{"id":764856,"date":"2026-09-09T08:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/764856\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T08:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:50:12","slug":"polanski-calls-for-report-on-ecosystem-collapse-to-be-published-in-full-zack-polanski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/764856\/","title":{"rendered":"Polanski calls for report on ecosystem collapse to be published in full | Zack Polanski"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Zack Polanski will challenge Andy Burnham\u2019s government to publish an unredacted version of an explosive report by the UK\u2019s spy chiefs that found the collapse of overseas ecosystems would have catastrophic consequences for the UK\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/green-party\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Green party<\/a> leader in England will demand that the prime minister come clean about the scale and impact of the climate and nature crisis and call on the government to publish in full the report that warns the UK faces devastating security consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Speaking at the Wild Summit event in Bristol on Wednesday, Polanski will ask the prime minister: \u201cWill you tell the truth \u2013 and release the full unredacted report from the joint intelligence chiefs? Or will you keep hiding the truth from the public?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The Guardian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/oct\/08\/national-security-threatened-climate-crisis-uk-defence-chiefs-warn\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">revealed last year that the report<\/a> paints a devastating picture of severe food shortages, price rises, migration, political destabilisation and possible war, resulting from the collapse of ecosystems, fuelled by the human-induced climate crisis and over-exploitation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A redacted 14-page version, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2026\/jan\/20\/biodiversity-collapse-threatens-uk-security-intelligence-chiefs-warn\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">including some of the report\u2019s findings<\/a>, was published in January but the government has repeatedly refused to publish the full version, despite repeated freedom of information requests from journalists <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/jul\/08\/uk-report-ecosystem-collapse-national-threat-food-security\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">and calls from MPs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Polanski, who is expected to be the Green party candidate in the upcoming byelection in Holborn and St Pancras, will argue that the extreme weather experienced by much of the UK this summer should be a wake-up call for ministers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cIt was a bleak preview of what is to come if we continue to allow the greed of corporations to come above the survival of our natural world \u2013 and all that relies on it. This must mark a turning point. Where we say: no more loss, no more quieting of birdsong, no more steady trickling of sewage and poison into our waters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The report by the joint intelligence committee and other government departments, revealed by the Guardian last October, shows that the UK will face catastrophic consequences from the collapse of key ecosystems in other countries. These include the Amazon rainforest, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2020\/oct\/05\/amazon-near-tipping-point-of-switching-from-rainforest-to-savannah-study\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">scientists fear is reaching a \u201ctipping point\u201d triggered by deforestation and rising temperatures<\/a>, which would turn the ecosystem from a huge absorber of carbon dioxide into a net source of carbon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Food shortages would be almost certain to result from the decline of ecosystems overseas, the report found, as would a big increase in global migration, with the potential to fuel unrest. Among the most alarming findings was that armed conflict, which includes nuclear war, was also a potential consequence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The report was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/audio\/2026\/apr\/22\/national-security-report-uk-government-climate-crisis-podcast\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">due to be published at an event last October, attended by King Charles, in the Natural History Museum<\/a>. However, at the last minute the publication was pulled, at the behest of Downing Street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Simultaneously, in a letter to Burnham, a coalition of green groups has warned that national security, public health and economic growth are at risk without urgent action to restore nature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The UK has a legally binding target to restore 30% of nature by 2030. This target, which was set by more than 100 countries during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/dec\/19\/cop15-historic-deal-signed-to-halt-biodiversity-loss-by-2030-aoe\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cop15 negotiations<\/a> in Montreal in 2022, is considered the minimum restoration needed to halt and reverse the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2026\/jul\/08\/uk-report-ecosystem-collapse-national-threat-food-security\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">global decline in nature<\/a>. The UK is currently on track to miss this target, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2026\/jul\/13\/england-rewilding-plan-restore-nature-2030-criticised\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recent plan<\/a> to reach this target in England condemned as \u201cpathetic\u201d and \u201ccompletely insufficient\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-12\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-vf9hps\">Sign up to Down to Earth<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1r7my33\">The planet&#8217;s most important stories. Get all the week&#8217;s environment news &#8211; the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788943812_324_500.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-xiq31o\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-12\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cYour government has diplomatic and legal obligations to halt the decline of wildlife and protect 30% of the land and sea for nature by 2030 \u2026 On the current path the UK will miss those targets,\u201d the groups warn the prime minister in the letter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The letter also highlights that two-thirds of the UK\u2019s protected nature sites need \u201curgent repair\u201d, with many of these sites neglected or damaged by intensive industry, pollution and the climate crisis. The groups warn this leaves communities and businesses exposed to flooding, drought, wildfires and pollution. This warning comes as new research finds that around \u00a32bn a year needs to be invested in protected nature sites \u2013 up from roughly \u00a31.1bn today \u2013 to restore them by 2042. The groups are calling for more funding, stronger laws and decisive enforcement to \u201cstop the abuses that are hollowing out our natural world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A Labour spokesperson said: \u201cThis is the first government to take seriously the risks that climate change and nature loss pose to our food security, economic resilience, and national security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWe\u2019re taking decisive action, including launching the UK\u2019s first taskforce on the national security and resilience risks of climate change and nature loss, investing in nature recovery at home and abroad, and delivering the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zack Polanski will challenge Andy Burnham\u2019s government to publish an unredacted version of an explosive report by the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-764856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}