Prime Minister commits to protect 30% of UK land
Written by Defra Press Office
There is coverage in the Guardian, BBC News, Daily Mirror, Telegraph, i news, the Times, Daily Express and Evening Standard of the Prime Minister’s commitment to protect 30% of land in the UK by 2030 at today’s UN General Assembly Leader’s Pledge for People and Nature event.
Coverage reports that the PM has today signed the Leader’s Pledge for Nature, which includes commitments to prioritise a green recovery from the pandemic. The 30/30 pledge means that more than 1500 additional square miles of English countryside will be designated as protected to help to support the recovery of nature.
At his speech at the UN event today, the PM warned that immediate action is needed to save wildlife and habitats which are disappearing at a ‘frightening rate’.
Lord Goldsmith writes in today's Telegraph that the state of global nature is a ‘tragedy’ and that Britain will use its financial and diplomatic powers to help other countries protect the environment.
International Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith said:
"Money alone won’t solve the problem, but governments hold powerful levers to make markets value nature and attach a cost to environmental destruction.
Globally, agriculture causes 80 per cent of deforestation, mostly for growing commodities like palm oil, soya, and cocoa. If the top fifty food producing countries follow our lead in replacing their land use subsidies with a system that rewards farmers for environmental stewardship, $700 billion a year – around four times the world’s aid budget – would shift to support nature."
Chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper, said:
“We are running out of time to bring the world together to protect and reverse the alarming loss of wildlife we have witnessed in recent years.
“So today I wholeheartedly welcome government’s pledge to increasing the size and value of our protected English countryside by an 1500 additional square miles.
“We look forward to working with the government to help make this happen to reverse nature’s decline so that our children can experience and benefit from a richer natural environment.”
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