According to British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, climate change has become one of the most serious threats to national security worldwide.
In an interview with the British newspaper “The Guardian” ahead of his speech at the COP31 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Miliband said that defense and national security must take center stage in international efforts to tackle climate change. He noted that the effects of global warming, including food shortages, economic shocks, migration and conflict, are becoming increasingly evident.
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“National security is the next front in the fight for climate action. Scenarios that once seemed like science fiction now regularly appear in the daily news. We must recognize that climate deterioration is among the greatest threats to national security that we face. Food security, risks to infrastructure and population movements [are consequences of the climate crisis],” Miliband said.
He warned that climate deterioration threatens food supplies, infrastructure and population movements. He said that even countries failing to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are putting their national security at risk.
In his planned address at COP31, Miliband is expected to call for confronting the consequences of failing to reduce carbon emissions over the past three decades. He will warn that billions of people will face hardship and uncertainty.
The British minister will also raise concerns about dependence on fossil fuels. International conflicts and geopolitical uncertainty, he said, have shown that reliance on oil and gas can trigger major economic shocks, higher energy prices and inflation.
“In a new era of global uncertainty, shocks caused by fossil fuels have already become the norm,” he told “The Guardian.”
Miliband is expected to call for greater investment in clean energy, its wider use in transport and heating, cuts to methane emissions, and the preservation and expansion of forest areas.
Another topic in his speech will be the overshooting of the 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit compared with pre-industrial levels. This is one of the key goals of the Paris Agreement.
According to Miliband’s warnings, exceeding this limit calls for stronger action to curb warming and bring temperatures back to safer levels over the coming decades.
Meanwhile, the British government’s energy policies have been criticized by climate activists. They oppose plans to ease obligations on electric vehicle manufacturers and approve new oil and gas projects in the North Sea.
COP31 is being held in Antalya, Turkey, where leaders from around the world and government representatives are discussing climate challenges and measures to address the consequences of global warming.
