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Why TV and Film Scripts Must Confront the Climate Crisis

Scripted entertainment holds power to shape climate awareness and action—it's time to flip the narrative and inspire real change.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 26, 2025

Scripted entertainment holds power to shape climate awareness and action—it's time to flip the narrative and inspire real change.

Entertainment media—especially TV and film scripts—wield extraordinary power to shape societal perceptions and responses to pressing global issues. Despite climate change being one of humanity’s most urgent crises, a landmark study by Good Energy and the USC Norman Lear Center found that between 2016–2020, only a tiny fraction of U.S. scripted entertainment meaningfully engaged with climate-related themes. As our planet faces escalating threats, the absence of climate storytelling in mainstream entertainment is both a missed educational opportunity and a cultural challenge that demands a reckoning.

TV and Film’s Impact on Society

From informing audiences to shaping behaviors and values, TV and film are potent tools for cultural transformation. They can broaden understanding, challenge stereotypes, and push viewers to think critically about urgent problems—including environmental ones. Stories on screen are not just reflections of society; they set agendas and norms, drive curiosity, and inspire change.

Study Findings: A Stark Absence of Climate Representation

Only 2.8% of 37,453 analyzed scripts mentioned climate-related terms such as “global warming”, “sea level rise”, or “solar panels”.
Just 0.6% of scripts explicitly mentioned “climate change.”
Merely 10% of storylines showing extreme weather (hurricanes, wildfires) made any link to climate change.
When environmental change was portrayed, it was typically shown as distant, abstract, or easily solved—ignoring the present, personal nature of the crisis.
Few scripts addressed realistic, systemic solutions; responses were often simplistic or wishful.

In other words, the entertainment world almost never gives viewers the context or urgency needed to grasp climate realities.

Platform and Genre Highlights

CBS scripts mentioned climate topics in 7.5% of cases; HBO Max in 6.4%.
Genres with the highest mention rates: Comedy (4.9%), Drama (3.9%).
Despite these numbers being higher than average, they remain well below the urgency that climate reality demands.

Why Media Silence on the Climate Crisis Matters

The lack of climate narratives impedes public awareness, understanding, and urgency around environmental challenges.
Audiences are left without relatable models for action, realistic portrayals of cause and effect, or even basic scientific context for events impacting their lives.
When TV and film do address climate, it’s often treated as either background noise or an abstract threat—rarely something viewers can connect with, respond to, or see as solvable.

This information vacuum can foster indifference, misinformation, and a loss of agency—especially when extreme events go unexplained or are treated as random disasters rather than consequences of specific choices and policies.

A Growing Interest: Climate Storytelling Trends in Entertainment

Despite the pervasive neglect, recent years have seen stirrings of improvement—an emerging wave of climate storytelling.

Positive Trends

Use of “renewable energy” up 1,100% in scripts; “carbon footprint” up 400%; “climate justice” up 300%.
Greater engagement by some genres and platforms, with external momentum driven by cultural works like “Don’t Look Up”.

Several recent productions have begun exploring climate themes more directly, introducing new storylines and conversations into mainstream entertainment.

Examples of Climate-Conscious Scripts

The Good Place: A philosophical comedy featuring a subplot where moral rules are redefined in the face of the climate crisis, questioning individual and systemic responsibility.
The Midnight Sky: Sci-fi drama presenting flashbacks and visions showing the personal and global impacts of climate catastrophe.
The Social Dilemma: Docu-drama exposing how social media drives climate misinformation and divisive polarization.
The Crown: Features Queen Elizabeth II in dialogue with David Attenborough on environmental stewardship and climate crisis management.
Don’t Look Up: Satirical blockbuster dramatizing our collective denial and inaction, highlighting the absurdity of ignoring dire warnings.

Challenges and Solutions in Climate Storytelling

The Pitfalls: Guilt, Doom, and “Chocolate-Covered Broccoli”

“Preachy” scripts—those that judge or guilt audiences—typically repel viewers rather than spur action.
Doom and gloom storylines, while based in reality, can trigger apathy or escape: people disengage when overwhelmed by fear or shame.
Quick, magical solutions or distant threats give audiences easy outs or foster cynicism.

Nicole Alexander warns that overloading storylines with bleak facts without showing hope or agency makes viewers tune out, especially young audiences. Bruno Olmedo Quiroga, of Good Energy, calls for entertaining, narrative-driven storytelling—”it can’t feel like chocolate-covered broccoli. It should be candy.”

Keys to Effective Climate Storytelling

Engagement before Education: Stories must entertain and captivate before they can inform or inspire.
Avoiding Shame: Focus on systemic change and collective action rather than shaming individuals for routine behavior.
Humor opens minds: Comedies and satirical approaches (e.g., Rainn Wilson’s Climate Basecamp skits) make tough subjects accessible, relatable, and thought-provoking.
Realistic, relatable narratives: Ground climate themes in personal stories, everyday life, and authentic emotions.
Accountability at scale: Scripts should show responsibility and solutions at corporate, institutional, and governmental levels where real change happens.

Table: Comparison of Effective vs. Ineffective Climate Storytelling in Media

Approach	Effect	Example
Preachy, guilt-based	Alienates audience, breeds apathy	Early “doomsday” documentaries
Doom & gloom, dystopia	Overwhelms; triggers escape responses	Apocalyptic thrillers with no hope
Humor, satire, personal storytelling	Engages, entertains, creates reflection	“Don’t Look Up”, Climate Basecamp skits
Systemic, hope-based solutions	Inspires real-world action, conversation	Social Dilemma, The Good Place

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Why do so few TV and film scripts mention the climate crisis?

A: Many writers fear being preachy or losing audience interest. There’s also a historical belief that climate narratives are “too depressing” or “out of scope” for mainstream genres.

Q: Which genres and platforms engage most with climate topics?

A: Comedy and drama have shown higher mention rates, while platforms like CBS and HBO Max lightly lead the field, though overall engagement remains low.

Q: What makes climate storytelling effective?

A: Engaging, relatable stories that incorporate climate themes naturally—using humor, personal connection, and systemic solutions—work best. Scripts should avoid creating guilt or focusing solely on catastrophe.

Q: Are there signs of improvement?

A: Yes. There’s a clear upward trend in some climate-related terms and concepts within scripts, and major productions like Don’t Look Up demonstrate that audiences are hungry for smarter climate content.

How Scripts and Storytelling Can Inspire Climate Action

When TV and film scripts finally integrate evidence-based climate realities into the fabric of their stories, they offer audiences new ways to think, feel, and act. By weaving climate themes into everyday narratives—family dramas, workplace comedies, sci-fi adventures—writers and producers can transform indifference into engagement, despair into agency, and confusion into clarity.

Action Steps for the Entertainment Industry

Writers and showrunners should partner with climate experts to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Studios and platforms can incentivize climate storytelling through awards, investments, and visibility.
Development teams should nurture diverse voices and perspectives, centering communities most impacted by environmental change.
Industry leaders can model systemic solutions, holding governments and corporations to account in plotlines and character arcs.

Moving Forward

Entertainment will remain a decisive force in the fight—or denial—of climate change. The next wave of storytelling has the power to illuminate pathways, instill hope, and demand action, not just for audiences but for creators themselves. With concerted effort, courage, and a gripping story, TV and film can begin to shift culture and mobilize humanity toward a more just, sustainable future.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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