A televised emergency briefing on the national climate crisis is required, East Suffolk Council has argued.

Councillors have called on the Government to consider climate change an ‘issue of national security’ that should be supported by a ‘prime-time public service broadcast’ about its risks.

The plea has been made in an open letter written by councillors Tom Daly and Katie Graham, cabinet member and assistant cabinet member for energy and climate change.

‘Councils are on the frontline of the climate and nature crisis. Together with our health service, our care and education sector, we are the boots on the ground when emergencies hit’, it reads.

The councillors emphasise the damaged caused by Storm Babet in 2023 and the wildfires this summer, while arguing that there ‘remains a lack of urgency in public messaging on the scale of the crisis, together with a lack of commitment to enable councils on the frontline of climate shocks to protect and support our residents’.

To help address the issue, the letter urges that a televised National Emergency Briefing is delivered by independent experts and hosted by the Prime Minister and the UK’s Chief Scientific Advisor Prof, Dame Angela MacLean.

It says that thousands of residents and local MPs have already called for the briefing, which would ‘not set out specific policies or be party political’, but instead allow for ‘clear, evidence-based communication on the state of climate change and nature loss, so that citizens are equipped to engage with decisions that will shape the country’s future’.

Furthermore, the letter calls on other representatives in the region to raise awareness about this campaign, proposing that politicians must be honest with their communities and demonstrate leadership in a crisis.

The MHCLG has been contacted for comment.