Screening the people’s emergency briefing
A summary of the National Emergency Briefing where climate scientists lay out the facts of climate change.
For those of you who haven't heard of the People’s Emergency Briefing, it is a summary of the National Emergency Briefing held at Westminster last November where climate scientists laid out the facts of climate change to MPs.
In order to watch it, you have to join a public screening - you can't just watch it in your living room - so as to encourage the subsequent connection and critical discussions that lead to collective action. We hosted a screening as part of the London Design Festival 2026 on a sunny Monday evening in London.
The venue, courtesy of research and innovation foundation Nesta, provided stunning views across the Thames and it was hard to imagine the challenges future climate change will bring.
The film paints a very bleak picture. A recent report from the UN has confirmed that preventing 1.5 degrees of global warming is no longer possible and we will reach this by 2030. The next threshold we critically need to stay below is 2 degrees. Beyond this, we risk disrupting the AMOC sea current that brings vital warm, temperate temperatures to the UK and has enabled societies to thrive and crops to grow. Without food and stability our economy fails, our health service fails and our national security is severely compromised.
To have it all laid out in one go in 50 minutes is intense.
After the lights came back on, designer and facilitator Tony Elkington expertly led us through an hour of reflection and discussion and the energy in the room shifted from anger and sadness, to hope and optimism. And I was just reminded how incredible a room full of designers is. People didn't dwell on the doom, instead they jumped straight into ideas, solutions, actions they could take. There is no greater demonstration of the importance of design in tackling the worst impacts of climate change over the next few decades.
Here are a few of the actions that people committed to in the room:
- Requesting screenings - or even hosting screenings - of the documentary in their workplace, as well as signing the petition to call for a national screening.
- Taking their parents or grandparents to a local screening, to see how different generations took the information and have honest inter-generational conversations about the future.
- Asking “why?” more. Of brands we buy from, clients we work with, and on projects we work. No longer accepting the status-quo.
- Seeking out groups of like-minded people who may also be facing similar challenges, particularly around wanting to transition out of job that feels part of the problem rather than the solution.
- Finding a local community group - a community garden, litter pick, climate action group and getting involved or offer pro-bono creative services.
Of course, it is easy to say one thing in a room and do another when you leave it. But if there was one thing that stuck with me from the film it’s that when it comes to lobbying for what you want, it’s the losers that shout the loudest. Well it’s us, you and me, that are set to lose when it comes to climate change. It’s our futures and our livelihoods that are at risk. So it’s time we spoke up, acted up and made more noise about it.
Thank you to Nesta for hosting, Morrama for sponsoring and Tony Elkington for facilitating the discussion. Also a shout out to Alice Strauss, Aurelie Lionet, Oliver Lloyd and Sandrine Herbert for making it happen.
Write up by Jo Barnard, co-instigator of Design Declares.