Politicians and civil society leaders from business, culture, faith, sport and the media, were informed of the latest climate change facts for the UK in an attempt to push for emergency legislation in a one-of-a-kind National Security Briefing at Westminster Hall in London last week.
The three-hour-long presentation was delivered in a strong and alarming tone, saying the “UK is not prepared” and calling for a “World War II level of leadership” in order to respond to the the “national emergency” that is climate breakdown.
Broadcaster Chris Packham opened the meeting by begging the audience to hear the scientists’ warnings, while Mike Berners-Lee, chairing the event, said “our response couldn’t be more inadequate”.
Urgency
Professor Nathalie Seddon told the audience that that “leadership abroad must be matched at home” in the immediate aftermath of the UNFCCC COP30 conference in Brazil during November.
The experts were firm in their demands to the ruling classes. What is too often seen as a political stance was in that formal meeting held as factual and scientific.
The attendees were told that we as a society must put an immediate end to fossil fuels, invest in green energy and transport, change our diet and social norms, stop harmful and distracting technologies, fix the cost of living crisis and in turn, make the top one per cent pay for it all.
The experts were applauded energetically on their most radical statements – an even more poignant moment given the fact that the UK Government has been arresting and jailing climate activists at the highest rate in Europe for similar demands.
The briefing was strategically designed to present the climate issue as an economic and security crisis for the UK, which should encourage politicians to take accountability. The discussion foregrounded those facts that highlighted the urgency of the situation.
Wellbeing
Lieutenant General Richard Nugee presented climate breakdown as a national security threat needing to be regarded at the same level as a military emergency.
The MPs were also told that only 14 per cent of rivers in Britain remain in good ecological status, that the country’s food system is dependent on exports from a Mediterranean area under climate stress and the enormous economic losses caused by investment in fossil fuels rather than renewables,
Professor Kevin Anderson stated clearly that the policy measures that are now necessary would be drastic: “It is now too late for a non-radical future” he said. “We are being distracted by non-radical solutions” such as carbon capture technologies.
While never accusing our capitalist and exploitative system directly, the recommendations made sure to present the crisis as a systemic issue which needed sweeping and fair changes across all aspects of society.
Professor Nathalie Seddon argued that “we must cultivate a culture of care”, by creating an economy and society that values human wellbeing and nature.
Televise
She argued that people on higher incomes and private industries would need to invest and pay for those changes, by taking up to 90 per cent of the financial burden.
“We’re not all in this together” agreed Professor Anderson.
Angela Francis said a green transition must also result in fairer and better jobs, and fixing the housing and cost-of-living crisis for the majority of the public.
Fossil fuel lobbies were also the main target of the conference. Chris Packham explained that he was leading a campaign against climate denialism and disinformation in Parliament and the media. He pointed out that fossil fuel companies and their front groups are “major contributors to UK political parties.”
The conference ended with a call on Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to hold a national emergency briefing, and a request that the major UK broadcasters televise the event, to inform the public about the depth of the crisis and the need to act. Professor Paul Behrens concluded: “If we take action, we might survive. If we do not, the outcome is absolutely certain”.
This Author
Jeanne Bernhard-Paulin is a freelance journalist currently completing a masters in international journalism at City Saint George’s, University of London.
