No film cop-outs at COP26

Timely and powerful, The Salt in Our Waters, Jozi Gold, and Nuclear Forever are among the many being screened at the climate change conference

There have been plenty of cop-outs at COP26, the 2021 United Nations climate change conference currently taking place in Glasgow, including some countries revealing net zero targets 30 to 40 years after the globally-agreed date of 2030 and others paying lip service to the event’s theme while actively encouraging fossil fuels. However, on the film and television front matters are much better.

The event began with environmental doyen Sir David Attenborough unveiling his BBC series, The Green Planet, at a gala IMAX screening, with Game of Thrones star and environmental advocate Maisie Williams delivering the opening address.

“I want to challenge you to open your eyes and not just look but see the green planet around us,” Williams said. “As humans, we are hardwired to prioritise animals over plants. It is an informally-proposed form of cognitive bias called ‘plant blindness’. But plants are vital for our survival on this planet. The more we distance ourselves from our greatest allies, the more trouble we are in. I hope that The Green Planet helps change the conversation and makes each of us stop, look, and see the world through a new green lens.”