The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 plus 3 letter word GREENHOUSE GAS
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
G
R
E
E
N
H
O
U
S
E
G
A
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "threat to the environment" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case threat to the environment = greenhouse gas.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.