Signal 2025 and 2026 government assessments treat nature loss as a security risk

Summary

The report defines the Planetary Health Check as a diagnostic tool and sets the benchmark that societies must return to, and stay within, the safe operating space. At the national level, it sees a need for stronger institutional capacity to interpret and respond to the risks created by multiple boundary transgressions. In this context, several landmark government assessments released in 2025 and 2026 explicitly describe environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change as intertwined, systemic risks to national and financial security. A number of studies have also tried to quantify how much individual countries contribute to boundary transgressions. To put this knowledge into practice, the report recommends that every country create a Chief Planetary Scientist or an equivalent independent advisory post. Such a role would translate complex Earth system science into budget decisions, policies and national security planning.