UK Foreign Office Roundup for November 11: Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Tells COP31 Forests Summit Climate Breakdown Is Among the Greatest National Security Threats
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband delivered a speech on November 11 at the World Leaders' Summit on Forests, held during the COP31 UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, on the contribution of forests to addressing climate change. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) published the speech on GOV.UK the same day. This report is filed as a UK station roundup.
Speaking to the media ahead of the speech, Miliband said national security is the next frontier of the fight for climate action, that scenarios of widespread destruction once confined to science fiction are now regular occurrences in the daily news, and that economic shocks from fossil fuels are now the norm rather than the exception.
He said countries should be clear that climate breakdown is one of the greatest national security threats they face, with consequences including threats to food security, damage to infrastructure and population movements, and that rapid global heating will lead to food shortages, widespread economic disruption, migration and conflict.
Miliband argued the world must now face the consequences of three decades of insufficient emissions cuts, and called for more investment in clean energy, electrification of transport and heating, urgent cuts to methane, and action to protect and expand forests.
The COP31 leaders' summit segment runs on November 11 and 12 in Antalya, with addresses by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Related:
UK Foreign Office Roundup for November 11: G7 Foreign Ministers' Joint Statement Published in London
Source: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：英国外交大臣 Ed Miliband 官方肖像（2026年7月内阁官方照）。照片：英国政府，OGL 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Official portrait of UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband (Cabinet portrait, July 2026). Photo by UK Government, OGL 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
