A new poll this week revealed how badly people think all main parties are faring on tackling the nature and climate crises. It revealed that a majority of the public think the main parties are doing poorly on river pollution (78%), nature loss (71%), climate change (69%), ensuring communities can benefit from nature (65%), and supporting sustainable food production (63%).
And yet the poll shows environmental issues are a key concern for voters with 79% think that nature is important for our well-being and economic prosperity and nearly 1 in 4 people voting based on environmental policies offered by candidates.1
On Thursday night, the Labour Party took a significant step to forward, by setting out their plans for restoring nature. Labour pledged action to promote regenerative farming to ensure nature’s recovery and food security, putting an end to the use of bee-killing pesticides, and improving people’s access to green space by embedding nature into the planning system.
Charlotte Harris, CEO for Cheshire Wildlife Trusts, says:
“Cheshire is one of the least wooded counties in England, we've lost 99% of our wildflower meadows (compared to 97% nationally) and none of our rivers are in good ecological condition. Species, such as the willow tit and the water vole are on the brink of local extinction as poorly designed schemes like HS2 and the South Macclesfield Development Area threaten to destroy their last refuges.
“People know that our natural world is in crisis and yet they care deeply about nature. Action is desperately needed or else the nature we see today will not be around for future generations. We’re appealing to all candidates to show the leadership that people want to see – they must put restoring nature at the heart of their campaigns.”
Cheshire Wildlife Trust is calling on all political parties to commit to halting and reversing the loss of nature by:
- Tackling the climate emergency, reducing emissions while adapting to change, protecting our peatlands from development and upgrading energy efficiency for homes.
- Bringing back the UK’s lost wildlife: protecting and restoring 30% of land and sea by 2030, stopping damage to Marine Protected Areas and bringing back beavers.
- Ending river pollution and water scarcity: enforcing the law, halving nutrient pollution and supporting natural flood management.
- Funding wildlife-friendly farming: increasing the budget for nature-friendly farming, halving pesticide use and supporting farmers to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
- Enabling healthy communities: growing community-based health services, guaranteeing a right to a healthy natural environment and supporting children to learn in and about nature.
There are just over five years until 2030 when the UK Government will be legally obliged under the Environment Act to have halted species decline – but trends are currently moving in the opposite direction.
On Monday 17th June, The Wildlife Trusts are filming The Big Nature & Climate Debate before a live audience. It will be broadcast via YouTube at 7pm on Tuesday 18th June. It will provide a unique opportunity for voters to compare parties’ plans to achieve legally binding nature targets and utilise nature’s recovery to achieve net zero commitments.
On Saturday 22nd June, Cheshire Wildlife Trust will be at the Restore Nature Now rally in London to call on UK politicians to show strong domestic and global nature and climate leadership.
People also can show their support at home by downloading a ‘Nature, who cares?’ General Election poster
