Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of climate‑driven global crop failures, droughts and energy system strain on UK national security.

On 20 January, the Government published the Nature Security Assessment, which found that severe degradation or collapse of critical global ecosystems would be highly likely to result in impacts such as water insecurity and reduced crop yields. These findings inform cross-government resilience and national security planning, helping the UK anticipate and manage systemic risks arising from climate and nature loss. The UK Food Security Report 2024 similarly sets out that, while UK production and trade remain stable, climate change, nature loss and water pressures pose increasing risks to long-term food system resilience. These assessments sit alongside the Government’s five-yearly Climate Change Risk Assessment, most recently published in 2022, which considered risks to both the food and energy sectors. Maintaining secure and resilient food and energy systems is a core Government priority, supported by the UK National Adaptation Programme, which provides the framework for identifying and addressing climate change impacts across critical sectors.