UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is urging nations to treat accelerating climate disruption as an urgent international defense issue requiring accelerated clean energy adoption. The diplomatic gathering in Turkey features speeches from figures like UN Secretary General António Guterres, even as top leaders from China, India, France, and Germany choose to skip the summit. Miliband's message faces pressure at home, where campaigners point to policy contradictions such as the approval of the North Sea's Jackdaw gasfield.
Key points
British foreign policy is framing climate change as an immediate catalyst for cross-borde…: British foreign policy is framing climate change as an immediate catalyst for cross-border conflict, migration, and economic instability.
Campaigners argue the UK government's domestic fossil fuel approvals undermine its stated…: Campaigners argue the UK government's domestic fossil fuel approvals undermine its stated net zero 2050 targets.
Global climate diplomacy faces major representation gaps with several key world leaders a…: Global climate diplomacy faces major representation gaps with several key world leaders absent from the Antalya summit.
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The national security of all countries is at risk from the climate crisis, as “science fiction” scenarios of widespread destruction are already coming true and economic shocks from fossil fuels are now the norm rather than the exception, the UK’s foreign secretary is to warn world leaders gathered in Turkey on Wednesday.
Ed Miliband will tell the Cop31 UN climate summit that security and defence objectives are the new “frontier” of climate action, because the rapid heating of the planet will lead to food shortages, widespread economic disruption, migration and conflict.
“National security is the next frontier of the fight for climate action – the scenarios once of science fiction are now regular occurrences in the daily news,” Miliband told the Guardian ahead of his interventions before world leaders and governments in Antalya.
“We should be clear that climate breakdown is one of the greatest national security threats we face: food security, threats to infrastructure, and population movements [are resulting from the climate crisis],” he said.
In a veiled swipe at the Conservatives and Reform UK, which want to scrap…
Addressing international delegates in Antalya, the Turkish leader linked environmental destruction directly to armed conflict while demanding unhindered humanitarian access for displaced populations. He also called on wealthy, industrialized countries to fulfill lagging financial pledges to help vulnerable regions confront severe global warming. These remarks set an urgent tone as nearly 200 nations gather to negotiate clean energy targets amidst escalating geopolitical tensions.
Global emissions reached historic highs in 2025 as consecutive record-breaking temperatures push the planet past the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree warming threshold. The gathering in Antalya faces significant diplomatic hurdles, with most major industrialized powers failing to send top leadership despite worsening international weather catastrophes. Meanwhile, regional conflicts disrupting global petroleum supplies continue to underscore the broader economic risks tied directly to hydrocarbon dependence.
An exceptionally strong polar vortex trapped frigid air over Antarctica, driving the seasonal ozone depletion to its seventh-largest extent in 48 years of monitoring. Scientists from NASA and NOAA confirmed that unusual meteorological conditions, rather than a resurgence in banned pollutants, caused the temporary surge. Decades of global restrictions on harmful chemicals continue to mitigate the severity, leaving the stratospheric shield on track to recover later this century.