On 28 February we wrote to Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero; Emma Reynolds, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and John Healey, Secretary of State for Defence, about the national security assessment presented to the government – Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security. We encourage readers to use this letter as a draft to your own MP and local press.
Dear Secretary of State
Ecosystem degradation or collapse will challenge the UK’s food security
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has over 100 years’ experience seeking out the root causes of war and conflict, working through WILPF’s consultative status at the United Nations, and using negotiation and conciliation to bring an end to conflict.
Last autumn we were able to study the national security assessment presented to the government – Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security – with its seven key judgments on the risks facing the UK’s security, as a result of global ecosystem degradation.
The messages here were echoed among the presentations at the National Emergency Briefing in November and again in a recent report from experts published in the journal Sustainability. Farmers, the food industry and food security experts are all concerned.
We are aware that the government is preparing to publish a National Adaptation Programme in 2028 responding to the Climate Change Committee’s 2025 Adaptation Progress Report, but are concerned that this is insufficiently urgent or extensive to meet these rapidly increasing risks. This is not only for food security but also for community climate resilience to coastal, pluvial and fluvial flooding and sea-level rise, and other potential climate impacts including droughts, heatwaves, wildfire, increased landslides, and loss of biodiversity and their associated economic and societal consequences.
From a WILPF perspective, women are often those first to see the impact of food shortages and price rises while also dealing with the impacts of water shortage and flooding in their communities. And, as Paul Behrens1 pointed out, “when families can’t afford to feed their children, societies break down”. We note with concern that there has been no gender lens applied to this report and see this as a major omission that should be rectified. Biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security is not a gender neutral issue.
We urge the government to recognise the seriousness of food insecurity and engage with local communities to explain the issues and initiate the changes necessary at local and national level to address these risks. These are: shifting to plant-rich diets; reducing food waste; improving production; and increasing climate resilience.
There is plenty of information available on actions which can be taken by communities, not necessarily requiring significant investment (such as food choices, allotments, tree planting, cycling), but the government, both national and local, needs to facilitate and publicise these. Scaling back animal agriculture would both reduce animal food imports and enable restoration of nature, flood resilience and water quality.
On climate extreme events, we urge the government to consider citizen and volunteer training to prepare for climate emergencies, ensuring the most vulnerable people in our society are protected in advance of situations occurring.
At an international level the UK government needs to work more effectively with world partners to address ecosystem degradation affecting food producing regions, both for the communities in those countries and for our own food imports. Food scarcity leads to increased conflicts over land and water adding to migration pressures as people can no longer feed their families. Animal foodstuff exports contribute to the destruction of forests and reduce the land available for communities to be self-sufficient.
Development of effective infrastructure in the Global South to sustain communities in the face of climate change requires local investment – at present many of these countries cannot afford to make these changes because of their levels of debt. One action which the UK could take is to work with other nations and corporations to cancel these debts. Likewise, the UK has reduced its Official Development Assistance from the legislated 0.7% of GNI to 0.5% in 2021, and current government fiscal plans indicate a further reduction to around 0.3% by 2027. We see a reduction in development aid as a retrograde step to supporting countries with food and water insecurity, further increasing the potential for conflict and the mass movements of people seeking to find sustainable livelihoods. Indeed, recent conflicts have seen the prevention of food and water access weaponised against civilians. We see the focus on militarisation rather than placing focus on ensuring sustainable livelihoods for all, as an unrealistic measure for ensuring world peace and sustainability and would urge the government to reflect on this.
WILPF endorses the calls for the government to host a televised national emergency briefing to ensure transparency with the general public about the threat of climate and nature risks in the UK.
Finally, WILPF UK urges the government to take seriously the risk assessments provided and be bold in its response. Investment in military defence will be pointless if the enemy is climate change and ecosystem degradation. We cannot eat guns and tanks.
Yours in peace
