Agenda

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Motion to Full Council: Bio Diversity Loss

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor J Salmon.

This Council notes:

1.    That January 2026 the UK Government has published the national security assessment Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security, which concludes with high confidence that ecosystem degradation already threatens UK security and prosperity and is likely to intensify to 2050 and beyond.

2.    That the report identifies cascading risks including food and water insecurity, flooding and extreme weather, pandemic risk, supply chain disruption, economic instability, migration pressures, and social instability.

3.    That the report explicitly states that nature is a foundation of national security and that the loss of ecosystems threatens the systems that provide food, clean water, climate stability, and economic resilience.

4.    That the UK imports a substantial proportion of its food and is not currently self-sufficient, leaving communities exposed to global shocks, price spikes and supply disruption.

5.    That many of these risks are already visible in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole through flooding, overheating, loss of green space, biodiversity decline, rising food insecurity, and pressure on local infrastructure and public services.

This Council believes:

1.    That the Government’s own national security assessment represents a material and urgent change in the risk environment for local authorities.

2.    That biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are not abstract environmental concerns but emerging threats to community safety, economic stability, public health, and food security.

3.    That protecting and restoring nature must be treated as essential resilience infrastructure, on a par with flood defences, housing, transport and public health planning.

4.    That failure to act now will increase long-term financial pressures on local government through higher costs linked to flooding, overheating, food insecurity, health inequality, and emergency response.

This Council resolves to:

A. Direct action by the Leader and Cabinet

1.    That the Leader of the Council instructs Cabinet to undertake an urgent cross-portfolio review of the adequacy of existing Council strategies in light of the national security risks identified, including:

·        Development Plan Documents and planning policy

·        Flood and coastal risk management

·        The Local Transport Plan and air quality strategy

·        Public health and food resilience planning

·        Biodiversity, green infrastructure and nature recovery strategies

·        Climate adaptation and overheating risk

·        Community resilience and civil contingencies

2.    That Cabinet instructs officers to prepare a consolidated risk and resilience report identifying:

·        Key local vulnerabilities

·        Strategic gaps in current policy

·        Practical actions to strengthen long-term resilience

·        Implications for future investment priorities

3.    That this review explicitly considers whether biodiversity and ecosystem decline should be recognised as a core strategic risk category alongside climate change, financial pressures and demographic change.

B. Strengthen democratic scrutiny

1.    Request that the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees examine:

·        The local impacts of ecosystem decline

·        Risks to food security, public health and infrastructure

·        The adequacy of current mitigation and adaptation measures

and provide recommendations to Cabinet.

C. Strengthen corporate risk governance

1.    That the Audit and Governance Committee  ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is Monday 16 March 2026.

To consider any urgent decisions taken by the Chief Executive in accordance with the Constitution.