A new report warns that current climate and nature policies often conflict with each other, leading to wasted public money and unintended harm to ecosystems. The study, titled The Risks of Climate-Nature Silos, was led by the Zoological Society of London with input from scientists and policy specialists across 13 countries, including a researcher from the University of York. It stresses that environmental policies should be treated as part of one connected nature-climate system to protect health, livelihoods and planetary balance. The findings come ahead of 2026 meetings of the three main UN environmental conventions. The report notes several cases where isolated actions produced negative results, such as single-species tree plantations replacing diverse grasslands for carbon credits, subsidized biofuel rules that destroy habitats, and desert solar facilities that damage local wildlife. It emphasizes the value of land and marine areas for achieving multiple goals at once. Professor Lindsay Stringer of the University of York highlighted the need for systems-based governance that improves efficiency for taxpayers and avoids harming biodiversity or land quality. The report calls for stronger coordination among the Rio Conventions, better joint scientific evidence and more support for projects that benefit people, climate and nature together.
