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Climate and Land Summit

View across an arable field with blue skies
View across the arable fields on the Wimpole Estate in autumn | © National Trust Images/Mike Selby

The one-day Climate and Land Summit hosted by the National Trust was a chance for the country’s largest landowners and government ministers to debate a range of climate change commitments ahead of COP26.

What was the Climate and Land Summit?

The event at the Wimpole Estate, in Cambridgeshire, was held on October 12, 2021, before the UN's annual climate conference COP26 in November that year, with guests including the National Parks, Soil Association, The Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, Woodland Trust and the Duchy of Cornwall.

Attendees signed up to six climate and nature-based solutions or guiding principles to commit to collectively working towards the nation’s net zero aims and pressing needs to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.

The Compact

The attendees at the summit represented some of England’s largest landowners and managers. Together they have vowed to work together to ensure that our natural resources like peat bogs, woodlands and rivers are used as effectively as possible to tackle the climate crisis.

Attendees signed up to a range of commitments to help the government meet its net zero ambitions and reverse environmental damage. This included six guiding principles to commit to collectively working towards the nation’s net zero aims and pressing needs to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.

Click here to read the text of The Compact.

Our partners

Church Commissioners for England

The Church Commissioners for England is a body that administers the property assets of the Church of England.

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Duchy of Cornwall

The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate that funds the public, charitable and private activities of the Prince of Wales and his family.

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Holkham

Holkham Hall is an 18th-century country house in Norfolk at the centre of a 25,000 acre agricultural estate.

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The National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs)

The National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) is a registered charity supporting AONBs to ensure their natural beauty is valued.

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National Parks England

National Parks England is an umbrella association of the authorities that care for the 10 National Parks in England.

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Nature Friendly Farming Network

The Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) is a farmer-led movement that believes farming with nature is better for businesses and the environment.

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RSPB

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland.

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Soil Association

The Soil Association is a charitable organisation that works to transform the way we eat, farm, and care for our natural world.

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The Wildlife Trusts

The Wildlife Trusts is an independent charity made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney.

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Woodland Trust

The UK's largest woodland conservation charity.

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Yorkshire Water

Yorkshire Water provides essential water and waste water services across Yorkshire.

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