From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
What an embarrassment this man is for our great country!
It is really fantastic to be back here at NY Climate Week, I can honestly say to you, this is my second favourite Climate Week in the world, after London of course.
No really, it is fantastic to be here, and look, I think the first thing I want to say is to sound a note of optimism, because despite challenging political times, it is set to be the case that in 2026 we’re going to see $2.2 trillion dollars in clean energy against $1.2 trillion in fossil fuels.
I think that deserves a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen.
I was here last year as the Energy Secretary. I’m now the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, but I come here as passionate about the cause of New York Climate Week, the cause that we are all fighting for.
And I want to make a simple argument to you today, which is that climate and nature loss represents an urgent national security issue and demands action equal to the scale of the challenge, and that it demands a shift in our thinking and a shift in who in government takes an interest and cares about these issues and puts them front and centre.
And I think the history on this is instructive, like many people in this room, I’ve been at this some time for the better part of two decades.
Because for many years when I was the Climate Change Secretary in 2008, climate change and the destruction of nature were treated as peripheral environmental issues. Yes, they were seen as important, but they were separate from the core business of economic growth, or indeed energy security.
And over these last two decades, the penny has dropped about the opportunity that the energy transition offers in terms of the good jobs at good wages that so many people in our different countries want to see.
And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlined the dependence that so many countries face on fossil fuel markets, the fossil fuel roller coaster, as we call it in the UK. And the situation with Iran, the Iran war has underlined that again. And I think people now see the energy security imperative, the energy independence imperative of clean energy.
But having understood the jobs opportunity and the energy security imperative, my argument to you today is: we need to take the next step and recognize the national security imperative too.
And I think you all know the picture, and it is gloomy, I warn you, but I’m just going to say some of it to you today because we need to be truth-telling about this.
Over 150 million hectares burned globally in the first four months of 2026 alone.
Record extreme heat causing widespread loss of life.
Nepal’s devastating floods happening due to glacial collapse and the coming El Nino, as Prime Minister Albanese said, is already forecast to be the strongest in living memory.
This is why. These facts. What is happening in our world. Is why climate breakdown, in my view, must be an issue for foreign ministers and prime ministers, as well as energy and climate ministers. The security community, not just the activist community, the generals, not just the green campaigners.
His three claims, which I have highlighted, are simply fake news:
1) Over 150 million hectares burned globally in the first four months of 2026 alone
His figure is not for four months, it is at WK 37. Worse still, there is nothing remotely unusual or catastrophic about the number he quotes.
In fact, this year is the lowest wildfire area since the start of records in 2012.
2) Record extreme heat causing widespread loss of life
There is absolutely no evidence or data supporting this claim, and the Government website gives no further detail.
3) Nepal’s devastating floods happening due to glacial collapse
The floods were triggered by a bedrock collapse, not a glacial collapse. They had nothing to do with climate change.
