservancy, Bloomberg Philanthropies, National Geographic Society, The Climate Pledge, Conservation International, and Environmental Defense Fund, have all committed to co-sponsor the Nature Zone, a place for nature and climate within the Blue Zone, at COP27.

Others organisations include, the Wildlife Conservation Society, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich, and Restor, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, American Forests, WWF International, the World Resources Institute and the Global Evergreening Alliance

International coalitions Nature4Climate (N4C), the Global Commons Alliance and the UNFCCC Climate Champions are co-convenors of the collaboration, bringing together more than80 organisations aligned in the common goal of helping countries deliver a net zero, nature positive, equitable future for all.

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The Paris Agreement goals cannot be achieved without nature. And yet, because of human activities, nature is being destroyed faster than it can regenerate. We are crossing irreversible tipping points with many communities already living in crisis.

Nature positive action and high integrity nature-based solutions must not replace or delay other decarbonization efforts but, if deployed at scale, they could deliver over 11 Gt of CO2 emissions per year, roughly one-third of the mitigation needed by 2030 in order to keep our global climate goals within reach.

A critical moment for Africa and the planet

This strategic collaboration comes at a critical moment for nature and climate action.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released their first-ever joint report.

The report showed that biodiversity loss and climate change are both driven by human economic activities and mutually reinforce each other. The authors made clear that neither the climate crisis nor biodiversity loss will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together.

As the Global South takes the stage at COP 27, delivery of action to reduce countries’ and communities’ vulnerability to climate impacts, address food and land use related risks, and the vital role of Indigenous peoples and local communities for high-integrity carbon markets are ever more pressing.

African countries contribute only 4% to global emissions and yet they are among the most vulnerable to the climate crisis.

The latest IPCC report indicates that the African continent is warming faster than the global average, which makes its countries more susceptible to devastating impacts, from extreme rainfall to drought to coastal flooding.

Preserving existing ecosystems and restoring degraded lands are vital for both increasing resilience and increasing food security.

Another key moment for strategic collaboration is the UN Biodiversity Conference CBD-COP15 - the much delayed Convention on Biodiversity - in which nations will negotiate a new global framework for nature, akin to the Paris Climate Agreement which created a global foundation for action on climate.

To mark the importance of this, the Nature Zone and Nature’s Newsroom will be advocating to halt and reverse nature loss on the first ever Biodiversity Day at COP27 through a series of events and high-profile interviews.

The Nature Zone: a place for nature at COP27

An extensive Nature Zone events programme will showcase the importance of putting nature at the heart of the climate conversation.

Conversations on challenges and opportunities to transform climate pledges into action across themes such as carbon markets, ending commodity-driven deforestation, sustainable approaches to land use, new advancements in technology for nature and more will be held at the Nature Zone from 6-18 November.

A key highlight of the Nature Zone pavilion is Nature’s Newsroom, a broadcast studio and editing suite, designed to provide a platform for some of the many voices wanting to speak truth to power about the importance of nature in our fight for a liveable and dignified future.

We Don't Have Time,Now This Earth and Mongabay, and Eurovision will all play a role in helping to disseminate the content being generated in the Newsroom, while Greenhouse Communications will inform and curate press content.

Lucy Almond, Chair, Nature4Climate said: “Nature was front and centre of many of the announcements made at COP26, backed up by funding of $20 billion from public and private sources.

"This year, it is critical to keep that kind of momentum going - and for governments and companies to match those pledges with on-the-ground investment and action. The Nature Zone promises to host many of those critical conversations at COP27."

Dario Soto-Abril, Chair of the Global Commons Alliance said: “All the emissions reductions in the world will mean nothing to future generations if the oceans remain choked in plastic, the rivers contaminated with poison and the forests continue to be cut down at an industrial scale or burned.

"All of us are part of nature and our future depends on it thriving. So we’re extremely excited about this collaboration and the conversations the Nature Zone will bring to the table at COP27.”

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