The Climate Science Breakthrough spoof video imagines a climate debate between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak
Satirical video released as separate poll shows eight out of 10 voters are concerned about climate issues and campaigners accuse politicians of going 'AWOL on the environment'
A new campaign is calling on the BBC to host a Leaders Debate dedicated to quizzing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Opposition Leader Keir Starmer on climate issues, backed by an online 'deepfake' video envisioning how such a programme would work.
The campaign is being spearheaded by the Climate Science Breakthrough group and is calling for an urgent edition of BBC Question Time, dubbed the 'Climate Showdown', which would see Sunak and Starmer face an expert audience of 100 climate scientists.
The initiative launched yesterday with the release of a spoof trailer featuring an AI-enabled audio voice-cloning deepfake of Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce.
The video - which is clearly labelled with a warning that it is an 'imaginary trailer' and has been produced without the authorisation of the BBC - calls on viewers to email BBC director-general Tim Davie to demand a debate dedicated to the two main parties' response to climate change.
"The climate crisis is the greatest threat facing humanity," said Professor Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London. "In this election, we need to know how politicians are planning to deal with climate change, so we can decide who to vote for, and if they get into power, hold them to their commitments."
New punchy video demanding a BBC Question Time Climate Special!
— Climate Science Breakthrough (@ClimateSciBreak) June 20, 2024
With an audience of 100 climate scientists, grilling Sunak and Starmer on the #climatecrisis.
Please share, and email the BBC here: https://t.co/bcknfJ5Xfa#bbcqt #stonehenge @ProfMarkMaslin pic.twitter.com/cpYrXuvBPa
The calls are highly unlikely to prove successful, given the schedule for televised election debates and interviews has already been confirmed with the main political parties.
But campaigners will be hoping that it serves to highlight the extent to which climate issues have been largely side-lined during the TV debates to date, despite the campaign happening against the backdrop of record-breaking deadly heatwaves around the world and the fact the two main parties have sought to offer competing approaches to the net zero transition.
The first TV debate between Sunak and Starmer featured only a brief section on climate change, while the recent Sky debate and BBC Panorama interviews with Sunak and Starmer failed to mention climate change. Climate Science Breakthrough also highlighted how Question Time is yet to ever feature a climate scientist on its panel.
The BBC declined to comment.
Climate Science Breakthrough acknowledged the use of AI voice-cloning is "highly controversial, as it can be used for purposes of deception in election campaigns". But the group argued that "if it is flagged and used for satire or parody, there is no valid reason why it should be censored, any more than other forms of humourous comment".
Meanwhile, a new poll released today by WWF found 80 per cent of UK voters say they care about nature and climate issues ahead of the General Election, while just 45 per cent think politicians are equally concerned.
The new findings also reveal 82 per cent of people say they are worried about pollution and damage to the countryside and nature, just shy of the 84 per cent who say they are worried about conflict and war.
The research, which was carried out by More in Common for WWF, found voters of all ages are concerned about the environment, with 74 per cent of people stating that they are worried about the impact of climate change on the world young people will grow up in.
The poll comes ahead of the Restore Nature Now demonstration in London tomorrow, which will feature 360 organisations and tens of thousands of people.
"The message from this data couldn't be clearer - the British public care passionately about the future of our planet and want to see leadership that matches their commitment," said Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF. "But unfortunately politicians have gone AWOL on the environment during this campaign. For too long the promises made to save our climate and nature have been disregarded, delayed or diluted, with successive governments missing key opportunities to act.
"This General Election comes at a make-or-break time and the next UK government must be prepared to take bold action on many fronts to stand any chance of restoring nature by 2030, and of limiting climate change to 1.5C of warming. Failure means risking the last great opportunity to protect people and nature, increasing the likelihood of environmental catastrophe in coming decades."
WWF said over 60,000 people had now signed its nationwide petition calling on all political leaders to stop fueling the destruction of nature.
The poll also follows a major UN-backed global survey of more than 75,000 people this week, which found four out of five people globally want their governments to take stronger action to tackle the climate crisis, and 86 per cent want to see their countries set aside geopolitical differences and work together with other nations to tackle escalating climate impacts.
The Conservatives and Labour have clashed repeatedly throughout the election campaign over their rival energy and climate strategies.
Sunak has said the government remains committed to meeting its net zero goals, but has proposed a more 'pragmatic' approach that would see a number of key decarbonisation policies delayed or diluted in a bid to reduce costs for households. The approach has failed to shift the Tories' polling performance and has sparked fierce criticism from green businesses and campaigners who have accused the Prime Minister of undermining the UK's efforts to boost green investment and deliver on its climate goals.
In contrast, Labour has proposed a suite of policies designed to boost green investment and accelerate decarbonisation efforts. The plans have been broadly welcomed by green groups, but critics have questioned the feasibility of the Party's clean power targets and whether its strict fiscal rules will hamper efforts to ramp up investment in low carbon infrastructure.
You can now sign up to attend the fifth annual Net Zero Festival, which will be hosted by BusinessGreen on October 22-23 at the Business Design Centre in London.
