Response to International Development Select Committee's inquiry into UK aid for combating climate change

Bright Blue’s written evidence submission to the International Development Select Committee’s inquiry into UK aid for combating climate change has been published online.

In the submission, we refer to research contained in our report Saving global nature, which called upon the Government to divert more of the international aid budget towards nature conservation. Many of the measures we proposed the international aid budget being spent on could also help to mitigate climate change - such as reforestation.

Read the full submission here.

Eamonn Ives: Our government must spend more on preserving global nature - the people will profit

Our Researcher, Eamonn Ives, has written for the Telegraph ahead of London’s hosting of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference 2018.

In his article, Eamonn references Bright Blue and the Conservative Environment Network’s joint report, Saving global nature: greening UK Official Development Assistance, and calls for the Government to use the international aid budget to establish a new ‘Global Nature Conservation Fund’, and spend at least £1 billion a year to help protect, restore, and enhance some of the most iconic parts of the natural world, including mitigating the illegal wildlife trade.

Here’s an excerpt:

This week, the eyes of the international conservation community will be on the UK. The Government should continue with the good work it has been doing on the IWT, such as the ivory import ban, and commit to supporting global nature conservation more on a par with our international counterparts.

Read the full article here.

The case for spending aid budget on conservation to save planet

Our Senior Associate Fellow, Ben Caldecott, has written a piece for the Yorkshire Post on our latest report, Saving global nature: greening UK Official Development Assistance. In his article, Ben explains how our report calls for nature to become a key filter when allocating UK international aid. 

Here's an excerpt:

Habitat loss, the erosion of ecosystem services, climate change, and pollution are exacerbating poverty and erasing – or increasing the fragility of – development gains around the world. Protecting and restoring nature is essential for securing genuinely sustainable development, particularly in the poorest countries.
 

Read the full article here.