Nine specialists shared assessments of the escalating risks posed by a rapidly changing climate and the ecological decline that accompanies it.
Kevin Anderson, professor of energy and climate change at the Universities of Manchester, Uppsala and Bergen, delivered one of the starkest messages. “The choice is between deep, rapid and fair decarbonisation… or ongoing rhetoric and delay as temperatures rise. And then we’ll have a revolutionary style change that will be both chaotic and violent.”
On biodiversity, Prof Nathalie Seddon of the University of Oxford stressed that environmental breakdown is already undermining the systems the country depends on. “We are facing a national emergency not only because the climate is changing, but because the living systems that protect the climate are breaking down.” She added that the economy cannot be separated from nature: “The health of the nation depends on the living systems that sustain us.”
From the University of Exeter, Prof Tim Lenton warned of the consequences if the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) were to collapse — a possibility increasingly discussed in climate science. London winters, he said, could plunge to –20°C, even as hotter-than-present summers continue. Under such conditions, the UK would become entirely dependent on food imports. “We have got to do everything in our power,” he said, “to limit the amount of time we spend above 1.5°C.”
Climate, Inequality, and Misinformation
The briefing also drew high-profile participants from outside academia. Actor Mark Rylance linked the climate crisis to deepening inequality, describing the cost-of-living crisis as “really an inequality crisis.” He said the wealthy must play a greater role in addressing climate change: “I’m a very wealthy person and I have to do more about this. We have got to do more about our collective addiction.”
Rylance accused some billionaires of funding climate-denial misinformation, saying they “want people to feel powerless” rather than act collectively.
A National Security Threat in Plain Sight
Former military leader Richard Nugee issued a blunt assessment of the risks facing the UK, arguing that climate change presents a greater long-term threat than geopolitical tensions. “Climate change is going to be a bigger problem than Russia,” he said. “It’s an insidious threat… It’s going to do more damage than the threats they’re focused on now.”
He warned that the country is already too vulnerable to extreme weather and that insufficient investment in resilient infrastructure risks leaving the UK exposed — both to natural disasters and to adversaries who may exploit these weaknesses. “We are not providing a sufficient deterrent,” he said, because the country is not resilient enough to withstand the impacts of climate instability.
A Moment That Demands Direction
The briefing underscored a unified message from scientists and civic leaders: the UK can no longer afford incremental responses or political hesitation. Climate change is not a distant threat but a present danger affecting every aspect of national life. Strengthen decarbonisation, invest in resilience, rebuild natural systems, and confront misinformation. The alternative, as several speakers warned, is a future defined by instability, crisis, and irreversible loss.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/27/limate-related-risks-uk-economy-security
