Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew becomes Strategic Science Lead for new Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate led by Defra
Release date: 16 May 2023
RBG Kew has signed a memorandum of understanding appointing RBG Kew as Strategic Science Lead for a new Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC).
GCBC, funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will establish a global network of research institutions, and experts to tackle critical research gaps in how the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity can deliver climate adaptation, mitigation and improve livelihoods. GCBC will help ensure that future decision-making is driven by and grounded in scientific evidence, articulating the problem, identifying solutions, tracking progress, and supporting the delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets.
As the Strategic Science Lead for GCBC, RBG Kew is developing a Research Strategy for the programme which entails identifying themes and priorities to inform the grant calls for research applications from 2023 to 2025, which will be managed on behalf of Defra by DAI International. RBG Kew will not be involved in assessing grant applications or allocating project funding, but will be gathering insights, data and learnings from funded projects to inform future research and policy.
RBG Kew will be supporting the aim to identify truly inter- and trans-disciplinary research, directly addressing barriers to change, and breaking down environmental and social research siloes. The approach will incorporate engagement from developing countries, involving Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It will also seek to identify examples of good practice that can be scaled up and replicated elsewhere, as well as encouraging new and innovative approaches to yield novel data and research outputs.
On signing the MOU at Kew Gardens, Prof Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science, RBG Kew says: ‘We are delighted to be entrusted with the role of Strategic Science lead on this exciting new initiative from the UK Government through Defra. Nature-based solutions could provide up to a third of cost-effective climate change mitigation needed by 2030, whilst also delivering tangible benefits to people, particularly in poor and marginalized communities around the world. Prioritizing scientific research that will help us to tackle the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, which are often the same key drivers of climate change, is crucial and timely. We welcome the GCBC initiative, and are pleased to be able to leverage our expertise to support Defra.’
Prof. Gideon Henderson, Defra Scientific Adviser, UK Government, says: ‘We are very excited to be working with RBG Kew on this new Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate. The approach we are taking aligns with the Government’s objectives for International Climate Finance; to help mitigate climate change and support people in developing countries to build resilience to climate impacts. Nature has a key role to play in meeting this ambition. Natural systems are on the front-line in the fight against climate change, both because they are impacted by rising temperatures and because they provide us with vital tools to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts.’
ENDS
lmage (right to left): Joanna Lane, GCBC Project Manager; RBG Kew; Ryan McGoldrick, GCBC Engagement, Defra; Bingbing Lin, ICF R&D Programme Support Officer, Defra; Luke Elwin, GCBC Project Manager, Defra; Sarah Ratcliffe, Senior Scientific Officer, Defra; Kelmend Kavaja, Major Grants Programme Manager, DAI; Prof Monique Simmonds, Deputy Director of Science (Partnerships), RBG Kew; Anne Brady, Senior Consultant, DAI; Nandi Hall, Senior Director, DAI; Lotte Blair, ICF R&D Team Lead, Defra; Lucile Echardour-Coural, Project Associate, DAI.
For further information please contact the press office: pr@kew.org
Notes to Editors
The appointment of RBG Kew as strategic science lead is aligned to its mission to deliver science-based knowledge and solutions to protect biodiversity and use natural resources sustainably by 2030. At its sites in Kew Gardens, Wakehurst and Madagascar, Kew Science is focused on protecting species of plants and fungi globally, as well as revealing those that could be new sources of food, medicine, fuel or materials.
The expectation is that the new work done through GCBC will help to address critical research gaps in how the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity can deliver climate solutions and improve livelihoods in developing countries. It will be looking to support work that drives integrated solutions across climate, biodiversity and people, tackling areas such as monitoring, efficacy, robustness, governance and finance.
GCBC is a UK Government research and development programme funded by International Climate Finance from the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
GCBC aims to establish a global network of research institutions, experts and people to deliver research, evidence and data to better value, protect, restore, and sustainably use biodiversity to tackle climate change and poverty challenges
About Kew Science
Kew Science is the driving force behind RBG Kew’s mission to understand and protect plants and fungi, for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth. Over 470 Kew scientists work with partners in more than 100 countries worldwide to halt biodiversity loss, uncover secrets of the natural world, and to conserve and restore the extraordinary diversity of plants and fungi. Kew’s Science Strategy 2021–2025 lays out five scientific priorities to aid these goals: research into the protection of biodiversity through Ecosystem Stewardship, understanding the variety and evolution of traits in plants and fungi through Trait Diversity and Function; digitising and sharing tools to analyse Kew’s scientific collections through Digital Revolution; using new technologies to speed up the naming and characterisation of plants through Accelerated Taxonomy; and cultivating new scientific and commercial partnerships in the UK and globally through Enhanced Partnerships. One of Kew’s greatest international collaborations is the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, which has to date stored more than 2.4 billion seeds of over 40,000 wild species of plants across the globe. In 2020, Kew scientists estimated in the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report that 2 in 5 plants globally are threatened with extinction.