Good morning, and welcome to autumn - which this year arrived with all the subtlety of a houseguest who lets themselves in while you're still asleep. The parks are parched, the forests are fire-ravaged, and the season has changed without anyone agreeing to it.

The headlines, naturally, remain a delight. More than 450,000 people are predicted to die from an unprecedented El Niño over the next six months. A report by UK intelligence chiefs - suppressed under former prime minister Keir Starmer's leadership, as the Guardian revealed - details how the collapse of natural systems threatens security and defence around the world. And right-leaning climate sceptics continue to seed doubt about the glaring reality wherever they may, because someone has to keep the vibes balanced.

Into this cheerful tableau steps The People's Emergency Briefing, a grassroots film that delivers a stark warning about our future in a warming world. Its central proposition: sharing difficult truths collectively is better than doomscrolling alone, and somewhere in that collective honesty there is still hope to be found. Which is either profound or the world's most depressing book club, depending on your mood.

The film arrives amid a genuinely busy news week. At the UN general assembly, Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an inflammatory address, decrying what he called a global anti-Jewish conspiracy and swatting aside criticism of Israel's war in Gaza. In the UK, far-right agitator and anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas was arrested after filming himself appearing to slash the side of a dinghy while a rescuer was onboard. Iran says it has told Trump it is willing to open the strait of Hormuz in six days, and to start talks on its nuclear program the day after - provided the US lifts sanctions on Iran's oil exports, ends the war on all fronts including in Lebanon, and releases some frozen assets. Ukrainian refugees fear homelessness after the government quietly axed 70% of funding for hosts of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, reducing monthly "thank you" payments. And Xi Jinping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the "Thucydides trap" that could put the US and China on a military collision course amid rising tensions over AI, trade and Taiwan.

So yes: a grassroots film about turning climate anxiety into action. In a week like this, collective grief and collective hope may be the only growth industry left.