Press Release

Climate Change and the Role of Plant Conservation

RBG Kew's Position on Climate Change & Global Warming

The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that we are experiencing global warming, caused by an over-supply of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This situation leads to climate change. We only have one planet, and plants are essential to help recycle carbon dioxide.

What role do plants play in the Climate Change issue?

The energy-rich carbon compounds that plants make through converting the sun's energy (photosynthesis) remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Climate change is caused by global warming due to an over-supply of carbon dioxide. Climate change is a threat to the distribution, variety, and amount of plants on earth. Throughout most of the world, the natural vegetation is reduced or under threat. For example, Kew knows through its work in Madagascar that 80% of the plant life has been removed or seriously degraded.

What is Kew 's position on Climate Change and Global Warming?

We support the majority view that there is cause for concern and action is needed.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew will continue its commitment to meet the challenge of climate change at home and abroad. In particular, our plant scientists will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa – an area rich in biodiversity but populated by some of the poorest people in the world – using the strong partnerships and programmes that we already have in place. Our work to protect plants and plant habitats in other countries will have a continued sense of urgency. At home we will help to build awareness of the diverse impacts of climate change on plants, and through plants on people.

Does Kew have a particular viewpoint on the climate change issue?

We have a particular interest in areas of the world that predictions show to be most threatened by climate change – they are often the countries with the richest and the most under-researched plant life; and they include some of the poorest countries in the world, most dependent on their plants for food, and least able to take action for conservation.

What action should be taken?

All of us, governments and individuals need to cut carbon emissions in order to limit warming to a 2 degrees centigrade increase or less. (Most scenarios suggest that 2 degrees warming could be coped with, but 5-6 degrees warming would be disastrous for human life and biodiversity as we know it.)

How does Kew contribute to plant conservation?

As well as being the best source of information on the widest diversity of plants, we have active partnerships with respected organisations within the UK and in more than 80 overseas countries. We publish more and engage more with local communities than any other plant research organisation. Kew is home to the Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild seed bank in the world, in which the seeds of more than 15,000 plant species are currently stored. By 2010 the MSB will have banked 10% of the world's plant species as an insurance policy against the threat of climate change and other human-induced impacts on plants in the wild. We also ‘rescue' plants, by propagating threatened species from degraded habitats to study, use or re-introduce where they can flourish.

What action is Kew taking to limit global warming?

As a scientific organisation, all of our efforts are directed towards understanding and conserving plants, which are so essential to life on earth. We work actively with communities and provide advice for government bodies around the world on how to preserve plants and their habitats. Kew is the first World Heritage Site to achieve ISO 14001, the international standard on sustainable management, and we continue to look for ways to improve. We will increase existing efforts, through exhibitions, educational activities, and our website, to tell our many visitors about the importance of preserving plants and minimising our use of natural resources.

Future Plans

In 2007 we will dedicate our Summer Festival to the Mediterranean area, focussing on plants that thrive in coastal areas with low water supplies. In 2008 we plan to open a spectacular new tree-top walkway, and will increase our efforts to promote public awareness and understanding of climate change.

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