Time will tell if the agreements secured by 196 nations in Paris in December will be the historic moment that we, the people of our world finally took control of our climate destiny. For the future of our planet and for our own well being let’s hope so.

But time is short and hope is all well and good – what is needed now is effective action.  The promise of a future free from catastrophic climate change is…

By Pip Roddis, RSPB climate policy officer and also a member of the UK Youth Climate Coalition youth delegation to the UN climate talks

It is hard to think of anywhere currently more prominent in the public eye than Paris. The hashtag #eyesonParis captures the sense that people around the world are looking on – some with hope, some with trepidation, and some with anger – at what is decided at the UNFCCC’s Conference…

When we think about tackling climate change, our minds may ordinarily turn to energy production and transport. But the earth beneath our feet, the land itself, is one of the biggest factors in determining how many emissions reach the atmosphere, and indeed how many are removed.

That’s why it’s crucial the any new agreement coming out of the UN climate negotiations in Paris right now contains robust and transparent rules…

Guest blog by Sarah Nelson, Head of International Policy for RSPB

GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATOR TO ENVIRONMENTAL LOBBYIST - LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE

Almost ten years ago I travelled to Paris to represent my country at my very first UN meeting. This weekend I returned, but on “the other side” to represent the RSPB as the UK Birdlife Partner. So for both my ex Government friends around the world, as well as my new NGO friends …

The disastrous events in Paris only a few weeks ago are still fresh and raw in the memories of many. Having lived in the city for a year, I was deeply troubled to see quartiers and streets I have called home filled with terrified and terrorised human beings. I was heartened to see the shows of unity and compassion in the Place de la Republique, only a stone’s throw from where my old Paris apartment was.

At times…

As world leaders gather in Paris for the first day of the United Nations climate change talks, people’s minds will be on mitigation, their rhetoric will be about renewable energy.

Forests, and the energy some countries get from them, don’t usually spring to mind when people think of the international climate negotiations. Renewable energy usually bespeaks wind turbines and solar panels, but many don’t realise that…

By Olly Watts, Senior Climate Policy Officer

Will the Government pull the rug from under the solar industry, or will it adjust its support commensurate with an industry finding its feet in the UK energy market?

The consultation proposal for revising the solar Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) looked very much like the former – a rug being rudely whipped out from beneath an industry.

With recent developments, such as the…

Following RSPB's own recent report on the impacts of climate change on nature, Finlay Duncan, Birdlife Communications and Media Officer, brings news of a brand new report published today.

Birds are among the best studied species in the world, making them great messengers for the effects of climate change.

As world leaders gather in Paris to negotiate a global climate change agreement at the UN COP21 summit, a new…

In the final blog in our mini-series Malcolm Ausden, a Principal Ecologist for RSPB, looks at how we create and manage new habitat for wildlife under a changing climate. This topic is one of the many issues covered in the RSPB's new report on the impacts of climate change on wildlife.

Changes in climate add an additional layer of complexity to how we design and manage our nature reserves. How do we decide what…

The fourth blog in our series comes from the British Trust for Ornithology's Science Director, James Pearce-Higgins. You can read far more on any of the topics in this mini-series on our new report on the impacts of climate change on wildlife, released one week ago.

Managing species in the face of climate change

In the UK, our peatlands are one of the environments most threatened by climate change. Active peatland…

Today, Dr Richard Bradbury, the RSPB's Head of Environmental Research, explains how climate change is already forcing wildlife to move. You can read much more about this in our new report on the impacts of climate change on wildlife, that we published just this week.

Things aren’t like they used to be....

When I was a kid, looking at my first field guides, I got used to the idea that species lived in particular…

After the publication of RSPB's new report on the impacts of climate change on wildlife, Dr Tom Oliver shares more detail on the ways that extreme weather events make up part of the picture.

Dr Tom Oliver, Associate Professor of Landscape and Ecology at University of Reading.

Detecting the impacts of extreme events using long term species monitoring data

Extreme weather and climate events

Many climate models …

This week the RSPB has launched a new report showing the effects climate change is already having on Europe's wildlife. This is the first in a series of guest blogs over the next five days showing how those effects are playing out. Today's blog comes from Matthew Carroll, RSPB Conservation Scientist and one of the authors of the new report.

Thanks to the work of scientists across the world, we know a great deal…

We're extremely pleased to launch our new report on the impacts climate change is already having on Europe's wildlife.

You can read more detail in a blog today written by my boss Martin Harper. From seabirds to bumblebees, some of Europe's best-loved wildlife is at risk from a changing climate.

The evidence report we've put together and the summary report with the best stories, case studies and policy recommendations…

By Rea Cris, Parliamentary Officer, RSPB Scotland

Frank Sinatra sung that he loved Paris in the spring time. I will be in love with Paris this winter when we make sure that political leaders know there is strong public support for ambitious commitments at the UN climate summit in December.

The current negotiations for a new global climate deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol are a minefield of acronyms and techno jargon…

If you took part in our recent online action asking Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd MP, not to frack nature’s home, then thank you. Over 5000 messages have been sent to the Secretary of State.

If you haven't sent a message, then you can still do so.

We’d like you to ask your MP to write or speak to Amber Rudd MP, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. In February…

By Pip Roddis, RSPB Climate Policy Officer

Details announced recently of the UK Government’s review of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme, which includes proposals for deep cuts to subsidies for small-scale renewable energy, are likely to make it harder for the UK to meet its climate targets in harmony with nature.

The proposals, if implemented, would result in households and businesses receiving considerably less for…

We know that climate change is already affecting the wildlife we love. In fact, in just a few weeks’ time RSPB will be publishing a new report looking at the effects of climate change on wildlife across Europe. Birds like kittiwakes and capercaillies, butterflies like the mountain ringlet, and mammals like Iberian lynx, are all under threat.

This news makes me want to do something about it! My marching outfit has…

By Ivan Scrase, Senior Climate Change Policy Officer

As a whole, the UK electricity system wastes a staggering £9.5 billion from the loss of energy before it reaches homes and businesses.

To tackle climate change we know we need new energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and that we need to make sure these are developed in harmony with nature. We also need to cut energy waste - to get emissions down and…

RSPB Nagshead was one of the nature reserves where I developed my love not only for wildlife but also for the RSPB. Thrillingly, this woodland haven was my closest RSPB reserve as a child. The pied flycatchers and redstarts, and the possibility of adders, were a draw every Spring.

That this reserve, that holds a special place in my heart, and many like it could be at risk of being undermined by fracking for oil and gas…

Guest blog by Ela Maczkiewicz, young RSPB supporter

Can our generation really save the planet? The question all comes down to if we actually want to save the planet, and how fashionable or trendy it is to stop climate change. The growing worries of our elders may cast an unbelievably boring shadow over the heads of teenagers and youths, but the real reason we don’t want to listen and can’t be bothered, is because of…

Government has today offered new licences for onshore oil and gas, many of which are expected to result in exploration for and production of oil and gas using fracking.

27 licences have been offered, with a further 132 that have been assessed for their environmental impact announced and opened up to consultation.

Government's claim is that the 132 licences that remain up for consultation are the environmentally sensitive…

Summer is normally considered a fairly quiet period politically, but on the fracking front things are hotting up.

Today Government made the latest in a string of announcements, the most important part of which was to issue a plea for local authorities to process planning applications for fracking more quickly, given the important national need for our energy security and economy to kickstart the fracking industry.

…

Guest blog by Dr Matthew Carroll, Conservation Scientist at RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

Craneflies as a food source for upland breeding birds

The British uplands are home to internationally-important breeding bird populations. And for some of these species, a key part of their diet during the breeding season is something you might not have expected – craneflies, or daddy longlegs as they’re often better known…

 

Woodland wildlife under threat

The RSPB’s woodland nature reserves are some of the organisation’s most enchanted places up and down the UK. As a young boy a trip to Nagshead in Gloucestershire to search for pied flycatchers and redstarts was always a school holiday treat.

At this time of year woodlands are thrumming with birdsong and butterflies darting about. A few nights ago I went to a woodland in Cambridgeshire…