With party conference season underway, RSPB Government Affairs Manager Daniel Carey-Dawes looks at how we’re making sure nature has a voice at the table.
Question: What species migrates to Birmingham, heads south to Bournemouth, north west to Liverpool and then finishes its journey in Manchester?
Answer: Politicians, followed by flocks of reporters, advocates and the RSPB’s very own External Affairs Team!
Whilst nature will be putting on its own annual spectacle of migrating birds this autumn, so too will the UK’s politicians as the party conference season begins in earnest. Each year, the UK’s main political parties hold their annual conferences to debate policy, deliver and listen to speeches, and provide an opportunity for networking in crowded, stuffy rooms with refreshments of questionable quality. Attending will be advocates for every cause and corporation you could imagine – all seeking to champion their own interests with those who govern, or seek to govern, the country.
The RSPB’s UK team will be attending the Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Reform UK Conferences, and our colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be engaging with national parties too. Together, we will ensure that the assembled politicians hear nature’s voice loud and clear amongst the noise of different interests. These conferences are a unique opportunity to make nature’s case in a setting where large numbers of politicians are gathered and where the next generation of political leaders will be working the room, prospecting for their political futures.
Working alongside our colleagues at other environmental organisations, we will be doing everything we can to put nature and climate at the top of the political agenda. This will be through meeting MPs, attending ‘fringe’ debates and posing questions, listening to speeches, and engaging key advisors. This is of course in addition to our year-round advocacy work, briefing MPs and Peers, and influencing key environmental legislation.
As a charity, the RSPB holds no party-political affiliation of its own – a key strength in allowing us to engage with the broad spectrum of political views represented in the UK Parliament at Westminster. With over a million RSPB members spread across the UK, it's important that politicians of all stripes understand the value the country places on nature – and the urgency with which decision-makers must secure its recovery.
Our advocacy, like our campaigns, will always be courageous but also balanced. Where we think the politicians are getting it wrong, we will point that out. Where good decisions are made, we always welcome positive progress. The tactics we deploy represent our values as tireless campaigners but also what we consider will be most effective in achieving what nature needs. From constructive negotiations to marching through the streets of London to ‘Restore Nature Now’, the RSPB has always been in the thick of it, putting nature’s case on the table.
So, when you look skywards and see those Pink-footed Geese in their V-shape formations or the arrival of Fieldfares or Redwings, give a thought to the RSPB staff criss-crossing the country on their own migration this season, making sure nature will always have a place to call home.
