‘Defence spending alone will not keep Britain secure’

Climate security is no longer a distant or abstract concern. It is shaping the price of food, the stability of energy markets, and the safety of homes across the UK. Yet, while its effects are already being felt, it remains marginal to the way we define and fund national security.

Wars in Iran and Ukraine, a widening arc of global instability and this week’s events have pushed defence to the top of the political agenda. Spending debates now turn on how quickly budgets can rise, and what must be sacrificed to fund them. However, a more fundamental question is being overlooked: can a country be secure if the systems that sustain everyday life are steadily breaking down?

Security is not defined solely by military strength, but by the conditions in which people live. A secure society is one where homes are warm and resilient to flooding; where food is affordable; where energy bills are predictable rather than punishing. These are not secondary concerns. They are the foundations of stability.

READ MORE: John Healey resigns as Defence Secretary in row over military spending

The risks associated with climate and environmental breakdown are no longer hypothetical. A previously buried Defra report warns of a “strategic risk of catastrophic failure” in the UK’s food system by 2030. The Joint Intelligence Committee has cautioned that the ecosystems underpinning the economy are in systemic decline. The consequences are already visible: rising prices, increasing volatility, and growing pressure on households. Yet these threats are not debated with anything like the urgency applied to defence spending.

Even recent warnings about food shortages and rising energy costs, triggered by instability in the Middle East, should be understood in this context. Global conflict may accelerate these pressures, but it is not their root cause. The UK’s underlying vulnerability would remain. The reality is that the natural systems supporting the economy have been pushed to the brink. Soil degradation is undermining food production. Landscapes that once absorbed floodwater are no longer able to do so. What appears as a series of isolated crises is, in fact, a single, systemic failure.

This creates a growing contradiction. Defence spending is rising at its fastest rate in decades, yet many communities feel more exposed, not less. The gap between what is funded and what people experience as “security” continues to widen.

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This new parliamentary session offers a chance to correct that imbalance. If it is missed, others will fill the space. Political movements that thrive on narratives of decline will find ample evidence in flooded homes, failed harvests and rising living costs. The idea of a “broken Britain” gains traction where insecurity is most keenly felt.

There is, however, a different path. Tackling the root causes of food insecurity, restoring natural systems, and preparing communities for more extreme weather would not simply reduce risk, it would strengthen the country at its foundations.

That begins with recognising ecosystems as essential national infrastructure. Like transport, energy and water systems, they provide services on which the public depends. Yet they are not funded, maintained or prioritised in the same way. Treating them with equivalent seriousness would mark a decisive shift.

It also requires acknowledging that the current approach to climate adaptation has fallen short. A more urgent and coordinated response is needed; one that protects households, stabilises supply chains, and reduces long-term pressures on public services, including the NHS.

The political case is as clear as the economic one. Voters expect change they can feel: lower bills, safer homes, and greater day-to-day stability. Resilience cannot remain rhetorical. It must be visible in people’s lives.

A battle winning military will only take us so far if we cannot keep our citizens fed or the lights on. Our overdependence on supply chains that could collapse as climate chaos accelerates is leaving us dangerously vulnerable. As options for imports dry up, reliance on other states for key resources will leave us dangerously exposed. These islands could easily face a siege that we cannot win.

A Nature and National Security Act would be a starting point, linking environmental restoration with economic security, public health and job creation. It would recognise a simple reality: that national security in the 21st century depends as much on climate resilience at home as it does on security abroad. This session gives us an opportunity to act.

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