Re: Climate (2018.05)
iAs the world's attention shifts Saturday to the royal wedding of the United Kingdom's Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle, I wanted to focus this column on the royal family!
From Queen Elizabeth II on down the line of succession, the beloved family is no stranger to campaigning on climate change and wider environmental issues. Prince Charles champions a number of conservation and climate projects, even co-authoring last year a book explaining the causes and effects of climate change on the planet. And as we can see in a new documentary titled The Queens Green Planet, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth cares a great deal about nature and is catalyzing climate action across the globe. (The film is even hosted by Sir David Attenborough, whose voice you may recognize from his work on documentaries such as Planet Earth.)
Through the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy project, 53 countries are collaborating to save one of the world’s most important natural habitats: forests. And in the years sincethe program was unveiled, around three dozen countries have dedicated forestry projects or are planting new forests while another 10 countries are in the process of finalizing their submissions. As much as this is a triumph for the crown, it's an even bigger victory for our planet.
New research continues to highlight the importance for land and nature in meeting a global goal of avoiding dangerous climate change by limiting global temperature rise. The actions and commitments called for under the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy are critical to this effort — as are all the pathways for land to contribute natural climate solutions.
On this weekend of celebration, I recognize the queen for her leadership and remind us all that in the United States, we have an opportunity to unify our implementation of natural climate solutions through our vast network of land trusts stewarding land across the country. To learn more about the vast potential of natural climate solutions at home and abroad, please visit nature4climate.org.
Kelly Watkinson is land and climate program manager at the Land Trust Alliance.