This month, the annual UN climate change conference is taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Here, it is expected that world leaders, scientists, advocates and companies will gather to discuss the ongoing effects of climate change and ways we can minimise the impact we’ve caused. If you want to know about our climate, we’ve got some movies for you to watch.
It’s all well and good for global figureheads to sit in a room and act as if they care about the climate but it’s another thing to actually implement policies that will help save our planet. Reportedly, there are hundreds of representatives from the fossil fuel industry who will be sitting in on the talks at the COP27. So much so that they outnumber representatives from some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.
From climate activists glueing their hands on valuable art to extreme floods, monsoons, hurricanes and droughts, the environment weighs heavily on our minds. That’s why this week’s Gizmodo Movie Night is dedicated to documentaries and movies about our climate.
Movies about climate change
Don’t Look Up
Don’t Look Up was easily one of the best films of 2021.
Although it isn’t a traditional climate movie, Don’t Look Up perfectly captures the willful ignorance of politicians, the media and the general public to the very obvious risks posed to our planet.
In the film, a science professor and his younger student discover a fast-approaching comet that will destroy Earth. They both try to convince the government and the public of the very real threat and catastrophic consequences it will have on humanity.
The comet itself is said to be an ambivalent metaphor for climate change and its disastrous effects and that politicians are not doing enough if they don’t act quickly enough. Or if they keep putting profits over people.
The most unsettling part of the movie was how accurate it was. What happens in the movie would 100 per cent happen here. In fact, it does happen, often actually. Scientists who dedicate their lives to studying our changing planet are ignored constantly.
Don’t Look Up is currently streaming on Netflix.
Before the Flood
Another Leonardo DiCaprio climate movie on the list but Before the Flood is essential viewing.
National Geographic and Earth Alliance (Leo is the co-founder) collaborate to take us around the world to show how climate change impacts different parts of the globe, especially those nations that are most vulnerable.
It’s a really moving call-to-action documentary that will make anyone watching it want to do more to help the fight and call upon their leaders to act quickly.
Before the Flood is currently available on Disney+.
Happy Feet
Many people don’t realise this but Happy Feet is actually a movie about climate change. You might have been distracted by the dancing penguin or the fact that you were probably a child when you last watched it.
Happy Feet, although a very sweet movie about acceptance and embracing difference, is very much set in the rapidly changing environment of Antarctica.
In the film, there are frequent depictions of melting ice shelves and the impact of humans on the animal kingdom, especially penguins.
Go rewatch it as an adult, you’ll notice a lot more than you originally did.
Happy Feet is currently streaming on Stan.
Chasing Coral
Although all climate change movies hit close to home (we all do inhabit the same planet after all), Chasing Coral is all about the diminishing coral reefs and hits very close to home.
Obviously, the Great Barrier Reef here in Australia is a key part of the documentary. Our beautiful coral reef has experienced some of the worst coral bleachings in the world and has been the focus of many initiatives to save it.
As Chasing Coral shows us, coral bleaching is brought on by heat stress from climate change. They predict that if nothing changes, by 2034 there will be severe bleaching events every year and by 2050, 90 per cent of reefs could be lost.
Whilst it is a very grim subject, the film still shows a lot of hope and promise. Again, it makes you want to be a part of the solution, so I strongly urge you all to watch it.
Chasing Coral is currently streaming on Netflix.
Burning
Talking about climate movies hitting close to home, Burning is a must-watch for everyone, especially if you lived in Australia during the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020.
Although Australia is known for raging bushfires in the summer, the Black Summer fires were unprecedented and catastrophic, creating some of the worst environmental events the nation has seen.
The documentary is narrated from the perspective of those who were directly impacted by the fires, as well as scientists and activists. It’s incredibly powerful.
Australia’s governmental response, or lack thereof, is also exposed in the documentary as well as the complete lack of politicians to attribute or acknowledge the impacts of climate change in causing the Black Summer fires. Remember when Scott Morrison, then Prime Minister, left to go to Hawaii when half the nation burned?
Burning is available on Prime Video.
Gizmodo Movie Night is our fortnightly roundup of movie and TV recommendations for the weekend. If you’re ever stuck and looking for inspiration, check out our list and see what’s in store.
Stay tuned for the next edition of the column and check out our last one which was dedicated to all the Scream Queens I adore.