The UK Joint Intelligence Committee warned last month that some ecosystems will start to collapse “by 2030 or sooner”, posing an immediate threat to national security, prosperity, food systems and public health. Scientists warn the Amoc could collapse in just decades, wreaking havoc on infrastructure, transportation and food systems. In short, environmental breakdown isn’t a distant possibility or a theoretical scenario; it’s a strategic threat that intelligence agencies now factor into their calculations, and it requires strategic planning, preparation and action. Nature and climate funding must now be articulated as infrastructure: as essential to food systems, public health, energy stability and geopolitical resilience. We must now see environmental breakdown in the same way intelligence communities view it: as a primary driver of instability.

Source: The Irish Times February 07, 2026 23:39 UTC