The final episode of the BBC’s ‘A Perfect Planet’ contains multiple factual inaccuracies and gives an unchallenged platform to political activists, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) has said in a complaint to the broadcaster.
Prominent claims in the final episode of the series are contradicted by the recently published findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Royal Society and the leading instrumental datasets.
A Perfect Planet was conceived as an explicitly campaigning show. James Cross, creative director at BBC Creative, has said the series and accompanying billboard campaign aim to “shock people into action” and “influence popular culture, using shock tactics to do that.”
The complaint also points out that contributors such as Jeremy Rifkin are proponents of a “degrowth” policy, which is a concept controversial even among environmentalists.
Harry Wilkinson, Head of Policy at the GWPF, who wrote the complaint, said: “The impression created by the documentary is of ‘radical…out of control’ increases in extreme weather, and this is clearly not supported by the scientific evidence.”
“The influence of anthropogenic climate change on extreme weather events is complex, and it is clearly not the case that all trends are going in the same direction. That the BBC are using activists to try and frighten people is deeply concerning.”
The BBC’s latest documentary is another example of misleading activism on the part of the broadcaster. The GWPF is challenging the programme’s inaccuracies in order to improve public understanding of climate change trends.
Read the full complaint here.
Contact:
Harry Wilkinson
+44 (0)207 340 6044
ENDS