Britons kept in dark about scale of climate crisis, say viewers of ‘first-of-its-kind’ emergency briefing — SkimNews
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- National Emergency Briefing team hosted a "first-of-its-kind" event in Westminster Hall last November with nine experts delivering stark assessments on climate threats to UK food security, the economy, and public health.
- The team's People's Emergency Briefing film has reached an estimated 185,000 people across 3,400 screenings, with surveys of 13,000 viewers finding 87% felt more motivated to act after watching.
- 89% of surveyed viewers said the government should respond to the crisis with emergency-level mobilisation comparable to Covid-19 or World War II, while 93% said the public was not being fully informed about climate and nature loss.
- Chair Prof Mike Berners-Lee is calling for a primetime, televised emergency briefing fronted by the prime minister, drawing a parallel to how trusted Covid-19 facts drove public understanding.
- Scotland's First Minister John Swinney recently attended a screening at the Scottish parliament; the UK government declined to comment on whether it will screen the film but said it "welcomes any campaign that keeps our action against climate change and nature loss in the public discussion".
- Prof Lorraine Whitmarsh of the University of Bath, who led the research, said "second-order risks" around national security, food supplies, and NHS impacts are not obvious to most people — explaining why viewers feel broadly uninformed.
Why it matters: The survey of 13,000 viewers — 89% backing emergency-level mobilisation and 93% saying the public isn't fully informed — gives the National Emergency Briefing team hard numbers to press the UK government on a PM-fronted broadcast. The government's non-committal reply ("welcomes any campaign") sidesteps the specific demand to screen the film, while John Swinney's Scottish parliament screening shows a devolved government willing to engage where Westminster isn't.
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