PREVIEW

Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on Tuesday (17September2024) to deliver his first major foreign policy speech announcing the Government's commitments to tackling the climate and nature crisis.

After delivering the speech, he digitised a plant specimen from Kew’s Herbarium collection.

In a live-streamed address inside the Temperate House at Kew Gardens, London, Mr. Lammy pledged to put the nature and climate emergency at the forefront of foreign policy.
Alongside announcing plans to appoint new Special Representatives for Climate Change and for Nature, the Foreign Secretary committed to unlocking more climate finance and reverse the decline in global biodiversity.

He said, “the threat of climate change may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an autocrat. But it is far more fundamental. It is systemic, pervasive and accelerating towards us.”

After the speech, the Foreign Secretary visited Kew’s Herbarium to learn more about scientific research and to digitise, Norantea guianensis, a plant specimen from Guyana – the birthplace of his parents.

In his speech, Mr. Lammy said, “my Father used to bring me to Kew Gardens. I mean, I look back, he’s now not alive so I can’t ask him, but I now realise he brought me here to somehow be in touch with Guyana and those rainforests.”

Kew has embarked on an ambitious project to digitise all eight million plant and fungal specimens held in their collection, and with over half of the collection digitised, Mr. Lammy’s contribution will be part of a groundbreaking endeavor to conserving the world’s biodiversity. The specimens will be available online to help researchers, conservationists, and nature enthusiasts around the globe access important botanical information that aids the study and preservation of species.

Head of Collections at Kew, Dr. Alan Paton said, “Kew’s Herbarium collection is of global value, so it is critical that we make it as openly accessible as possible to researchers studying solutions to the environmental crises around the world. We are delighted that the Secretary of State will be forever immortalised within our collection, as his name is stored within the metadata as of that specimen. This permanent record not only recognises his dedication but also ensures a commitment to caring for nature for generations to come.”