IF YOU have taken time out to dip into the recent no-holds-barred synthesis report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), humour is likely to be the furthest thing from your mind. Indeed, you might think tears would be more fitting than laughter. But you would be mistaken. If campaigner Nick Oldridge and climate communications outfit Utopia Bureau have their way, we will all soon be guffawing in the face of global heating while doing our utmost to help tackle the climate emergency. (Translated by Kiri: We鈥檙e pretty doomed. Some fellas with a pretentious name are trying to help.)
They have come up with a brilliant, if slightly left-field, idea called , which pairs scientists with top comedians in a series of short, hard-hitting films. Before you roll your eyes, please bear with us. At the height of a climate emergency that has the potential to bring our society and the global economy to their knees, we need every weapon in our armoury to fight global heating and its consequences, including comedy. (Translated by Kiri: If comedians are helping scientists out, you know things aren鈥檛 going well.)
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Very few outside the climate science community, (some) politicians and those who have a major stake in climate breakdown and its fallout will have read the latest IPCC report, but many millions engage with comedy. Stand-up is massive, with the big names pulling in many thousands on tour. Comics, then, are in a position to get across messages to the public in a way that most scientists will never manage, and can get away with the sort of blunt language that would make many a climate researcher blanch. It just makes sense to bring them on board. (Translated by Kiri: Swearing is the universal language of emergencies, and we speak it.)
The first film features me, , presenting the raw facts to camera. Before any viewers fall asleep, Kiri, , 鈥渢ranslates鈥� my words into a more palatable format. The second film stars atmospheric scientist , whose words are transformed by , the alter ego of actor Tom Walker.
It seems to be resonating. In just a week, the videos garnered over half a million views with no promotional budget, thanks in particular to TV presenter Chris Packham calling them . The creators are planning more in the series. After all, if a stand-up comic can鈥檛 capture and hold the attention of their audience, they might as well pack up and go home. Climate can be an audience killer, but, done right, it can also change people鈥檚 views. (Translated by Kiri: I can confirm climate is an audience killer. Metaphorically and, soon, literally.)
With comprehensive public information campaigns conspicuous by their absence, there needs to be a way of reaching those large parts of the population other messages have missed, and we think laughter is it. If leaders won鈥檛 act, then it has to be down to comics to save the planet. Only comedy can translate dry science into punchy truths, can reach out to those who have never given our collapsing climate a thought and chivvy along those who are aware, but are doing little. (Translated by Kiri: Get off the couch and into the streets if you want a non-boiling planet to live on.)
We are facing a grim future that will become worse if we fail to act now. As a result, we are desperate for the medicine that only laughter can bring. Humour is a key part of coping during difficult times, and if we can鈥檛 manage a smile even when things are going to hell in a handcart, then we really are in trouble.
Oh, by the way, have you heard the one about the climate scientist and the pork sausage? (Translated by Kiri: I had nothing to do with that joke.)
Bill McGuire is author of聽Hothouse Earth. Kiri Pritchard-McLean is a comedian and actor
