Written by Joe Jackson on Nov 18, 2021. Posted in General Interest

BAFTA's albert Climate Content Pledge signed by major UK broadcasters at COP26

Twelve of the UK’s largest broadcasters have promised to create content that will educate audiences about the ongoing climate crisis. Major figures from the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky were among those committed to telling stories about the climate thanks to a pledge convened by BAFTA organisation albert. The channels and platforms controlled by signees of the Climate Content Pledge represent 70% of British film and television.

“This is a pivotal time for broadcasters and for our audiences as we join together to tackle the climate crisis that affects us and future generations,” explained Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon. “Signing this pledge is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for broadcasters and programme-makers to work together and use the power of content on every platform. By engaging our viewers and giving them the information they need, we can help them to make informed choices about living more sustainably.”

The core signatories are Britbox International, Channel 5/ViacomicCBS UK, RTÉ (Ireland), BBC Studios, Discovery UK and Eire, S4C, SKY Group, STV and UKTV, alongside the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky. BAFTA's albert group – who coordinated the pledge at COP26 – encourage environmental sustainability in the screen industry by balancing climate storytelling with sustainability on set.

Carys Taylor, director of albert, said: “We are so proud to announce the launch of this pledge today. It represents a pivotal moment in our industry’s sustainability journey and is an acknowledgement of the screen industry’s huge opportunity and responsibility to enable all audiences to engage with solutions to tackling climate change through all kinds of content.”

“This pledge is a firm commitment from our industry to go further and faster to engage and inform audiences on the climate challenges we all face,” elaborated BBC director-general Tim Davie. “At the BBC we will continue to tell the stories that matter, like in our powerful new drama The Trick, or help audiences consider greener choices through our best loved shows like EastEnders and with new programmes such as Shop Well for the Planet? – but we all have more to do and we must match these efforts off-screen too, which is why we’ve put plans in place to reach net zero by 2030.”

While the Climate Content Pledge facilitated by albert was developed by the aforementioned group of media companies, BAFTA and all the campaign's signatories welcome other media companies to adopt the initiative.