The UK faces growing risks from climate and nature breakdown - from extreme weather to economic disruption and national security threats. Yet the public has never been given a clear national briefing on the scale of these risks. Government should hold an emergency briefing from leading experts.
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These risks could have serious consequences across UK society, with threats to health and food supply - which could become irreversible if without urgent action. Many people are unclear how these risks may affect them, and information in the public domain is often misleading.
A credible national briefing from independent experts would give people clear, trusted guidance on what these risks mean in practice, and what we can do - both together and individually - to prepare and respond.
Monday 15th June 2026
We recognise the growing risks from climate and nature breakdown, and are committed to speaking clearly about the scale of the crisis and providing reliable sources for information and advice.
The UK government recognises the growing risks from climate and nature breakdown. Nature and a stable climate underpin our health, economy, national security and critical services.
The National Emergency Briefing campaign is right to highlight climate change as a major threat for the UK and the world as set out in our ‘National security assessment on global ecosystems’ in January 2026.
The government welcomes their work and we are committed to speaking clearly about the scale of the crisis.
In July 2025, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband MP, alongside the then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed MP, gave the first-ever statement on the State of Climate and Nature.
The statement provided an honest appraisal of the state of climate and nature in the UK and the action being taken to benefit people now, as well as future generations, demonstrating how the choices we make as a country influence the course of global action. To promote the statement, the Energy Secretary spoke to national broadcasters and newspapers about the threat of climate change to our British way of life, securing widespread coverage across print, online and broadcast.
We intend to undertake a second statement this summer to demonstrate the scale of the challenge and emphasise the steps that the government and UK citizens are taking to prepare and respond to the climate and nature crisis.
We recognise that climate risks are increasing in urgency across sectors and we need to go further and faster to ensure that our country, communities and natural environment are resilient to climate change. We have committed to strengthening our approach and are working together across government to deliver actions to improve our resilience. We will set out stronger adaptation objectives for a more ambitious fourth National Adaptation Programme (NAP4) in 2028.
We already communicate with the public about the urgency of these issues and provide reliable sources for information and advice. The Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP), which forms part of the Third National Adaptation Programme, brings together the Weather-Health Alerting System (in collaboration with the Met Office) and practical guidance to reduce health impacts from events such as heat, flooding and drought. The AWHP adopts a whole-of-society approach, aiming to strengthen public and organisational communication, enhance resilience, and support both preparedness and effective response to protect health across society now and in the future.
At the same time, we are restoring and protecting nature. In December 2025, we published the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). The EIP is the government’s long-term plan for improving the natural environment and the enjoyment of it. It clearly describes the actions we need to take and who is responsible for delivering them. This will help us to restore nature, improve environmental quality, create a circular economy, protect environmental security and improve people’s access to nature.
We are also taking action to reduce the impact of climate change on food production and to support the continued production and supply of food for UK citizens. We rely upon a combination of strong domestic production from the UK’s agricultural and food manufacturing sectors and a diverse range of overseas supply sources to ensure a consistent supply of food. We are providing support through our farming schemes to improve sector resilience and through innovation. For example, Defra’s Crop Genetic Improvement Networks funds research to develop crop varieties that are more productive, sustainable, and more resilient to climate change.
The Simpler Recycling reforms ensure that across England, people are able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school. In particular, collecting food waste separately from residual waste allows us to send it for anaerobic digestion or composting. This reduces the amount of food waste going to landfill, where it releases harmful greenhouse gases, helping to achieve our Net Zero strategy target to eliminate biodegradable waste sent to landfill from 2028.
We recognise we will only succeed if we take people with us and act together. That is why we are ensuring the public has a voice in how we create a more sustainable and more prosperous society. We published Energising Britain, the UK’s first public participation plan. This plan sets out how we will work to ensure people have the facts and understand the scale, pace of change and benefits of climate and nature action, and the benefits to their local communities. It includes working with businesses and communities to ensure everyone can benefit from our mission, including through policies that are responsive to people's needs and views.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs