Tackling the biodiversity and climate crisis
We are a student society at the University of Oxford addressing the biodiversity and climate crises through positive action. We lobby the University and colleges, who are substantial land owners, to dedicate land to tackle these crises. We also offer opportunities for students to meaningfully enact positive change, through knowledge sharing and tree planting events.
Photo Credit: Oxford Trees for the Future
Our vision
- Stimulate the colleges & University to harness & enhance nature to tackle the biodiversity & climate crises.
- Transform land on the University & college estates to promote nature & draw down carbon.
- Bring students to the forefront of action, actively contributing to projects (e.g. through tree planting).
- Connect students with the wilder spaces in Oxford.
Join us to
- Lobby the University & colleges to ask for a greener city.
- Plant trees & get involved in hands-on biodiversity enhancement.
- Share knowledge & help to develop our resources.
- Learn more about the wilder side of Oxford & best places to immerse yourself in nature.
Sign-up
here.
Why?
The UK is failing nature and hurtling towards a climate crisis. In 2019 the UK government declared that it had missed 14 of its 20 global commitments for nature, that 41% of species assessed have declined over the last 10 years and that 15% of the UK’s wildlife is threatened with extinction
[1,2]. Restoring ecosystems and nature can also help to tackle climate change by removing CO2 from the atmosphere (Natural Climate Solutions). All IPCC scenarios to achieve net-zero by 2050 require carbon drawdown from the atmosphere, as well as decarbonisation and lowering of energy and resource demands
[3]. Natural Climate Solutions have the potential to provide 37% of this global carbon drawdown between now and 2030, and 20% between 2030 and 2050
[4].
We see an opportunity to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises in synergy. Restoring lost habitat for the benefit of declining species and to tackle climate change. As major UK landowners, we call upon the Oxford colleges and University to commit to enhancing nature for biodiversity and carbon capture on their land. From tree planting, to wetland restoration, to meadow creation, we want to see our institution commit to making the changes we need for our collective future.
References
[1] Hayhow, D. B. et al. (2019)
The State of Nature 2019. The State of Nature partnership.
https://nbn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/State-of-Nature-2019-UK-full-report.pdf
[2] JNCC (2019).
Sixth National Report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. JNCC, Peterborough.
https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/united-kingdom-s-6th-national-report-to-the-convention-on-biological-diversity/#download
[3] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2018)
Special Report on 1.5 degrees: Summary for Policymakers. in Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, (eds. Masson-Delmonte, V. et al.).
https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/
[4] Griscom, B. W. et al. (2017)
Natural climate solutions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 114, 11645–11650.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114
