Researchers are calling on the British government to speak honestly about the scale of the threat from climate and ecological breakdown, as nearly nine in ten people who watched a briefing on the subject said they felt more motivated to act. At the same time, 93% of respondents believe the public is not fully informed about the climate crisis and nature loss.
Last November, at the “first-of-its-kind national emergency briefing”, nine experts presented bleak assessments at Westminster Hall in London of the scale of the changes the UK needs to make to adapt to the rapidly changing climate and ecological landscape. The team behind the event crowdfunded the production of “People’s Emergency Briefing”, a film outlining the urgent threats to food security, the economy and public health. The film, which has so far been seen by about 185,000 people at more than 3,400 screenings, calls on the government to organise a televised emergency briefing in prime time on the climate and nature crisis.
Of the 13,000 people who took part in the survey, 87% said the film made them more motivated to act, while 89% said the government should respond with an emergency mobilisation similar to that during the Covid-19 pandemic or the Second World War. The researchers link watching the film to a “substantial shift” in environmental understanding and concern.
Professor Mike Berners-Lee, chair of the National Emergency Briefing, said the threat from Covid-19 was easy for the public to understand when they were trusted with the facts. The team is calling for a similar unified emergency response, presented by independent experts and led by the prime minister. It is also calling on Andy Burnham to speak honestly about the scale of the threat. “By doing so, he will send the message that he tells the truth, however convenient or inconvenient it may be,” Berners-Lee said.
The government has previously been accused of hiding the truth from the public because it refused to publish a report by British intelligence officers warning of devastating consequences for national security from the collapse of vital ecosystems around the world.
Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh of the University of Bath, who led the research, explained that most people know about some of the risks of the climate crisis, but the “second-order risks” around national security, food supplies and the effects on the NHS are less obvious. She said that after watching the film, people reasonably feel that everyone should know about these risks, because these issues will affect everyone in their daily lives, and therefore support keeping the public better informed.
Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, recently attended a screening of the film at the Scottish parliament.
The British government did not answer the question of whether it would screen the film, but said it “welcomes any campaign that keeps our action against climate change and nature loss in the public debate”.
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