The key facts

  • Ed Miliband spoke at the 'Delivering Climate Security in Fragile Contexts' round table at COP31 in Turkey
  • He called for the climate crisis to be treated as a global security issue
  • Miliband stressed the need for reform of climate finance for fragile states

A Call to Treat Climate as a Security Issue

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the world urgently needs to recognise the climate crisis as a 'security problem' and a global threat to stability. The remarks were made at the ministerial round table 'Delivering Climate Security in Fragile Contexts' held as part of the COP31 climate summit taking place in Turkey. 'There is an urgent need, it seems to me, to treat the climate crisis as a security problem, a global security problem, and to push it higher up the multilateral agenda,' Miliband said.

Recognition Is Not Enough: The Question of Finance

According to the minister, recognising climate as a security issue is 'not enough' in itself. He pointed to the need to restructure climate finance for fragile states and to reform the global financial architecture, including to help countries build resilience to extreme weather events. The response to this enormous challenge, in his view, is joint work, and that, he added, is exactly what the United Kingdom wants.