The impact of climate content – Report

Supported by Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN) at the University of York and Research England, BAFTA albert commissioned some in-depth academic research as part of its participation in the Climate Content Pledge.  

This explores: 

• the existing evidence on the impact of climate content on audiences from a ‘pro-environmental behavioural’ perspective;  
• what the audience demand for climate content is and what audiences want it to achieve;  
• and finally, the audience response to different types of climate content.  

Key takeaways

Through this multi-phase research, there are five key takeaways:  

1. There is demand for climate content across a range of genres, especially that which intersect with social and environmental issues (e.g. inequality, health, nature and biodiversity loss).

2. Climate content is proven to raise audiences’ interest and concern for climate change and environmental issues considerably. The effect on audience behaviour is complex, with positive changes often short-lived and dependent on audiences’ pre-existing values.

3. UK audiences are most interested in climate content which shows the impacts of climate change in the UK, portrays achievable solutions and provides information on climate science.

4. The likelihood of positive audience impact was increased through the use of post-viewing support, collaboration with a range of experts, integrating climate content authentically, and through working from a values-first approach by aligning content with the anticipated audiences’ pre-existing values.

5. Incidental and intrinsic climate content elicited similar positive behavioural responses, with intrinsic content impacting a slightly wider array of specific pro-environmental behaviours. Both intrinsic and incidental climate content significantly increased audience concern for global issues and climate change.