“This beautiful little blue planet is where we will either learn to live in harmony with the environment or we will destroy ourselves and much of other life too.” 
 

These stark words from Chris Packham opened last week’s National Emergency Briefing on Climate & Nature, where more than 1,000 politicians, business leaders, community organisations and media representatives gathered to hear expert testimony on the accelerating climate breakdown.

The briefing was convened to deliver an urgent wake-up message to the UK’s decision makers and a passionate plea for collaborative, coordinated action to confront the multiple climate-related threats now unfolding.

Nathalie Seddon, Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford, reminded attendees that this is not a case of choosing between the economy and the environment, but recognising that the economy is inseparable from it. “The health of the nation depends on the living systems that sustain us,” she said. The message was clear: our prosperity, our security and our wellbeing all rest on the state of the natural world.

Chaired by Professor Mike Berners-Lee, the panel also addressed the increasingly hostile landscape of climate misinformation, saying we are in a national emergency but not talking or acting like we are. He said: “Our goal [for holding the event] was to reset the national conversation on the climate and nature crisis, cutting through the sea of information holding us back.”

Chris Packham warned of “a dangerous wave of misinformation and lies being fed to those decision makers who shape policy,” and called for far greater public awareness of the realities the UK now faces.  He also stressed that there is hope and there are solutions, if we act now.  

In response, the event’s organisers have issued an open letter to Keir Starmer and UK media organisations, urging ‘Government and all public service broadcasters to hold an urgent televised national emergency briefing for the public, and to run a comprehensive public engagement campaign so that everyone understands the profound risks this crisis poses to themselves and their families.’ The open letter is collecting signatures to strengthen and endorse its call to action.

Chris Packham also addressed the persistent tendency to lean on short-term fixes. We know that the precarity of short-term funding and stop-start interventions will not be sufficient to address the challenges posed by climate change.

Across the UK, teams of experts at National Landscapes - and other protected landscape and environmental organisations - are dedicated to delivering programmes that will have positive, long-lasting effects. However, this work depends on robust and meaningful long-term funding and long-term vision.  

As an organisation whose vision is for a UK of beautiful landscapes where nature and people thrive together, the National Landscapes Association supports the urgency and clarity of last week’s messages. The science underpinning them is vast and has achieved meaningful consensus, and the call for transparency and societal dialogue is one we endorse.  

Collaboration and communication are essential to success. Many of us are working tirelessly to build a more resilient future - but if we do so in silos, or in silence, we limit our own impact.

If you’d like to sign the letter to Keir Starmer and the heads of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, S4C and Ofcom click here.