My girlfriend’s brother is a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy.
So when he asked me how the podcast is going, I was proud to say I had retired 3 star Lieutenant General Richard Nugee coming on.
But then he asked what the connection between national security and climate change is, and I was a bit stumped (this was before the Iran War).
I think most people would struggle too.
Inbetween that question and the episode coming out this week, I’ve understood how many answers there are to it.
So instead of 1 insight from our conversation, I want to retell the the 4+1 areas that climate change affects national security.
1 important thing - what is national security?
“The ability for us as individuals within a country to be able to lead the sort of life we wish to lead." - keep that in mind with each of these
1. Migration - also hits politics
“They won’t have labels of ‘climate migrant’”
But following the chain back: rural livelihoods become unliveable as areas become un-farmable → pushes people to cities → there aren’t enough jobs in cities to absorb those people → some move north → that can fuel nationalist or polarised politics (like we’re seeing in many parts of Europe)
"It would be foolish to turn around and say that all migration is a result of climate change. But it would also be foolish to turn around and say no migration is a result of climate change."
2. Health - not obvious, but important
As the climate warms, tropical diseases are moving further north into places they could survive before.
An article in Nature says “Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change”
If Europe, for example, starts to have more malaria or dengue fever cases (dengue is already happening), that obviously impacts our ability to lead the life we wish to lead.
3. Energy - probably top of mind.
Since the Iran War, we’ve had a reality cold shower of how much of our lives depend on oil and gas.
And as Putin knew when he cut off Russian gas to Europe in 2022 - you can make a country/continent weaker, poorer and therefore more vulnerable to attack when you cut energy access.
Even if you remove the climate argument completely, renewables still win on pure energy independence grounds alone.
Energy independence = stronger national security.
4. Geopolitical/Arctic - related to energy
The Arctic is melting 3-4x faster than the rest of the world.
That opens up a trade route that could cut shipping time from Asia to Europe by ⅓.
Then you’ve got the mining or strategic defence importance of that area. And that’s just 1 example of how a changing climate is shaping politics that depends on geography.
We’ve already seen it with Trump’s threats about Greenland.
5. Climate change is a threat multiplier
"What that means is, and you learn this in the military, there are always a number of factors that you have to take into account. It's not a simple 1+1=2.”
So for all the factors affecting any county’s national security, climate change is multiplying those threats in different ways.
And they don’t happen in isolation.
Although the conversation was daunting, I also found it refreshing.
Refreshing to see a different side to the climate argument that’s compelling before you even mention emissions.
Food, energy, water, health and many other types of security are all effective mitigation and insurance against climate change, as well as addressing some of the causes.
Last, if you work in a biz that would like to take action on climate, the pod is kindly made possible by Ecologi. They’re the UK’s most trusted climate action platform and can help you to reduce emissions, restore our planet and report your progress.
🟢 Watch the episode with Richard here
→ YouTube
→ Spotify
Have a lovely weekend in the sun,
Rob :)
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