As the host of COP26, the UK is uniquely positioned to lead the international climate dialogue at this critical juncture.

This requires implementing mitigation policies that signal both the feasibility and opportunities of transitioning to a green economy. To reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere and stabilise our changing climate, a proactive and accelerated national mitigation approach is required. This means innovating low-carbon technologies, regulating energy usage and modes of production, and promoting nature-based solutions (NbS) such as forests and wetlands across the UK.

 In 2020, the UK submitted its nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Using 1990 as the reference year for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, the UK has stated that by 2030 it will have cut these GHG emissions by 68%. British emissions are reported via the National Inventory Report, while the UK’s progress towards its NDC will be outlined in the Biennial Transparency Report. Mitigation targets are achievable by ending the use of fossil fuels such as coal, developing renewable energy technologies, sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via NbS, and promoting sustainable land management. 

The UK’s NDC is legally binding under the Paris Agreement of 2015 and the Climate Change Act (2008). However, the UK’s environmental pledges must be enforced and implemented to produce meaningful climate action and successfully contribute towards international climate objectives outlined in the Paris Agreement ahead of COP26. 

Although climate change is most devastating for developing countries that have contributed least to the crisis, the UK is experiencing its own climate change impacts and environmental degradation. The UK has recorded 8 of its 10 warmest years since 2002 (UK Dep. for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2017). Annual average temperatures, precipitation rates, and sea levels are rising in many parts of the UK triggering public health problems, flooding, disruption to supply chains, and local livelihoods. Moreover, in order to improve air quality, the UK must rapidly shift towards renewable energy systems and promote electric vehicles. Similarly, British water quality is deteriorating due to harmful agricultural and farming practices that use fertilisers, pesticides, and manure that seep into local water systems (UK Gov., 2016). The agriculture sector makes up 10% of national emissions, primarily from the use of nitrogen fertilisers and ruminant cattle such as beef, and is the primary source of methane and nitrous oxide emissions (UK Gov., 2016). In 2016, 71% of all available land in the UK was designated for agricultural activities (UK Gov., 2016).

NbS includes conservation, restoration, and land-management strategies that promote carbon sequestration (Aminetzah et al., 2021). Forests, wetlands, and marine ecosystems have an enormous impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. By promoting NbS, the UK will be better equipped to achieve meaningful NDCs outlined in the Paris Agreement and lead the international climate dialogue at COP26. Protecting forests is crucial for the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems that thrive there, as well as offsetting GHG emissions that are driving climate change. 

Alarmingly, deforestation accounts for nearly 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (Henderson et al., 2020). A recent report suggests that the Amazon rainforest has become a net carbon source rather than a carbon sink, as dangerous land-use practices have accelerated its decline. 

The importance of protecting the world’s forests has never been more important, as land-use activities can either remove carbon from the atmosphere or contribute more GHG emissions. The UK must find a way of changing harmful agriculture, forestry, and other land use practices and engage the international community as well as non-state actors to reduce GHG emissions and limit the global impacts of climate change.  

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