Heading into the biodiversity and climate negotiations taking place in Colombia and Azerbaijan respectively, IEMA members had the opportunity yesterday afternoon to put forward their expectations during a roundtable with the UK's Nature Minister, Mary Creagh CBE MP.
In this blog Ben Goodwin, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at IEMA, looks at some of the key talking points and gives a nod to IEMA's ongoing #GreenSkillsAtCOP campaign.
In her opening remarks, the Minister set out the importance of tackling the biodiversity and climate crises in an integrated way, and hence the need for the outcomes at COP16 (biodiversity) and COP29 (climate change) to speak to one another.
On COP16 specifically, the government has three clear priorities heading into the negotiations.
To press for the development of more effective mechanisms for financing nature, to mobilise finance and ensure that the way in which it flows is aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and to agree an approach for monitoring progress on the GBF both domestically and globally.
Key in all of this is to secure buy-in from the business community and, ultimately, to get nature onto the balance sheets of companies around the world.
Contributions from IEMA members (and the other expert stakeholders that were gathered at the roundtable) focused primarily on what’s required from UK environmental policy to move the dial on the agreements being reached at a global level to restore and enhance the natural environment.
Ideas included taking a cross-sectoral approach to the delivery of the Environmental Improvement Plan; mirroring aspects of the approach to net zero that is starting to gain headway across industry.
Others talked about the prospect of mandating the recommendations spilling out of the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures), alongside more effectively aligning environmental policy with the government’s new industrial strategy.
The roundtable also provided IEMA with the chance to talk about the skills campaign that we have been running with our members and partners heading into the two COPs.
We’ve been galvanising support for our goal to see agreements reached at both negotiations that require countries to develop comprehensive workforce strategies to ensure the successful implementation of their biodiversity and climate action plans.
We’ve already got hundreds of signatures from both businesses and individuals who agree that this is a necessity. More information on how you can support our campaign is available here.
Looking forward to Colombia and Azerbaijan, IEMA will have feet on the ground in both instances, with the central aim of socialising our campaign at the various events and discussion sessions that we attend.
Coverage of our progress will be available across IEMA.net.
Ben is Director of Policy and Public Affairs at IEMA. In this capacity he looks after the delivery of IEMA's core policy, practice and public affairs activities across a range of environmental and sustainability issues. Prior to joining the organisation Ben worked in several similar policy roles at organisations including the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Renewable Energy Association.
