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People’s Emergency Briefing and Resilience to future crises
9th September 2026
The People’s Emergency Briefing (PEB) is a crowdfunded film describing crises coming (or already here) as a result of climate change: weather extremes, collapse of the natural ecosystem, energy and food costs and shortages, and health and national security problems. It paints a concerning picture of how many aspects of our lives will be seriously affected. So far the UK government has refused to seriously engage with, or even acknowledge, these huge challenges.
On September 9th Lightfoot put on a screening, attended by over 90 people, of the PEB film at SpArC, followed by a discussion of the consequences for us in Bishop’s Castle: as well as actions we all can take to help us adapt.
Many in the audience were worried by the consequences, and also noted that some adaptations (like heat pumps, or rooftop solar) are not affordable for many people. However, the panel members and Lightfoot team described the many adaptations we can make at little or no cost: by learning new habits or by low-cost fixes.
They also stressed that resilience and adaptation are strongest in a strong community with good community spirit, as there is in Bishop’s Castle. In fact, BC is already well advanced with projects such as the Local Food Strategy, Community Land Trust, Going Wild in BC, the Wind Turbine project, and many social support groups.
Lightfoot has launched web pages with guidance for how you can prepare for and cope with many of the likely crises: see https://lightfootenterprises.org/climate-action-group/resilience/
BIOCHAR: A SUMMARY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
can be read here BIOCHAR SUMMARY
COMPOSTING: does it simply create more CO2?
You can find out here Composting Emissions
BISHOP’S CASTLE CLIMATE & NATURE ACTION PLAN 2026 – 27
The Town Council adopted the latest CAP at its February 26 meeting. You can read or download a copy here BC CAP Year 4 2026-27
We already know the planet is facing a life-threatening climate and ecological emergency. While Bishop’s Castle and its hinterland may be a relatively good place to be for the next 20-30 years, it may also be affected in that time by changes to the Gulf Stream, melting ice caps, other serious climate changes, or the critical loss of pollinator insects with the risk of severe flooding, power outages and food supply problems.
More widely, the UK is being affected by changes elsewhere. Large-scale, climate-led population upheavals and migration will almost certainly cause significant political, economic and social disruption. Climate-related crises (drought, forest fires, flooding, crop failures) elsewhere in the world could have serious knock-on effects. This kind of disruption could well occur in the next 2 decades.
Photograph by Daphne du Cros at Little Woodbatch Market Garden, Bishop’s Castle
All the proposals in the CAP spring from two starting points:-
i) mitigating the worst effects of the climate emergency; and,
ii) adapting and building resilience to prepare for major change.
These proposals are not complete and will remain under continuous review as conditions change and as we consider priorities and time-scales. For example, time and resources have not allowed the production of chapters on issues such as Transport and Health.
There are many practical suggestions in the CAP, and even slight modifications in the way we live our everyday lives can make a significant difference to our environment. We would urge you to read the full document.
Any comments or suggestions you have would be most welcome and can be made by contacting the Sustainability Working Group chair: Mike Watkins
Contact at: bccap@lightfootenterprises.org