Nature and climate policy issues
Areas of RSB work relevant to nature and climate policy issues, including committee work, letters to Government, policy responses and more.
Our Climate and Nature Strategy is available to download here.
Letters to Government
The RSB has previously sent letters to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ahead of COP15, and to the Prime Minister ahead of COP28 and COP26, which have both featured environmental concerns prominently.
RSB's Education and Science Policy Committee activity
The Committee recommended prioritising work to promote linked action on climate and biodiversity; increase our focus on UK biosecurity; and raise the profile of biodiversity in policymaking across government following the publication of the Dasgupta Review.
Policy Responses
RSB responses to recent (2020-2023) government and national body consultations and parliamentary inquiries included significant content on the environment.
Links to the RSB submissions are provided in the table below.
|
Subject |
Consulting Body |
Date |
|
S&T Committee (Commons) |
Mar 2023 | |
|
BEIS |
Oct 2022 |
|
|
Cabinet Office |
Jul 2022 |
|
|
HM Treasury |
Nov 2021 |
|
|
Defra |
Jun 2021 |
|
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HM Treasury |
Sep 2020 |
|
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S&T Committee (Commons) |
Jul 2020 |
|
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OCR |
Jul 2020 |
|
Publications
Reports and articles between 2018 and 2023 relating to the environment are listed below.
|
Title |
Description |
Date |
|
Report of the NCI’s 10th anniversary summit |
Aug 2019 |
|
|
Report on opportunities arising in plant science from the RSB Plant Science Group (then UKPSF) |
Jan 2019 |
|
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Defining and delivering resilient ecological networks: Nature conservation in England |
Article in the Journal of Applied Ecology developed from an NCI workshop |
Jun 2018 |
|
Promoting natural capital assessment in land and water management |
Report from the NCI Dialogue Session ‘Operationalising the Natural Capital Protocol in land-based businesses’ |
Aug 2018 |
Meetings
The RSB hosted many public events and specialist workshops with environmental themes recently. Many of these events, and more, are available on the RSB Youtube channel.
|
Title |
Description |
Date |
|
The Royal Society of Biology brought together a panel of experts at the Royal Institution to discuss what they think could potentially, irreversibly alter our lives, and what can be done before it is too late. |
Oct 2022 |
|
|
A talk by Dr MaryLucy Oronje discussing the use of multi-country coordination to limit the spread of transboundary pests in Africa. (video available) |
Sep 2022 |
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RSB Policy Lates: could a One Health approach prevent the next pandemic? |
Panel discussion about how interdisciplinary approaches could hinder the next outbreak. (video available) |
Jul 2022 |
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Discussion concerning the development of the new GB Plant Biosecurity Strategy. (video available) |
Mar 2022 |
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Panel discussion regarding the importance and challenges of protecting ocean biodiversity. (video available) |
Nov 2021 |
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Panel discussion exploring the complexities of improving food security and health while also reversing biodiversity loss and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets. (video available). |
Oct 2021 |
|
|
Proof for Life - Where next for the evidence linking nature and health? |
Panel discussion on the question 'where next for the evidence linking nature and health? (video available) |
Jul 2021 |
|
Parliamentary Links Day 2021 online event |
Jun 2021 |
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A talk by Dr Ruth Waters from the Dasgupta Review team (video available) |
Feb 2021 |
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Online panel discussion on priorities and key questions for science, policy and business (video available) |
Jan 2021 |
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Online Policy Lates panel discussion event |
Nov 2020 |
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Online event for Biology Week 2020 featuring Science minister Amanda Solloway MP and Hilary Benn MP |
Nov 2020 |
|
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Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity: NCI workshops |
Two online workshops to discuss the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity with the HM Treasury’s review team |
Apr 2020 |
Biologist articles
|
Herding the wild: Iain Gordon explores whether the concept of ‘rewilding lite’ can help us restore the biodiversity of agricultural land where the return of large herbivores and predators is not possible |
|
Algae versus the superbugs: Deborah Reid explains how naturally occurring microalgae could be used to help remove the thousands of tonnes of antibiotics shed into wastewater and waterways around the globe |
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No time to waste: International environmental goals and dedicated sustainability teams are needed to reduce the impact of bioscience on the organisms and ecosystems we study, writes Marta Rodríguez-Martínez |
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Thirteen ways that bioscience is helping fight climate change: How life science is helping us reduce emissions, lock away carbon and adapt to a warming world. |
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Bioscience must treat climate change for the global emergency that it is: The COVID-19 pandemic has shown what biology can do in a crisis. Can we focus efforts and resources in the same way for climate change? |
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Climate: code red: As the need for action on climate change and species loss becomes more urgent, an increasing number of scientists are turning to environmental activism. Emma Wrake AMRSB speaks to some of them |