World-first taskforce to protect communities from climate change
Communities across the UK will be better protected against the growing threats of climate change and nature loss.
- Government holds a world-first Climate and Nature Security Taskforce meeting to better prepare for the impacts of climate change and nature loss
- Leading experts from across security, military, academia and industry join forces to assess risks and find solutions to the climate and nature threats to national security
- Following the UK’s hottest summer on record, and the world bracing for the impacts of a super El Niño, government takes action to protect communities and families
Communities across the UK will be better protected against the growing threats of climate change, as the world’s first Climate and Nature Security Taskforce met for the first time this week.
The taskforce will make independent recommendations to help shape government’s approach to tackling national and international climate security challenges, and to help ensure Britain can best prepare itself for the climate crisis.
The Minister for Climate Transition, Katie White, will chair the inaugural meeting, alongside Baroness Fiona Twycross. The taskforce brings together experts from across the fields of climate, nature and security to assess the UK’s readiness for security challenges created by climate change and nature loss – including General Richard Nugee, Comfort Ero, President of the International Crisis Group and Rosie Hails, Director of Science for the National Trust.
The taskforce will establish the most significant climate and nature security risks facing the UK and define a clear vision for a more climate- and nature-secure UK. This comes as the UK has experienced a series of extreme weather events over the past year, including record-breaking heatwaves, severe drought conditions, wildfires and rising flood risks.
Minister for Climate Transition, Katie White, said:
This summer, we saw homes destroyed, families evacuated and huge stretches of our British countryside scorched by wildfires. Climate change isn’t some distant problem to worry about tomorrow, it’s happening right now.
National security starts at home, protecting the people and places we love. That’s why our new taskforce brings together some of Britain’s best minds, from military leaders to climate scientists and security experts, to get ahead of these threats, take greater control of our future and make Britain stronger, safer and ready for whatever comes next.
General Richard Nugee said:
The ministerial taskforce is a significant step forward. It offers the opportunity for real change to be proposed and delivered to ensure that this country is more resilient to the shocks from nature loss and climate change that are likely to occur in the future.
Erin Sikorsky, Director at the Centre for Climate Risks and Security, said:
This summer’s heatwaves and wildfires made clear that climate change is already a security problem. The question now is how to prepare, prevent, and adapt going forward. I commend the UK government for taking that question seriously, and I’m honoured to join the taskforce to identify recommendations for the climate resilience and security investments the UK and its partners need.
The impacts of climate change stretch to almost every corner of Britain’s way of life – from migration to energy systems, supply chains and financial stability – and this taskforce will boost the UK’s preparedness for these security challenges.
The taskforce – formally titled the National Security and Resilience Risks of a Changing Climate and Nature Loss Taskforce – has a clear set of objectives:
- identify key gaps and help prioritise the most significant climate- and nature-related risks to UK national and international security and resilience, ensuring existing evidence is translated into clear, actionable policy priorities
- review and challenge work on security and resilience in response to global climate change impacts and nature loss and make recommendations to improve the UK’s preparedness and response to these threats
- identify and recommend opportunities and areas of focus in addressing climate and nature-related security risks, including where the UK can strengthen resilience, secure advantage and shape outcomes internationally
- support the development of an actionable UK approach to climate and nature security by clearly defining gaps and opportunities and providing recommendations to enhance preparedness, resilience and international influence
Notes to editors
The Climate and Nature Security Taskforce is made up of expert members from across military, security, government, and academia.
Membership
Full list of members:
- Tim Benton, Professor Emeritus, University of Leeds; formerly Research Director
- Nick Bridge, Associate Fellow, Environment and Society Centre, Chatham House
- Edd Denbee, Senior Manager, Bank of England
- Duncan Depledge, Senior Lecturer in Geopolitics and Security, Loughborough University
- Comfort Ero, President and CEO, International Crisis Group
- Bassam Fattouh, Director, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
- Rosie Hails, Director of Science and Nature, National Trust
- Olivia Lazard, Planetary Fellow, Berggruen Institute
- General Richard Nugee, Former Non-Executive Director for Climate Change and Sustainability, MOD
- David Obura, Chair, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
- Nathalie Pettorelli, Professor, Institute of Zoology, ZSL
- Suzanne Raine, Master, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge
- Nicola Ranger, Executive Director of Earth Capital Nexus and Professor in Practice, LSE
- Erin Sikorsky, Director, Center for Climate and Security
- Maarten Van Aalst, Director General, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
- Janani Vivekananda, Director of Climate Diplomacy and Security Programme, adelphi global
Terms of reference
Background:
Climate change and nature loss are globally escalating threats, driving instability, resource insecurity and economic shocks that directly affect UK security and resilience. These risks are becoming more systemic and severe as the planet continues to warm against a backdrop of ongoing energy volatility and growing global fragility.
This taskforce will help close the gap between ambition and delivery, providing independent challenge to shape a more resilient, integrated approach. It will strengthen accountability, improve our international leadership and enhance UK preparedness for systemic risks, while also identifying opportunities for UK advantage.
Objectives of the taskforce:
- Identify key gaps and prioritise the most significant climate- and nature-related risks to UK national and international security and resilience, ensuring existing evidence is translated into clear, actionable policy priorities.
- Review, input and challenge UK government work on security and resilience in response to global climate change impacts and nature loss and make recommendations to improve the UK’s preparedness and response to these threats.
- Identify and recommend opportunities and areas of strategic focus for government in addressing climate and nature-related security risks, including where the UK can strengthen resilience, secure advantage and shape outcomes internationally.
- Support the development of an actionable UK approach to climate and nature security by clearly defining gaps and opportunities and providing recommendations to enhance preparedness, resilience and international influence.
Deliverables:
Up to 2 meetings in 2026 chaired by the Minister for Climate Transition, Katie White, and Cabinet Office Parliamentary Under Secretary, Baroness Twycross. One in person and one virtual.
Assessment of key gaps in the UK government response to the risks posed by climate change and nature loss, assurance of the government’s strategic approach in relation to these threats and recommendations for further work.