Published on 6 February 2026
Blog post by: Ria Poole, Postdoctoral Impact Fellow in EDI, University of Exeter
We hear and have often said “The Time Is Now” for addressing all plethora of environmental injustices for so long, yet the issues facing our world today have never felt more acute nor more urgent. This is why when RENEW Principal Investigator, Professor Catriona McKinnon, told me of her plan to focus our annual two-day conference, the RENEW Biodiversity Parliament, on environmental justice, I along with many colleagues gave enthusiastic support. This comes at a time when research agendas are increasingly being steered towards supporting economic growth and industrial strategy, making our present work on environmental justice even more precious and relevant for the times we’re in – the time is very much now.
Our Biodiversity Parliament entitled “Is Nature for All? Exploring Environmental Justice” provided a platform to present and respond to some of the pressing issues we face. Within our RENEW research programme, we work alongside academics, environmental non-governmental organisations (eNGOs), businesses and community-led organisations to address various and wide-reaching challenges to our biodiversity crisis. As we understand that our partners have varying levels of understanding and engagement with the topics we wished to share and discuss, we sought to create an inclusive and interactive online space for the Parliament which would collectively explore what environmental justice means in theory and in practice and to inspire our thinking and steps towards positive action.
Bringing together leading voices from a diverse range of expertise and perspectives, our programme of speakers and workshops reflected the depth of thought and breadth of experience from those committed to influencing change within the sector. It isn’t possible to mention everyone present and everything that was presented within this blog post; but from spotlighting from my own personal experience of the event, I hope to convey what it was about and share a few highlights which most resonated with me.
Above: speakers from day 1 and day 2 of the event
Professor Catriona McKinnon set stage for the first day’s proceedings by presenting an introduction to environmental injustice. To encompass a holistic way of presenting the topic, she quoted Pellow and Brule:
Eco threats are not accidents of history, unfortunate coincidences or unintended consequences; rather, they are predictable outcomes of unwanted land use, detritus, waste and pollution in communities that are devalued by dominant groups.
Orienting us to the key political philosophies of environmental justice, Catriona explained the recognitional justice of respecting indigenous voices to multispecies justice to intergenerational justice and beyond. Collectively we began to understand value of, and the intersections between, them all.
A series of challenging provocations by invited speakers guided us towards reflecting on questions such as “how can we meaningfully repeople the landscape?” from Nadia Shaikh of the Right to Roam & Raven Network, and “can we take a more critical approach to rewilding to promote nature connectedness, as well as appreciating how rewilding may devalue and prevent existing relationships people have with the natural world?” from Sherilyn McGregor of the University of Manchester.
Environmental philosopher Rupert Read proposed that a greater focus on non-human life as well as the future of all life should be considered when framing and contextualising threats to biodiversity and how to respond to them. Rupert said that we can’t rely on all non-human species to adapt and survive:
The habitable zone for many species is moving northward at several miles per year which may not be possible for some.
In the afternoon of the first day, I held the first of two “in conversation” sessions. This first conversation was with biologist, presenter and podcaster Gillian Burke and medical doctor and health innovator Dr Bothwell Kabayira discussing politics and power. Gillian related her journey from presenting conservation and wildlife stories on BBC’s “Springwatch” to where she has arrived today as a presenter, podcaster and activist telling stories about the bigger picture of the natural world, focusing on what she loosely describes as “system change”.
Gillian spoke of war as being the most destructive thing we do as a species and how her most publicly favoured episode of her podcast (an interview with Jojo Mehta, founder of the international Stop Ecocide movement) led to her understanding of how the legal threshold for ecocide needs to be set before we can use it meaningfully in the real world. Gillian reflected:
My thoughts were, if we ignore the human suffering from like a genocide or any military kinetic war, are we really able to enforce ecocide law if we are ignoring another law?
Photo by Bingshu Zhao
Deepening this strand of enquiry, Gillian referenced her recent interview with Dr Benjamin Neimark, lead researcher on the environmental impact of the military and on the Gaza bombardment:
The nature sector and environmentalists need to find entry points into those conversations, centring human suffering but also understanding the environmental damage and destruction to the release of toxins, to destruction of sea banks and landscapes, et cetera. These are two sides of the same ugly coin.
In response to this need for the environmental sector to recognise and seek justice for the environmental destruction and human suffering globally, Gillian talked of her new collaborative initiative “Naturalists for Palestine” which brings together people within the nature sector for calls to action.
Also speaking from the perspective of supporting those globally underserved, Dr Bothwell Kabayira described his initiative ZAMPA UK – a network which trains and mentors new health professionals of Zimbabwean heritage with a view to better supporting the diaspora and improving the Zimbabwean healthcare system. Our conversation then touched on the interconnectedness of cross-cultural experiences stemming from colonial legacies – from Bothwell’s childhood of enjoying tea grown in the Zimbabwean valleys to tea enjoyed across Britain: “even the NHS loves tea, no tea no work!”
I kicked off the second day’s proceedings with another insightful and enriching conversation – this time discussing activism and changemaking with Manu Maunganidze of SOS-UK and Naftal Zinyenba of The Wildlife Trusts. Manu and Naftal also moved to the UK from Zimbabwe and spoke of the intersection of inequalities they found here, such as class, gender, race and origin, which spurred their passion for and active involvement in finding ways to influence and make meaningful change towards equity within the nature and environmental sector.
Manu Maunganidze founded the Nature Youth Connection and Education initiative to give basic access to a wealth and health-giving natural environment to children, particularly those from low-income backgrounds. From his work in this area, he recognised the significant lack of racial diversity within the nature sector. This led to the creation of The Race Report which is a data collection platform for organisations within the sector to transparently report on their diversity and inclusion to identify trends, gaps and progress, and facilitate spaces for them to translate their findings into action. Considering the necessary direction of travel for this work, Manu observed:
Data means it’s no longer hypothetical and they can’t hide away. We are three to four years into it, and it has rooted out hiding spaces. We have asked what more data they need to act. Data can also be dangerous; organisations can use it as a brake rather than compass or accelerator. They start to analyse it, but no change happens. Change is about courage. I hope to see more courage from leaders, rather than “thank you” and close the door.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Speaking to Manu’s point on courage, Naftal Zinyenba posited the question of whether organisations are willing to make hard-hitting decisions and sacrifices because they align with their values and are they ready to act, realising that collectively we have no choice but to make radical changes. Naftal implored organisations to exercise their privilege and be the voice of those whose voices have been taken away, both for local concerns and global issues involving ecocide:
When you talk about global side, people say “we are more about nature, we shouldn’t be focusing on what is happening”, but it is always about nature because these spaces are going through ecocide. In Gaza 50% of trees were destroyed and there is water pollution. Imagine waking up and everything green is gone?!
The call to think globally and act locally was discussed in terms of organisations needing to practice addressing the needs of the people they are providing services to before they can meaningfully tackle global issues. Naftal’s work for The Wildlife Trusts reimagines what “nature” is for different people and empowers them to spend time in nature in their own way. They provide communities with tools to help with campaigning or support them with looking after a certain area.
Photo by Bingshu Zhao
The policy landscape is complex and perpetually shifting at pace, and speaking truth to power may feel unsafe, futile or overwhelming for many. Naftal spoke of listening and supporting people with campaigns and writing to MPs as a step towards activism:
Right now, we are challenging the planning bill because it doesn’t benefit working class people. A lot of people will lose green spaces, which they barely have anyway and are important for things like mental health. A lot of people have lost trust in MPs and government. We are trying to push back in any way we can.
A final reflection from Manu called on us to look past divisions which have been taken advantage of by political forces towards finding solidarity with people across racial, gender and migration lines and then asking what their vision is, which he said is real leadership.
Photo by Ria Poole
Continuing from my rallying conversation with Manu and Naftal, two parallel sessions showcased case studies from RENEW partners who gave examples of what successful action looked like and described the challenges they faced.
We heard from Rory Crawford of the National Trust about his learnings from the Nature Neighbourhoods Project, from Jo Smith and Flavia Ojok of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust who spoke of their endeavours to remain firm in delivering anti-racist-action in the age of polarisation, and Victoria Bradford-Keegan of the National Trust and Emily Martey of Natural England described their joint venture to advance environmental justice through their Nature Towns and Cities initiative.
The creative literary exploration and reach of environmental justice work was not lost within our event programme. For our introductory keynote address, we were stirred into a crystallising contemplation as award-winning poet Ashanti Kunene spoke to us of the practice of justice, the voice of the land and our connectedness with it, and invoked us to listen to what the land needs us to become, through her poetic provocation:
What does the living breathing, suffering, magnificent world need from the unique, miraculous animal that is you? It needs your grief, your rage, to imagine paths out of destruction. Don’t just do your job differently; do you differently.
Ashanti reminded us that the planet doesn’t need us to save it because it will survive as it has for millennia; rather, we are the ones who need saving.
Then in a workshop with RENEW’s resident poet Caleb Parkin, a group of attendees were guided in writing a collective poem reflecting on what was shared within the event. We also heard from The Poetry Society who give voice to environmental concerns from the perspective of young people within their Young Poets’ Network (YPN). They spoke of how poetry can be used to tell stories, encourage empathy and how poems may mitigate eco-anxieties whilst also inspiring hope for the future, and fittingly we closed with a poetry slam from YPN poets Sylvie and Maggie.
In the wake of this Biodiversity Parliament, I wonder what will happen next – both intrapersonally and interpersonally, societally, environmentally and politically. Those who took part are on their own individual and collective journeys – many committing to making real-world differences wherever we can. We accept we are small waves in the vast ocean, but it is my hope that the ripples we make may converge to water the seeds of change needed for lasting environmental justice.
Photo by Ria Poole
Banner image: Illustration by Ria Poole, 2025, all rights reserved
