Pupils at Melton Primary planted a young oak as one of the first trees to be grown as part of East Suffolk Council’s Tree and Hedgerow Strategy.

The oak was nurtured at home by councillor Sally Noble, Green cabinet member responsible for the environment, whose motion to develop the strategy received full council backing in July.

Working with the Woodland Trust, the council has also urged landowners to help identify areas which could be used for planting or where improvements could be made to enhance nature.

Noble said: “I’m delighted to have been joined by pupils at Melton Primary School in helping to kick-start our planting programme. I’m continually encouraged by children’s understanding of the environment and enthusiasm for enriching our natural surroundings.”

Protecting trees is key to tackling biodiversity decline driven by climate change. We are working with residents, community groups and experts on developing a strategy to enable more trees to be planted across East Suffolk, while identifying priorities and requirements for the management of existing trees across the district.

“The tree was originally given to the school to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and was grown by Noble until robust enough to plant in a suitable space.

Nicole Barr, volunteer co-ordinator and forest school lead for Melton Primary School, said: “We’re very grateful to Cllr Noble for looking after the tree and for returning to help plant it here.

“The symbol of the school is an acorn and oak leaf, so it feels like an appropriate addition to our wooded area.”

Earlier this year, East Suffolk Council passed a motion to declare a biodiversity and ecological emergency, having already declared a climate emergency in 2019.

The Tree and Hedgerow Strategy will run alongside Suffolk County Council’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which is part of a nationwide move to create space and connectivity for nature to thrive.

Ben Green, external affairs officer at the Woodland Trust, said: “We’re reaching out to the communities and landowners across East Suffolk to be part of an ambitious effort to plant more trees and create greener, thriving spaces for generations to come.

“With the Woodland Trust’s financial support, expert guidance, and unwavering commitment, we’re here to help you make a lasting impact. Let’s work together to secure a greener, more resilient future for East Suffolk.”

The fifth United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting in Busan, South Korea was intended to be the final session.

It was hoped the meeting would produce a legally binding global treaty.

If successful, it would have marked the most significant global climate pledge since the Paris Climate Accords in 2015, but the group of nations could only agree on Sunday to postpone negotiations to a later date.

Saudi Arabia, in particular, was accused of standing in the way. The country strongly opposed efforts to reduce plastic production and used procedural tactics to delay progress.

“It is clear that there is still persistent divergence,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, told the Reuters news agency.

One plan that received significant international support was proposed by Panama on Thursday. If adopted, it would have established a pathway for a global production reduction target, but it did not specify what that target would look like. Another proposal did not mention production caps at all.

Panama’s delegation head, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, lambasted the postponement of negotiations.

“Every day of delay is a day against humanity,” he said. “Postponing negotiations does not postpone the crisis.”

Based on current trends, plastic production is on track to triple by 2050.

“Every day that governments allow polluters to continue flooding the world with plastic, we all pay the price. This delay comes with dire consequences for people and the planet, ruthlessly sacrificing those on the front lines of this crisis,” Graham Forbes, Greenpeace’s delegation head to the global plastics treaty, said in a statement.

“This week, over 100 member states, representing billions of people, rejected a toothless deal that would have accomplished nothing and stood before the world committing to an ambitious treaty. Now, it’s time they stand by this promise and deliver.

”The environmental group GAIA told Reuters that “there is little assurance that the next INC will succeed where INC-5 did not”.

The postponement comes just days after the turbulent conclusion of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

At COP29, countries pledged $300bn annually to address climate change. However, this plan fell far short of the $1.3 trillion requested by developing nations, which are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.