From Connemara to Colombia: Trinity flies the flag for nature positive at COP16

Posted on: 23 October 2024

Dr McQuaid works in the Trinity Business School and is the Principle Investigator on GoNaturePositive!, an EU funded research project with 18 partners across Europe and Columbia working together on accelerating the move to a nature-positive economy.

She says “the nature-positive economy envisages a future where the net results of all economic activities combined, results in an absolute increase in nature, leading in the long-term to full recovery. This requires a paradigm shift in economic thinking and more support for businesses and the early innovators already exploring new opportunities this shift presents. COP16 is a great opportunity to share our experience of nature positive in Europe and to see what we can learn from other parts of the world, such as China and Latin America, where the potential of a nature-positive economy is growing in recognition and importance.”

At COP16, this exchange of global experience is being led by GoNaturePositive! and their partners. They are emphasizing that nature and biodiversity are impacted significantly by climate change, with drought and flooding impacting on biodiversity as much as humans. However, nature-based solutions, from ecosystem restoration to regenerative farming, are gaining increasing recognition as a way of adapting and mitigating against climate change. From seaweed and shellfish farmers restoring the ocean to regenerative farmers replenishing the soil and green building companies cleaning the air in our cities, Ireland has many inspiring examples of businesses, small and large, who are using nature-positive practices that are good for the planet as well as the bottom line.

As a member of the Nature Positive University Alliance, Trinity is walking the talk of nature positive, which in essence means halting and reversing biodiversity loss so that species and ecosystems can start to recover.  In the university context, this means restoring species and ecosystems that have been harmed by activities of the university and increasing the university’s positive impacts on nature. This involves taking on-site action as well as considering impacts and dependencies off site like the impacts of the resources we use and the waste we produce.

Trinity’s Sustainability Strategy, developed under the leadership of VP for Biodiversity and Climate Action Jane Stout, is working toward conserving, managing and restoring at least 30% of Trinity’s land area for nature, with emphasis on areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that deliver benefits and values to people, and contribute to conservation and restoration beyond Trinity’s grounds.

COP16 has the slogan Peace with Nature, which the UN says “is a call for reflection to improve the relationship we have with the environment, to rethink an economic model that does not prioritize the extraction, overexploitation and pollution of nature.”  The conference is on until 1 November and you can find out more information here.

GoNaturePositive! has launched a global consultation inviting everyone from students to politicians to have their say on what a nature positive economy of the future might look like.  They invite you to have your say here. 

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• Environment
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• Sustainability