In the face of the climate crisis, food and nutrition security must be treated as national security a group from across the UK food system has warned today, following the Climate Change Committee's latest assessment of the UK's preparedness for climate risk. 

The group, representing farmers, food businesses, trade bodies, NGOs and academics, is urging the government to move faster, increase its ambition to protect UK food production, create more resilient supply chains and shield households from the growing impact of climate shocks and their inflationary effects. 

The Climate Change Committee's Well-Adapted UK report makes clear the UK is simply not prepared for the climate risks it is already facing. These risks are already affecting the food system at home and overseas, building pressures on farm businesses, cost into supply chains and onto household food budgets.  

Food and nutrition security is national security, yet without stronger action, the UK will remain exposed to more frequent and severe climate shocks, from extreme heat and flooding to disruption in global supply chains. 

While we have a national plan for energy, there is no such plan for food.  The group is urging the government make a step change and increase its ambition to invest in and protect UK nutritious food production, create more resilient supply chains and shield households from the growing impact of climate shocks and their inflationary effects; with an investment plan commensurate with the challenge. Communication and consultation with the public on why this is necessary must be a vital part of this plan. 

In practice, that means creating the policy, planning and investment environment needed to strengthen security of supply and reduce exposure to inflation. This includes supporting farmers to shift to more climate-resilient production systems, and unlocking private sector investment in the farming, water, cooling technologies, cold chain infrastructure and logistics needed to keep the food system moving in a hotter, wetter and more volatile climate. 

The food system is ready to work with government. But the scale and speed of climate risk demands a step change. A well-adapted UK must also be a food-secure UK. 

Sarah Bradbury, Chief Executive at IGD, comments: "Climate change is already reshaping the UK food system, with record-breaking heat, persistent flooding and water stress disrupting yields and driving up costs. The challenges facing the sector are unprecedented and they will intensify in the years ahead.  

"The decisions made today across businesses, government, and consumers, will shape the UK food system's resilience and success for the future. The UK was the first nation to set out a Net Zero Transition Plan for its food system, but the Climate Change Committee's latest assessment highlights that immediate action is essential." 

Anna Taylor, Executive Director at The Food Foundation, said: "Food and nutrition security is no less urgent than energy security. When this country faced an energy crisis, it legislated. Binding targets, long-term frameworks, statutory duties - these are what turned aspiration into action. Our food system deserves the same treatment." 

Tim Lang, Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, City St George's, University of London, said: "Evidence piles up that society needs to change the food system, yet governments are bizarrely reluctant to act. Worries about 'nanny statism' or infringing individual choice are no excuse for inaction. As this latest report shows, the impacts of climate change on food supply, health, ecosystems and costs are immense. What we eat and how it's produced are big drivers. We must change and do it in an orderly society-wide way." 

Prof Paul Behrens, British Academic Global Professor, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford said: "The pressures on UK food keep piling up. From climate change to nature loss and geopolitical shocks, we are entering a period of dramatic risk with a food system woefully underprepared and fragile. The warnings and reports pile up, but policy is not meeting the moment. This is doubly upsetting because so many of the things we need to do - from supporting farmers to improving diets - would bring huge benefits across health, nature, and the economy. When we finally make these changes, we'll look back and wonder why we didn't make them sooner, and what on Earth we were thinking."  

Prof Bob Doherty, School of Business and Society, University of York and Principal Investigator of Fix Our Food said: "Met Office data show there's a serious risk to UK resilience from climate change. It threatens the UK food system both here and from where we import significant volumes of fruit and vegetables. Extreme weather in the UK is making it very challenging for UK farmers to maintain yields. We need urgent policy action on climate change across the food system.  New approaches and techniques on farm, in the supply chain and at home are needed to adapt and navigate through these risks. If we don't take urgent action, cost inflation on food due to climate change will only increase!" 

Ruth Westcott, Campaign Manager at Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming said: "Our farmers are a solution to both the climate and food security crisis, but they are not getting the support they need. Protecting the UK's food supplies for the future means growing more fruit, vegetables, pulses, beans and legumes, and less fossil-fuel intensive foods like industrially produced meat – which is precarious and dependant on increasingly fragile global supply chains. We must invest in a transition which is fair to farmers and builds domestic production in a way that gives real power to rural communities."