How can we bring nature into public decision making?

Written by Kiana Arnott-Job

As the general public are becoming increasingly aware of how the climate and the natural world is changing, and how that effects all aspects of our lives, a question keeps occurring, “how can we include nature in the conversation?” In an effort to answer this question, and provide practical solutions ecologists, economists, government officials and more came together on the 15^th July, at One Great George Street in London and online to join the conversation about biodiversity and public policy and how they can inform and be informed by one another. You can watch the recording online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8wjSKYKulo

Starting with a warm welcome from our host, Anusha Shah, at the ICE (Institute of Civil Engineering), we then continued with a Key Note speech from Sir Dave Lewis (Chair of the Board of Trustees at WWF, and former CEO of Tesco), who shed light on how the corporate side can be involved in including nature in the decision making process. Next, we moved on to Professor Dame EJ Milner-Gulland (Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity) who provided us with some background information on the political and research landscape. To give us a perspective of how government policy is created and insight into the Green Book we had Joseph Lowe, who was the editor of the Treasury’s Green Book and the Head of the Economics of Social Welfare from 2006 to 2024. In the last of the talks, Professors Ian Bateman and Ben Groom (both from the University of Exeter) explored practical solutions into how biodiversity can be measured, and how this would work within the public policy landscape.

We then had a brief discussion between a range of panellists and chaired by Professor Dame EJ Milner-Gulland. Professor Sallie Bailey (Chief Scientist at Natural England), Nat Duffus (PhD student studying Biodiversity Net Gain at Oxford University), Professor Rosie Hails MBE (Director of Science and Nature at National Trust), James Richardson (Climate Change Committee), and Tom Butterworth (ARUP) all gave their perspectives on the insightful and informative talks, after opening up the discussion to the floor where had in-depth questions.

This event aimed and succeeded to bring together those who are instrumental in the policy making process, to join them in the discussion with researchers and experts so that a real conversation could be had and present practical solutions. It also gave some way to explaining the issues that the current systems face and how we might tackle them to accurately allow biodiversity and nature to be included in these policy decisions.

Thanks to all the speakers, the Oxford Martin School, Agile Initiative, and OPEN (Oxford Policy Engagement Network), as well as University of Exeter’s LEEP (Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute), and Dragon Capital Chair for making it possible. 

Watch the recording online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8wjSKYKulo