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Tell

TELL
1

You’re not miracle workers

Of course, the job of being a creative is first and foremost to tell compelling stories and create great content. You’re not going to be able to feature home decarbonisation, or the homes of the future, in all of it and you nor should you. Trying to force a heat pump or an electric vehicle into a setting in which they don’t belong is a sure-fire way to undermine the integrity of your programme!  

Rather than asking you to do that, the purpose of this Handbook is to show you that there are in fact many instances in which there are opportunities to feature home decarbonisation themes on-screen, either directly or indirectly. And – when these opportunities present themselves – to help you do this in a way that feels natural, informed and inspiring.

The transition of our homes to a greener and cleaner future is going to mean huge changes at both a societal and an individual level. With change comes obstacles, opportunity and the potential for telling great stories.

Images: Coronation Street and Emmerdale, courtesy of ITV

“We will reach more of our audiences with content that helps everyone understand and navigate the path to net zero and inspires them to make greener choices.”

The Climate Content Pledge

Broadcasters supporting the
climate pledge

At COP26, some of the UK’s leading broadcasters and streamers came together to sign the Climate Content Pledge, convened by BAFTA Albert. The pledge was a public commitment from the organisations to use their content to help audiences understand what tackling climate change might mean for them, and to inspire and inform sustainable choices. It was a rallying cry to the global industry to do more and better climate storytelling on-screen across all genres.

In 2022, six of these broadcasters – the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV, Sky and UKTV – commissioned Ipsos and the Centre for Climate and Social Transformations (CAST) to conduct an evidence review into what role broadcasters can play in inspiring audiences to make changes to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.

The review found that the visual storytelling power of broadcast media gives it a unique role in inspiring people and systems to address the challenges facing the environment. 

Key findings included, the importance of:

  • Educating audiences about the problem of climate change and also the solutions.
  • Setting social norms through showing relatable and aspirational people engaging in positive climate action.
  • Providing a hopeful and inspiring narrative of a future where action is taken on climate change, including through showing the co-benefits of pro-environmental changes.
  • Talking about change at a system-level as well as what individuals can do.
  • Incorporating climate content across multiple channels and genres to maximise effectiveness.

It is clear that climate change matters to the majority of us – but different stories speak to different people, so when it comes to climate storytelling we need a range of approaches.