“Future generations will recount how we knowingly gambled the health of the natural world, and the safety of human life, and call it a growth agenda”
PRESS RELEASE
“Future generations will recount how we knowingly gambled the health of the natural world, and the safety of human life, and call it a growth agenda” — Adrian Ramsay MP will say in a speech urging the Government to release the National Security Assessment in full.
Adrian Ramsay, MP for Waveney Valley and environment spokesperson for the Green MPs, will lead a debate in Parliament on the Joint Intelligence Committee's (JIC) National Security Assessment on biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, a report which the Government reportedly refused to release in full. The report presents a world where cascading risks from nature loss and ecosystem collapse lead to crop failures, water scarcity, floods and novel diseases, meaning millions of people could face food shortages, inflation, public health risks, supply-chain disruption, loss of livelihoods, mass displacement and conflict.
In the speech, Adrian is expected to say, “If this is not one of the gravest and prevailing national security risks of our time, I do not know what is.” Adrian will argue that “Nature is a foundational element of national security.”
Arguing that climate breakdown is destabilising all our natural systems, Adrian will challenge the fact that governments have repeatedly failed to make the decisions that are needed to protect our citizens. Adrian said that “Historians will write about our decisions. Future generations will judge us for it. They will recount how we knowingly gambled with global stability, the health of the natural world, and the safety of human life, and call it a growth agenda. Environmental protections are under attack from policy which pitches nature against the economy. There will be major damage to the economy with such dangerous levels of systemic ecological risk.”
Adrian will argue it is imperative that this Parliament finally tackles climate breakdown head-on, arguing that: “We cannot neglect to address this for another generation. The assessment makes clear that there is still a chance for major interventions to slow the trend and protect communities and restore national security if we act now, in this Parliament.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
There will be a photocall with campaigners and some MPs speaking in the debate at College Green at 12:45. Please get in touch with Ben, Adrian's media officer, to arrange it via WhatsApp on +44 7939 335565 or [email protected].
Adrian Ramsay is leading a Backbench Business Committee debate on Thursday 3rd September in Westminster Hall, which is expected to start at 3:10pm.
The Joint Intelligence Committee's National Security Assessment, published in January 2026, stated that biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse pose a threat to national security. This report was only published after a Freedom of Information request by Green Alliance - and it was only published in redacted form. Since January, Adrian Ramsay MP has repeatedly called for a debate in Parliament on its findings and for the full report to be published.
Adrian has also proposed a dedicated Climate Adaptation Unit, based in Number 10, to coordinate the Government's response to the growing risks posed by climate breakdown. A key responsibility of the unit would be ensuring councils, local authorities and public bodies work together effectively on local resilience planning, including flood prevention, heat adaptation, emergency response and protecting vulnerable communities. The proposal follows the Climate Change Committee's recommendation for a more structured national approach to managing the interdependencies between critical systems and services.
