Putney Screening Sparks Local Discussion on Climate Crisis

Over 70 attend showing of The People's Emergency Briefing

Angela Francis addresses the meeting

May 1, 2026

Around 70 people gathered at St Mary’s Church, Putney, on 28 April for a community screening of The People’s Emergency Briefing , followed by smallgroup discussions about the film’s message and its local implications.

Introduced by naturalist Chris Packham, the 50minute film condenses key clips from the threehour National Emergency Briefing held at Westminster Central Hall in November 2025, where more than 1,200 attendees — including MPs, peers, business leaders and journalists — heard leading UK experts outline the risks posed by climate and nature breakdown to food security, health, national security, infrastructure and the economy.

Since its launch on 7 April, the film has been screened by local groups in churches, cinemas, libraries and schools nationwide, with more than 2,000 screenings already scheduled. Packham said the project was designed to spark “honest local conversation” about both the threats and the opportunities for collective action.

Attendees in Putney were encouraged to support the campaign for a primetime televised emergency briefing on the climate and nature crisis by signing an open letter to the Prime Minister and writing to their local MP, Fleur Anderson , urging her to back the parliamentary call. Anderson and local councillors were invited to attend the event.

Among the speakers was Angela Francis, Director of Policy at WWF and economics speaker from the original Westminster briefing. “Back in November I felt some nervousness about giving such a stark message to the public,” she said. “But it’s 2026 and we haven’t got time to wait for government to do this themselves. The film is a way to speak to people directly and get them to tell the government they want a televised briefing and they want action. The televised briefing isn’t the end of this — it’s a mechanism by which the government can be made to own the problem.”

Organiser Caroline Hartnell said she was struck by how engaged the audience remained after the screening. “Almost everyone stayed on for the discussion. They really wanted to talk about the film, how they felt about it and what they could do. Quite a few people were interested in hosting screenings themselves.”

A followup climate café is planned to give residents further opportunity to explore the issues raised.

Chairing the evening, Marion Neffgen urged attendees to join local environmental groups to stay involved. “We know that over 80% of the British public are highly concerned about the climate crisis and want stronger climate action. Joining a group opens up new ways of engaging with this, drives positive change and is the best antidote to despair and climate anxiety.”

The event was hosted by a coalition of local organisations — XR Wandsworth, Greener Jobs Alliance, Christian Climate Action, Greenpeace South West London, Balham Climate Action and Transition Town Tooting .

The full National Emergency Briefing talks can be viewed at www.nebriefing.org.