WWT heads to COP26
WWT will be at the upcoming United Nations climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow from next week (1st November), flying the flag for wetlands.
WWT will be at the upcoming United Nations climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow from next week (1st November), flying the flag for wetlands. In particular, we will be calling on the UK government to include habitats like coastal saltmarsh, which bury vast amounts of carbon, in their COP26 negotiations and beyond.
We’re taking part in many events to put wetlands firmly on the agenda, including co-hosting an event called “Hope comes out of the blue: inspiring climate action from source to sea”.
Our event on 4 November (viewable online here) will involve a panel of experts speaking about the importance of protecting, creating and restoring blue carbon habitats, including coastal wetlands, and how this can help avert the climate crisis. One of the experts on the panel will be Rachel Dunk of Manchester Metropolitan University, co-author of a recently published study, which clearly demonstrates just how effective saltmarsh is at storing carbon.
The research for the study was carried out at WWT Steart Marshes and showed how one restored coastal saltmarsh in the UK stores as much carbon over four years as just over one million new trees grown for ten years.
The event, which will also include a short, inspiring film showing how important it is to protect and restore habitats, from source to sea, will be co-hosted by the Marine Conservation Society, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Stockholm International Water Institute and other partners of the Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management framework.
Other speakers will include Peter Thomson, UNSG Special Envoy to the Ocean, who will introduce the event, and Ralph Chami, Assistant Director for the Institute for Capacity Development at the IMF and Co-Founder of Re-Balance Earth.
Elsewhere at COP26, our Director of Conservation James Robinson will be talking at a variety of events, sharing WWT’s expertise and experience in wetlands as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis. You can hear him talking at an event called 'Unlocking the nature/Net Zero Balance' here.
We will share updates here and on our social media channels about COP26.
