by A new way to communicate the climate crisis with a new comedy project in which famous comedians are paired with climate scientists.
“If people like me have to be involved, you know we’ve got a lot of fun,” says Jo Brand, a well-known comedian and host of The Great British Bake Off. Why? As she joins the ranks of other notable campaigners such as Nish Kumar, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, and Jonathan Pie in Climate Science Translated, a project that translates complex climate science into accessible and funny content to inspire millions of people to take action .
Although climate change is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced, research by the Climate Science Supply Team shows that only 2% of the public can name a climate scientist. Almost everyone knows Jo Brand. Science is much easier to access when famous pundits translate what climate scientists are saying in a funny, ironic and often blunt way.
And it works. Research shows that humor can be a transformative tool in science communication and have a positive impact on people’s understanding of climate change. To date, my video with Jo Brand has been viewed over 3 million times and has gained mainstream attention, with celebrities such as Ellie Goulding, Gary Lineker, Rainn Wilson and Thom Yorke retweeting the videos. Each time, that brings the core message to a wider audience.
It also works because comedians can say things that scientists can’t – for example, they can swear. Jo asked me in our conversation after the main film was recorded, “is it time to allow scientists to swear, because things are so bad?” My answer, which is in the video clip below, is no. Because the public expects scientists to be calm, rational and stick to the facts – as soon as we “become human” we lose credibility. So, in many ways, Jo Brand is my human side screaming at everyone to do something, now!
The video launch also caught the eye of Good Morning Britain – Jo Brand and I were invited to appear on the show. Susanna Reed asked me why I agreed to do the video with Jo Brand. My answer was simple: “Would I be on national breakfast TV discussing climate change without the wonderful Jo Brand?”
Celebrities can access a much wider audience than a scientist. Just imagine if Taylor Swift was dating a climate scientist and not an American football player.
Later that morning, TV presenters Susanna Reed and Richard Medley asked UK environment minister Steve Barclay one of my questions: “Why did the government grant new oil and gas licenses when we already have enough reserves to pushing climate beyond 2˚C warming. ?” Because the new licenses will not operate for ten to 15 years and will make no difference to the global cost, so consumers will still have very high energy prices.
Unsurprisingly, he avoided the question – but it was put on breakfast TV because I was on a comedy video.
Finding the funny
Comic Relief is a great example of how effective comedy can be. In 2022, he reached a milestone where he raised over £1.5 billion to support people around the world by harnessing the power of humour. It now stands out as a calendar moment in British culture.
In politics, humor was used in a mostly satirical way to attract the public, proving its power. Crystals Spitting Image and The Thick Of It the essence of politics at the time in the minds of the people.
Jo Brand’s involvement in the climate comedy project is a significant step forward in celebrities calling out the worsening environmental crisis. Others include Kevin McCloud, Mary Portas, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Chris Packham who appeared in Channel 4’s climate emergency season last year. Even William Shatner, the original Captain James T. Kirk, added his voice saying that we must act now to save our planet.
This trend shows the growing urgency of the climate crisis and the recognition it is given across different sectors of society. The mix of humor and science illuminates complex environmental issues, making it more relatable to everyday audiences. It highlights the impact of humor in driving change and awareness, presenting a powerful strategy to address one of today’s most pressing challenges and an alternative to the direct activism of Just Stop Oil and other groups .
The irony, as Jo Brand would say, is that we have all the solutions at hand. Renewable energy is cheaper, safer, cleaner and more secure than fossil fuels. But globally, according to the International Monetary Fund, we have subsidized fossil fuel use by up to US$7 trillion (£5.5 trillion) in 2023 – an increase of US$2 trillion on the previous year. As Brand said, “even the dinosaurs didn’t help their own extinction”.
That’s why the comics invite everyone to step up and act to pressure governments to make urgent change, ending with a call to ban new fossil fuel investment and the rallying cry: “All hands on deck now.”
Even the COP28 climate summit, held in major petroleum, the United Arab Emirates, called for a transition away from fossil fuels. But we are not moving anywhere near fast enough. And why should billions of people suffer just because some people and countries want to make huge profits from selling us polluting fossil fuels? That’s just funny.
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Mark Maslin is the designated UNFCCC point of contact for UCL. He is co-director of the NERC London Doctoral Training Partnership and a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. He is a member of the Sopra-Steria CSR Board, Sheep Included Ltd, Lansons and NetZeroNow advisory boards. He has received grant funding from NERC, EPSRC, ESRC, DFG, Royal Society, DIFD, BEIS, DECC, FCO, Innovate UK, Carbon Trust, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Research England, Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust, CIFF , Sprint2020, and the British Council. He has received funding from the BBC, Lancet, Laithwaites, Seventh Generation, Channel 4, JLT Re, WWF, Hermes, CAFOD, HP and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
