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How did nature fare at the autumn political party conferences?
The RSPB’s Government Affairs Manager Daniel Carey-Dawes gauges the party moods and what they mean for nature.
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Did you hear the story of the Goldfinch, Puffin, Robin, Blue Tit and Mallard who went to the party conferences…?
It sounds like the start of a bad joke. But these birds really did attend the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green, and Reform UK Party Conferences this autumn. In fact, in this era of misinformation and fake news, they even took selfies to prove it! This is their story.
I’m stood in the foyer of Bournemouth International Centre. It’s a hive of activity. Liberal Democrat MPs are rushing to fringe meetings, scanning the signs above doors to find whatever room they are supposed to be in. Journalists loiter, fluffy boom microphones in hand, grabbing unsuspecting party members for vox pops on the state of Lib Dem fortunes. Stood in a corner, and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, I produce a small Puffin plushie from my tote bag.
On paper, my mission was simple. To get a photo of the Puffin with party-branded hoarding in the background without feeling unduly embarrassed! A photo opportunity that shows that birds have a place at the conference. But symbolism aside, the RSPB’s presence at the party conferences is an important one: to make sure that nature is represented, and to advocate for policies that support and not harm wildlife.
The RSPB External Affairs Team attended party conferences with a serious purpose. To listen to the speeches, the fringe discussions and the words and whispers of future policy plans. To engage with MPs, party members, councillors, and fellow environment sector colleagues.
It would be impossible to do justice to all of the five conferences we attended in a short blog post – but some clear themes emerged that give a strong indication of the direction in which our politics – and our nature and climate policy – are heading.
Climate Change Act under threat
Firstly, the consensus between parties on tackling the nature and climate crisis is fracturing. Reform have committed to repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act, scrap renewable energy subsidies and halt the agricultural transition by focusing solely on food production. These are all policies that the RSPB believes would seriously undermine attempts to tackle the climate crisis and restore our natural world.
The Conservatives announced during their conference that they too would abolish the Climate Change Act if elected. This is a dramatic change from the support for legally binding targets that began with David Cameron’s ‘Vote Blue Go Green’ slogan of 2010 and continued up until the general election of last year.
There were disturbing references in several conferences of climate and nature policies being pitched against each other, with laws protecting nature being cited as a break on climate progress and the roll out of green energy. As we know, the nature and climate crises are inter-connected, and policies which attempt to advance one at the expense of the other would be a disaster for our planet.
Build Baby Build, but at what expense?
Secondly, the flawed analysis that sees economic growth and environmental regulation as competing sides between which one must chose has reached a new level this conference season. Whilst the widely criticised ‘builders not blockers’ framing was slightly more subdued at this year's Labour Conference, the wider belief that environmental regulation, including the planning system, is the biggest blocker to growth remains a popular view, especially amongst younger members.
The rise of the YIMBY (Yes in My Back Yard) movement is not a uniquely Labour party phenomenon, with YIMBY groups and affiliated movements emerging across all parties. But the sea of ‘Build Baby Build’ baseball caps worn by conference attendees tells its own story about the rapid rise of this strand of thinking within the governing party.
This is the backdrop against which we are continuing to make a positive case for nature and climate action – while also supporting economic growth.
Why there’s still hope
My third, and final, conclusion from this conference season is that there are reasons to be optimistic. Whilst it is easy to focus on the more concerning developments in nature and climate policy, we too often quickly bank the many wins and little victories that have such a positive cumulative impact. There were many positive moments for climate and nature policy across the conferences we attended.
The dedicated Climate and Nature Day at the Liberal Democrats Conference put a real spotlight on marine policy amongst other topics.
The Labour Environment Groups LCEF and SERA put on a combined 32 environmental fringes this year. Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband rallied the crowds at the Labour Conference behind the energy transition, whilst backbencher Alistair Strathern talked of the importance of tackling the climate and nature crises together.
At the Conservative Conference, the Conservative Environment Network ran 13 fringes covering a range of different policy areas from energy policy to climate diplomacy.
At the Green Party Conference, fringes included discussions on climate resilience and climate and education.
So, as the RSPB pop-up banner is packed away for another year and our soft toys are returned to their owners, the 2025 conference season has left us with much to think about. But, our core mission remains unchanged. We’ll continue to work to ensure that MPs across political parties and other decision-makers understand the real-world impacts of political decisions on wildlife and the habitats they need to survive.
