In January, the government quietly published a report with the snappy title 'Nature security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security', writes Dixie Darch.
The contents are as disturbing as the title suggests.
The report assesses the impact and likelihood of ecosystem collapse on the UK’s security and prosperity.
Given the grim nature of our international news right now, you may feel this particular report is the last thing you want to know about … more gloom and doom, and it’s still winter.
But the two things are connected.
The risks include a rise in migration, serious and organised crime; increased terrorism; state threats to food and water; pandemic; geopolitical competition for resources such as minerals; conflict and military escalation; and political polarisation.
Sound familiar?
These are the things we worry about now.
Nature is not just another thing to worry about, it’s a potential cause and cure for the stuff that keeps us awake at night.
So often we frame nature in opposition to economic prosperity.
Bats and newts are allegedly stopping us from building new homes; rewilding projects are taking away valuable land for food production; and slugs, bugs and beasties are a threat not just to our cosseted dahlias but also our fruit and veg.
But the report is clear that “nature is a finite asset which underpins the global economy.
It would take resources of 1.6 Earths to sustain the world’s current levels of consumption.
The total annual value of ecosystem services to the UK was £87bn in 2022 (three per cent of GDP).”
Of course, there are complexities to the balance between protecting and encouraging nature and other important demands (housing, food production, manufacturing, renewable energy), but there are, in most cases, nature-friendly ways to go about this.
If you’re worried about the national and global picture and want to fight for a better way, how about fighting for nature?
Political polarisation is listed in the report as a threat to national security.
I see it as a threat as well to our personal wellbeing, our community cohesion, and our humanity.
Let’s work together to meet the considerable challenges ahead and ditch the weedkiller and rose spray while we’re at it.
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