Polanski demands release of UK security report on ecosystem collapse
The Green Party leader is expected to call for the unredacted intelligence assessment to be published, amid warnings about nature loss and the UK’s restoration targets.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski is expected to urge the UK government to publish in full an intelligence report on the national-security risks of overseas ecosystem collapse.
The report, prepared by the Joint Intelligence Committee and other government departments, reportedly warns that the deterioration of ecosystems could contribute to food shortages, higher prices, increased migration, political destabilisation and possible armed conflict, including nuclear war.
A redacted 14-page version was published in January, but the government has declined requests to release the complete assessment. Its findings therefore remain difficult to independently assess. Polanski is expected to make the demand at the Wild Summit in Bristol.
The call comes alongside warnings from environmental groups that the UK’s national security, public health and economic growth are exposed by the decline of nature. The groups say the country is off track to meet its legally binding target of restoring 30 per cent of nature by 2030.
Research cited by the groups estimates that restoring protected nature sites by 2042 would require about £2bn a year, compared with roughly £1.1bn currently. They also say two-thirds of protected sites need urgent repair.
The government says it is addressing the risks through a new taskforce on climate and nature-related national security, investment in nature recovery and a larger nature-friendly farming budget.
