Written submission from Dr Jamie Russell (EIF0100)

The Environment in Focus Inquiry

Submission

Dr Jamie Russell

Inquiry Focus

How can the UK, as an import-dependent economy, take global leadership in protecting ecosystems abroad to safeguard consumers and reduce the serious national security risks caused by international nature loss?

Why it matters

Experts[1] have warned of the urgent need to transform how the UK produces and consumes materials to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss in the ecosystems on which we depend. The UK’s ecological footprint is among the largest globally, and the EAC’s January 2024 report[2] found that the intensity of UK consumption driving tropical deforestation now exceeds that of China.

Ecological breakdown has consequences far beyond national borders. The destruction of vital ecosystems poses a direct threat to the UK’s economic and national security. For example, the collapse of the Amazon rainforest - central to global rainfall patterns and agricultural stability - would sharply increase the cost of food and other goods for UK consumers. Analysts warn that such “climateflation” could drive up UK food prices by more than a third by 2050[3], hitting lower-income households hardest. Meanwhile, the scarcity of natural resources will intensify competition, heighten economic risks, and fuel instability and conflict worldwide.

What action is needed

Demonstrate how the ecosystem-collapse risks identified in the 2025 National Security Strategy are being integrated into cross-government policy.

Review progress on the 2020 commitment to introduce due-diligence rules preventing supermarket sales of commodities linked to illegal tropical deforestation.

Explore setting environmental footprint reduction targets to curb the UK’s global ecological impact and mitigate related security threats.