Heatwaves are killing thousands. Nature could help us save lives - but only if we let it

This year’s heatwaves have scorched Britain. Hospitals and care homes have sweltered, schools have closed, people have struggled to sleep, to work, to parent. Tragically, an estimated 2,700 people have died from the extreme heat in May and June alone. The country just isn’t prepared for these climes.

But as anyone who spent those heat-wrecked weeks darting between the shadows of trees knows, we have a solution right at our fingertips: nature. Trees and plants offer proven protection against extreme heat, as well as buffering the effects of floods and drought.

Studies have shown how the shade provided by tree canopies can lower the temperature we experience by 8 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), a potentially life-saving difference. Healthy nature also acts like a sponge, holding water in our landscapes that can dampen the impact of fires and prevent heavy rain rushing off the hills.

The problem is that our towns and cities aren’t green enough, so not enough people are benefiting from the power of nature. The average UK urban area is just 18% tree-covered, whereas in Europe, that figure stands at 30%. And on the global league table, the UK ranks as one of the least nature-rich places in the world.

What’s more, the nature we do have is unfairly distributed. The Woodland Trust’s new report estimates that 11m people in the UK are living in “tree deserts” with less than 10% tree cover. Affluent communities are greener and stay cooler than more socially deprived areas, and are more likely to report better health outcomes, even though people living in nature-deprived parts of the country stand to gain the most from access to nature-rich green space.

So how do we close this gap? Well, it starts with Government. If our new Prime Minister truly wants to make people’s lives better, to cut regional inequality and achieve “good growth in every postcode”, then investing in nature is a no-brainer.

His Government’s recent action plan, which aims to protect 30% of the UK’s land and sea for nature in just four years’ time, having taken four years to write, won’t be enough. Mr Burnham must urgently up the levels of investment in nature. He must safeguard our designated sites and revive habitats elsewhere, ensure nature-rich green space is baked into all new housing developments, and provide more incentives for farmers to bring back the wildlife that is disappearing at an alarming rate.

This isn’t a “nice to have”. Nature is an essential part of our infrastructure - as necessary to our lives as transport and utilities. It not only cools our ever-heating country, but it provides the food, water and economic security on which we all depend. It underpins our health too, not only during times of extreme heat, but all year round. With an overburdened NHS and an ageing population, Andy Burnham must look to the long-term health gains and savings to the NHS - estimated to be around £2bn a year - that will come from extending access to nature.

Nature also makes us proud to be from these isles. According to recent More in Common polling for the National Trust, nature is one of the biggest sources of pride for Britons - second only to the NHS. It brings communities together and fosters belonging, something we see in the millions of people who join and donate to our respective charities, and the millions more who visit the countryside or coast, watch Sir David Attenborough’s documentaries or tend to a garden or window box each day. It’s part of our cultural heritage.

There is no doubt that Mr Burnham will be arriving to a bulging in-tray this week. But for too long nature has been bottom of the pile, with dire consequences, and it must now be treated with the urgency it deserves. That’s why we’re joining forces today, as charities representing approximately 7.5m members, and calling on the Government to start treating nature as essential infrastructure, critical to the very fabric of the UK.

Our new Prime Minister needs only to reflect on the last three bouts of baking heat - likely to become the “new normal”, according to the Met Office - for a timely reminder of why nature matters. We owe it to our children, to workers, to parents and to the most vulnerable in our society to invest urgently in our natural world. Not to do so would truly be an own goal.

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Hilary McGrady is Director-General of the National Trust; Beccy Speight is Chief Executive at the RSPB; Craig Bennett is Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts; Dr Darren Moorcroft is Chief Executive at The Woodland Trust; Richard Benwell is Chief Executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link.

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