Essay by Eric Worrall
Their film is too important to publish on youtube, but they want national TV coverage for their cause.
Britons kept in dark about scale of climate crisis, say viewers of ‘first-of-its-kind’ emergency briefing
Nine out of 10 people felt motivated to act after watching film outlining threats to food security, economy and public health
Pippa Neill Environment reporter
Thu 8 Oct 2026 19.00 AEDTThe British government must be honest about the scale of the threat posed by climate and nature breakdown, researchers have said, after nine out of 10 people surveyed after watching a briefing on the issue felt more motivated to act.
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The team behind the event crowdfunded to produce the People’s Emergency Briefing, a film outlining the urgent threats that climate and nature breakdown pose to food security, the economy and public health.
The film, which has so far been viewed by an estimated 185,000 people at more than 3,400 screenings, calls on the government to stage a primetime, televised emergency briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
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Of the 13,000 people surveyed, 87% said watching the film made them more motivated to act. Watching the film is associated with a “substantial shift” in environmental understanding and concern.
Furthermore, 89% of people said the government should respond to the crisis with emergency-level mobilisation, similar to the Covid-19 pandemic or the second world war.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/08/britons-kept-in-dark-scale-of-climate-crisis-first-of-its-kind-emergency-briefing
The Guardian article goes on to claim the British Government is “hiding” the scale of the climate emergency from the people – like you poor Brits aren’t already being bombarded with wall to wall climate messaging.
The People’s Emergency Briefing or National Emergency Briefing or whatever they are calling themselves today, their website is here.
This isn’t the first time this group has come to our attention;
Obviously going to a screening and having a bunch of climate enthusiasts badger me afterwards might be a bit much, so I looked at their website to see if there is a youtube I could watch or something.
Turns out there isn’t an online link to watch;
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Q: Why isn’t the film online? / Can I host an online screening?
The film is designed to be watched together with a facilitated discussion afterwards.
This helps people process the information emotionally, and the majority report feeling more hopeful connecting with others and finding agency to take action.
Physical gatherings of constituents also provide an excellent way to draw in the local MP – and it’s really powerful when MPs watch it together with their constituents.
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Read more: https://www.nebriefing.org/faq
When I first wrote this article I thought what they were asking for was to show their film on national TV, but turns out that isn’t the case – they want the government to give the nation an emergency briefing, then continue showing their film in private screenings.
From the FAQ;
Q: Why aren’t you asking government to broadcast the film?
We are not asking for the film to be broadcast on TV. Instead we think the government should hold its own emergency briefing.
A government briefing can reach everyone in a way that an environmental film cannot.
Government has a responsibility to help keep the public informed about major national risks, and throughout history that has often involved working with broadcasters to communicate urgent public information clearly and responsibly.
So we are asking the government to hold a live emergency briefing to the nation. It should be introduced by the Prime Minister to signal to the public that this is a situation of the utmost seriousness. The briefing should be delivered by independent experts to maximise trust and public buy-in. It should be broadcast on prime-time TV and radio, and mark the start of wider public information campaign, including across social media.
Whilst we wait for government to brief the nation, civil society is stepping up to spread the word, hosting screenings of our film, the People’s Emergency Briefing. The film is helping make the case for the government-led briefing that we are calling for.
Read more: https://www.nebriefing.org/faq
So lets see if I’ve got this right. Their film is too important for youtube, but they want the government to give a climate emergency briefing which doesn’t include a showing of their film, because that will somehow be different to say doing a live broadcast of their film on social media.
If the British government went ahead and did what this climate group want, it would be the biggest flop since when Aussie Prime Minister Albanese’s tried to do a presidential style address to the nation, and ended up wasting 3 minutes of everyone’s life.
One thing I loved about living in Britain was people get really passionate about their personal interests, you could find groups dedicated to all sorts of causes or activities. I really enjoyed visiting steam engine restoration displays, as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution Britain has an amazing collection of ancient machinery which some people have taken the trouble to restore and maintain. If I was still in Britain I would probably go to one of this group’s screenings, just for a laugh.
But I never knew of such a group to demand prime time TV for their hobby. Its a bit arrogant of the People’s Emergency Briefing group to assume everyone shares their enthusiasm for their hobby.
