- Foreign secretary Ed Miliband says climate and nature loss should be embedded in national security assessments and contingency planning.
- The UK intends to use its diplomatic network, multilateral finance institutions and 2027 G20 presidency to advance the agenda.
- The speech contained no new funding, institutions or binding commitments, leaving delivery as the critical test.
Climate change and ecosystem decline must be treated as immediate threats to national security rather than specialist environmental issues, UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband has told political and business leaders in New York.
Addressing the opening of Climate Week, Miliband argued that extreme weather, food insecurity, migration, damaged infrastructure and volatile fossil fuel markets now connect climate policy directly with economic and geopolitical resilience.
Climate breakdown must concern “the security community, not just the activist community, the generals, not just the green campaigners”, he said.
“We must change how we assess risk… Countries need to pool information because a shock beginning in one country can rapidly travel through supply chains, financial markets, and migration patterns to other countries.”
The speech marked an attempt to broaden political responsibility for climate action beyond energy and environment departments. Miliband said climate and nature risks should be incorporated into national threat assessments, contingency planning, infrastructure decisions, early-warning systems and disaster finance.
He also promised to use Britain’s embassy network and its engagement with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, COP31 and the UK’s 2027 G20 presidency to pursue the agenda internationally.
From climate leadership to risk management
Miliband grounded the argument partly in economics. Citing International Energy Agency projections, he noted that clean energy investment is expected to reach $2.2 trillion this year, compared with $1.2 trillion for oil, gas and coal. The IEA expects total energy investment to rise by 5% to a record $3.4 trillion in 2026.
The figures support the contention that the energy transition is no longer a limited environmental programme. They do not, however, mean capital is flowing evenly. Investment remains concentrated in China and advanced economies, while grids, emerging markets and several newer technologies continue to face high financing costs.
Miliband’s security framing builds on measures already taken by the UK. The government published a nature security assessment in January examining how the loss of globally important ecosystems could affect British food supplies, trade, economic stability and security. It subsequently established a cross-government climate security taskforce.
For industry, the important change is the potential expansion of what counts as energy security. The term has traditionally focused on access to fuels and sufficient generating capacity. Under Miliband’s formulation, it also encompasses resilient supply chains, critical minerals, water availability, climate-proof infrastructure and reduced exposure to globally traded fossil fuels.
That could influence how the Foreign Office supports overseas energy projects and how Britain approaches development finance. Embassies may be asked to play a greater role in building clean energy partnerships, securing supply chains and identifying climate-related risks to UK companies.
The UK’s G20 presidency provides a significant platform. Britain could use it to promote grid investment, multilateral development bank reform, critical mineral cooperation and climate-resilient infrastructure. But the presidency’s agenda is still being developed, and agreement will be difficult among governments with sharply divided approaches to fossil fuels and climate regulation.
The speech should therefore be read as a statement of intent rather than a new policy package. Its importance will depend on whether climate security influences spending priorities and diplomatic decisions, or merely provides a new new wrapper for existing commitments.
In the meantime, the UK’s Labour government wants clean energy to be understood not only as a decarbonisation programme, but as an instrument of foreign, economic and national security policy.
