Churches urged to screen briefing on risks to national security from ecological breakdown

‘Our faith calls us to care for our common home and we must study the signs of the times and take the action that is needed to repair our relationship with God’s creation,’ said Bishop John Arnold.

The Catholic Church has joined a coalition of the UK’s church denominations and Christian organisations to call on churches to screen the newly released People’s Emergency Briefing film on the climate and nature crises.

By hosting community screenings and inviting local MPs, the coalition urges the UK’s 38,500 churches, chapels and meeting houses to be a platform to raise awareness of the scale and threat of the climate and nature crises, as well as of their solutions.

“The People’s Emergency Briefing lays bare how serious the climate and nature crisis is, the significance of the threat to our common home and the impacts it will have on people’s lives, and the need to come together to respond to this emergency,” said Bishop John Arnold, lead bishop for the environment for the Catholic bishops’ conference of England and Wales.

The 50-minute film, released this month, presents the latest evidence on the climate crisis in accessible terms, with the aim of fully briefing viewers on the risks and on the benefits possible from emergency action and triggering “a moment of national reckoning”.

The film has come out of an event held in Westminster in November 2025, where experts briefed more than 1200 leaders, including politicians and faith representatives, on the risks climate breakdown poses to the UK’s food systems, national security and economy.

The movement calls for a national response on the scale of the effort seen in the Second World War, which experts have said is necessary to address the emergency.

National security expert Lt General Richard Nugee told the Westminster gathering that climate change is now a core national security threat, with defence institutions in the UK, NATO and beyond recognising the climate as a “threat multiplier”.

He explained that climate change worsens existing risks and creating entirely new ones, driving instability, resource competition, displacement and conflict, from food and water stress to new geopolitical flashpoints like the Arctic.

In addition, the military is already being pulled into domestic climate emergencies, and RAF deployments to prevent dam collapse and respond to floods are “a preview of the future” if emissions cuts and adaptation fall behind.

Food system scientist Professor Paul Behrens warned that food system failure is a direct national security risk, because it causes “empty shelves, price spikes, unrest and political instability”.

He said that three of the five worst cereal harvests on record have occurred this decade and more than 80 per cent of UK farmers say climate change seriously threatens their livelihoods.

Economist Angela Francis also explained that climate action also cuts the cost of living: “Inflation would have been significantly lower if we had decarbonised power, heat and food systems earlier; delay has already made households poorer.”

“Our faith compels us to speak up on matters of justice and morality and by joining this initiative we can play our part in calling for the government to take the action that is urgently needed,” Bishop Arnold said. “We must study the signs of the times and take the action that is needed to repair our relationship with God’s creation.

“The Catholic Church in England and Wales has environmental leads in every diocese across the country and, with nearly 3000 churches, we will be encouraging as many parishes to screen the People’s Emergency Briefing as possible.”

TV presenter and activist, Chris Packham, who fronts the film, hosted a sold-out screening at St Pancras New Church, London on 18 April, and St Alban’s Cathedral hosted its screening on 19 April, attended by deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper MP.

2100 churches or community centres have so far registered an interest in screening the film, more than double the number of cinemas in the UK, and many more are expected to register.

The coalition, which also includes charities including Cafod, A Rocha UK, Operation Noah and Tearfund, has created a call to action and guide for how churches can host their own community screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing film, with local MPs to be invited to watch alongside communities.

The call to action will be sent out to 42 Church of England dioceses, covering more than 12,000 parishes, many of which have a dedicated environment lead, and to nearly 3000 Catholic churches in the 21 dioceses across the country, with an environment lead in each diocese. 

The chair of the National Emergency Briefing, Mike Berners-Lee, said “cross-church support for this initiative” was “a tremendous step forward”, but “only the beginning of our efforts to create a societal tipping point towards the World War Two-scale action that we need”.

Bishop of Norwich Graham Usher, the lead bishop for the environment in the Church of England, said, “The threat posed by climate change and loss of biodiversity dwarfs that of other crises and the public need to be informed so that together we can turn the situation around. 

“All the major church denominations are highlighting the scale of the threat, the common desire to see the public properly informed, and calling the government to lead and take urgent action.

“The Church of England has a clear role in caring for God’s creation and taking prophetic action. With a Christian presence in every community in England, I strongly encourage our churches, chaplaincies and schools to host screenings of this timely and important film.”

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