We need a new climate deal for wildlife, for people, for Paris.

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 such as these, distant threats like climate change may feel like a distraction, but they are far from that.

A friend and colleague Jason Funk, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, has beautifully and articulately summarised his view on the talks. He sees the United Nations climate change talks in Paris – happening right now – as an opportunity to tackle the risks that we have the power to alter, whilst showing unity in the face of those we can’t.

A legally binding global deal on climate change in Paris, thrashed out over the next two weeks, could be an important standard-bearer of hope. We don’t expect any deal that emerges to be perfect, but it could set the world on the right course, even if not at the right speed.

And tackling climate change will prevent human suffering on a scale akin to any other global challenge. The human impacts of climate change have already been severe.

As an organisation RSPB attends the United Nations climate talks for the sake of wildlife and the natural environment. Climate change is the biggest long-term threat facing wildlife worldwide. If we fail to act, then one in six species worldwide could be extinct by the end of the century.

The RSPB’s new report published in mid-November showed that climate change is already having an effect on wildlife across Europe. A new BirdLife International report shows that birds are already being affected worldwide by climate change.

Climate change has been linked to a 70% decline in the numbers of UK kittiwakes since the 1980s.

RSPB wants to see a strong deal that limits climate change to no more than two degrees of warming, and strong principles and rules that protect forests and other places where wildlife is and should be. Protecting these natural systems can also help to lock away carbon.

But as individuals many of us want a deal from these talks because it will mean a better world for people and wildlife alike. The most vulnerable – wildlife that can’t speak for itself, small island states, people in the global south – will be affected worst by the impacts of climate change.

Not to mention the fact that a healthy natural environment will help people too. Protected and restored peatlands and forests lock away carbon instead of sending it up into the atmosphere. New wetlands can provide habitat for wildlife on the move due to climate change as well as creating important buffer zones in coastal areas, protecting human communities from extreme weather events.

A deal in Paris won’t just give me hope that climate change won’t put people and wildlife at risk, it will also give me faith that the countries of the world can work together to tackle big global problems like saving nature and our climate.

In our next blog in just a few days' time, the RSPB’s Head of International Policy, Sarah Nelson, will report on the Forest Day at the talks.