A new comedy project teaming leading comedians and climate scientists presents a new way to communicate the climate crisis.
“When people like me have to get involved, you know we’re in deep trouble,” said Jo Brand, the renowned British comedian and host of The Great British Bake Off. Why? Because she has joined other notable comedians such as Nish Kumar, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Jonathan Pie in Climate Science Translated, a project that translates complex climate science into accessible and funny content to inspire millions of people to take action.
Although climate change is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced, research from the Climate Science Breakthrough team shows that only 2% of the public can identify as a climate scientist. Almost everyone knows Jo Brand. By having famous comedians translate what climate scientists say in a funny, ironic and often blunt way, science becomes much more accessible.
And it works. Research shows that humor can be a transformative tool in science communication and positively impact people’s understanding of climate change. To date, my video with Jo Brand has been viewed over 3 million times and has received mainstream attention, with celebrities such as Ellie Goulding, Gary Lineker, Rainn Wilson and Thom Yorke retweeting the videos. This always brings the core message to a broader audience.
It also works because comedians can say things that scientists can’t – for example, they can swear. Jo asked me in our chat after shooting the feature film, “Was it time scientists were allowed to swear because things are so bad?” My answer, which is in the video clip below, is no. Because the public expects scientists to be calm, rational and stick to the facts – as soon as we ‘become human’ we lose our credibility. So in many ways, Jo Brand is my human side screaming at everyone to do something now!
The video launch also caught the attention of Good Morning Britain – Jo Brand and I were invited to appear on the show. Susanna Reed asked me why I agreed to make the video with Jo Brand. My answer was simple: “Would I be on national breakfast TV talking about climate change without the great Jo Brand?”
Celebrities have access to a much wider audience than a scientist. Imagine if Taylor Swift dated a climate scientist and not an American football player.
Later that morning, TV presenters Susanna Reed and Richard Medley asked one of my questions to the British Environment Secretary, Steve Barclay: “Why has the government granted new oil and gas licenses when we already have enough reserves to keep the climate well above 2 ˚C warming? ?” Because the new licenses will not be operational for the next ten to fifteen years and will make no difference to global costs, consumers will still face very high energy prices.
Unsurprisingly he avoided the question, but it was asked on breakfast TV because I was in a comedy video.
Finding it funny
Comic Relief is a great example of how effective comedy can be. In 2022, it reached a milestone by raising more than £1.5 billion to support people around the world by harnessing the power of comedy. It now stands out as a calendar moment in British culture.
In politics, comedy is largely used satirically to engage the audience, proving its power. Spitting Image and The Thick Of It crystallized the essence of the politics of the time in people’s minds.
Jo Brand’s involvement in the climate comedy project marks a significant step forward in the number of celebrities sounding the alarm about the ever-growing environmental crisis. Others include Kevin McCloud, Mary Portas, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Chris Packham, who appeared in Channel 4’s Climate Emergency season last year. Even William Shatner, the original Captain James T. Kirk, has added his voice and said that we must act now to save our planet.
This trend indicates the increasing urgency of the climate crisis and its recognition in various sectors of society. The mix of humor and science clarifies complex environmental issues, making them more relatable to an everyday audience. It underlines the influence of comedy in driving change and awareness, and presents a powerful strategy for addressing one of today’s most critical challenges and an alternative to the direct action activism of Just Stop Oil and other groups.
The irony, as Jo Brand would say, is that we have all the solutions available. Renewable energy is cheaper, safer, cleaner and more secure than fossil fuels. But according to the International Monetary Fund, we will have subsidized fossil fuel use to the tune of US$7 trillion ($5.5 trillion) globally by 2023 – an increase of US$2 trillion from the previous year. As Brand said, “Not even the dinosaurs subsidized their own extinction.”
This is why the comedy films invite everyone to step up and take action to pressure governments for urgent change, ending with a call to ban new investments in fossil fuels and the rallying cry: “All hands on deck now .”
Even the COP28 climate summit, held in a major oil state, the United Arab Emirates, called for a transition away from fossil fuels. But we are not moving fast enough. And why should billions of people suffer just because a few people and countries want to make huge profits by selling us polluting fossil fuels? That’s just not funny.
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Mark Maslin is the UNFCCC designated point of contact for UCL. He is co-director of the London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. He serves on the advisory boards of Sopra-Steria CSR, Sheep Included Ltd, Lansons and NetZeroNow. He has received grants from the NERC, EPSRC, ESRC, DFG, Royal Society, DIFD, BEIS, DECC, FCO, Innovate UK, Carbon Trust, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Research England, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, CIFF, Sprint2020 and British Council. He has received funding from the BBC, Lancet, Laithwaites, Seventh Generation, Channel 4, JLT Re, WWF, Hermes, CAFOD, HP and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.