How nature underpins our national security

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This week in the House of Lords, Peers for the Planet supporters questioned the Government on its planned policy response to the UK’s first Nature Security Assessment, which examines how biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse could affect the UK’s resilience, security and prosperity.

Peers highlighted a number of urgent risks, including the immediate threat to food security from flooding in the UK and Europe, and pressed the Government on how it plans to reconcile the report’s findings with the UK not being on track to meet its own nature recovery targets.

The Minister confirmed the assessment is intended to help government prepare for credible future shocks and emphasised the need for stronger planning and coordination across departments.

The debate underlined growing cross-party recognition that urgent, coordinated action is required to act on the assessment’s clear conclusion: nature underpins our national security.

My Lords, a nature security assessment was initially withheld and then only partially released following an FoI request. Given the gravity of its findings for biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and our future national security, will the Government now publish the report in full? What policy responses are being developed as a result? Will Ministers engage in open dialogue, both at home and with allies, that recognises the interlinked climate and nature emergencies as essential to our natural security strategy and future prosperity? Earl Russell (LD)

My Lords, on food security, as everyone in this House knows, there are severe floods across Somerset, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and lots of growing areas. Compounding that, there are floods in Spain as well as Sicily. These are all areas where we get our fresh vegetables from, and these floods are damaging the crops for this year. We also know that there are going to be droughts after the wet weather. What are the Government doing to look, in the immediate future, at the food security situation, because many farmers cannot plant on land that is absolutely sodden with water?” Baroness Boycott (CB)

My Lords, the assessment is explicit that nature is a foundation of national security, yet independent analysis, not least by the Government’s own watchdog, the OEP, in its recent annual report, shows that the UK is not on track to meet its own nature recovery targets, thereby increasing domestic risk. How do the Government reconcile this security assessment with current trajectories on the Environment Act targets and land use policies?” Baroness Sheehan (LD)

My Lords, the Minister is well aware of the challenge that we face around our marine biodiversity…What steps are she and Defra taking to ensure that the Government’s reset with the European Union does not end up compromising those standards and taking us back to where we were before? Lord Grayling (Con)