This film with highlights from the National Emergency Briefing presentations in November 2025 is a short introduction to the urgency of the climate crisis, and what we need to do, that can be used as part of a meeting of your union branch or trades council to initiate further discussion and action.
It's made up of short extracts from the original expert briefings and is under 12 minutes long (the last 3 minutes of the film are static links to further information). I Email climatetradeunion@gmail.com if you would like to download it to view offline.
Find out more about the climate emergency
The full National Emergency Briefing had presentations from nine experts and there are many important issues which are not touched on in this brief summary, from the consequences if global heating causes the Atlantic circulation system to collapse to the dangers of technological false solutions and the impact of the food system on our climate. You can watch all nine presentations in full on YouTube.
There is also a 50 minute film, the People's Emergency Briefing, which combines excerpts from the presentations with responses and discussion, and this film has had thousands of community screenings around the country.
Ideas for taking action after watching the film
There is a lot of food for thought even in our very short version, and an obvious question for discussion is what we can do as trade unionists and campaigners.
If you would like to arrange a screening of the full People's Emergency Briefing film, there is a lot of information on how to do so here, and there may already be one coming up in your local area (map).
In terms of immediate action, your branch could pass a motion to affiliate to Campaign against Climate Change and send someone to our conference on 31 October if possible.
We also have resources on our website for further workplace action: you could hold a stall, do a climate quiz, or a workplace climate survey. Have your fellow workers been feeling the heat this summer?
Outside the workplace, you could make links with others in your community who are campaigning on the climate crisis. Specifically relating to the film, has your MP attended a screening of the People's Emergency Briefing? Do they support the call for a national televised emergency briefing on the climate crisis?
More broadly, what issues in your area link the climate to local concerns? Is there something that stands out where trade unions should be working with climate campaigners? For example on public transport, housing, areas at high risk from flooding, or a planned data centre. Could you invite a speaker to the next meeting?
It's also worth looking at what your own trade union is doing nationally on the climate crisis, thinking about whether you can support existing initiatives, or how to pressure them to take the impact of climate breakdown more seriously!