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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Fiona Harvey Environment editor

Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn

A harvesting vehicle between lines of flooded crops.
Flooded brussels sprouts harvest in Lincolnshire in 2024. ‘It is unlikely the UK would be able to maintain food security if ecosystem collapse drives geopolitical competition for food,’ says the report. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

The global attack on nature is threatening the UK’s national security, government intelligence chiefs have warned, as the increasingly likely collapse of vitally important natural systems would bring mass migration, food shortages and price rises, and global disorder.

Food supplies are particularly at risk since “without significant increases” the UK would be unable to compete with other nations for scarce resources, a report to ministers says.

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