The Great Climate Fight
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2 x 60mins
Against a backdrop of the British government watering down their climate change commitments and being criticised for doing so by their own climate change advisers, The Great Climate Fight sees Kevin McCloud, Mary Portas and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall... join forces to fight the most important campaign of their lives.
Kevin will focus on the appalling state of British houses that are wasting energy unnecessarily when the government could so easily demand better. Mary will take on the government over their uniquely generous treatment of the oil and gas sector. And Hugh goes on a mission to get the senseless ban on onshore wind lifted. Between them, these three veteran campaigners will use every trick in the book to hold government and big business to account.
The series kicks off with Kevin, Mary and Hugh hearing from some of the country’s foremost climate experts that the government’s performance on climate change is appalling. The experts tell the presenters that there is a solution, it’s the 6th Carbon Budget written by the government’s own advisors, the Climate Change Committee. The solutions exist, the government just needs to implement them... But Number 10 isn’t following the Committee’s advice.
Fired up by the government’s fearmongering on net zero, Kevin heads to the Swedish town of Vaxjo to find out what a carbon free life looks like. He finds out that in Vaxjo, climate change is not being used as a political football, but instead as a common goal for politicians to work towards, and the benefits for residents are clear.
Meanwhile, Hugh commences his campaign to lift the ban on onshore wind with a visit to a Shropshire town whose onshore wind project is at risk of being scuppered by a few objectors. The defacto ban, put in place by David Cameron in 2015 has not only cost us all £180 extra on our energy bills, but also means we continue to burn expensive foreign oil and gas.
Mary is on a mission to get our Prime Minister to read the 6th Carbon Budget and recruits the help of professional prankster Oobah Butler to try to catch Rishi’s attention. He makes a trip to Downing Street.
Returning from his trip to Sweden, Kevin meets a man who thinks there might be a connection between large donations given to the Conservative party by the property industry and the fact this government isn’t demanding that the same industry builds better new homes. Kevin has heard that Britain’s most profitable housebuilder have lobbied government over green policies in the past, so he gets himself into an industry dinner with the aim of asking them some questions – are they still trying to water down better building standards?
Having been turned down for an interview, Hugh tracks Grant Shapps down at a conference with hopes of getting him to lift the ban on onshore wind. Hugh spots an opportunity to speak to Shapps, but will he listen?
The final episode begins with Mary investigating the uniquely generous tax regime that benefits the oil and gas industry. She’s shocked to discover that the government plans to cover the cost of developing Carbon Capture and Storage projects with taxpayer money rather than asking the polluting and wealthy oil and gas industry to pay. But that’s not the worst of it, at a time when we should be weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, she finds out that Britain is the most profitable place in the world to open an oil and gas project. She asks Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for an interview.
Oobah is still working on brilliant ways to get the PM to read the 6th Carbon budget, and now he’s come to Fairbourne, in Wales, which is under threat from rising sea levels and due to be decommissioned in 2054. The residents, who could be the UK’s first climate refugees, are furious and they too have messages for government.
The presenters now all have government ministers in their sights. When Jeremy Hunt turns Mary’s interview request down, she comes up with a cheeky idea to catch his attention – a big red bus emblazoned with a very bold message. Will he listen to her now?
Elsewhere, Hugh is up in the middle of the night activating his own attention seeking campaign which sees Grant Shapps in the firing line, but will Hugh come a cropper with the police?
After his own brush with the Met Police, Kevin finally gets in front of Michael Gove, who promises him an interview... but it’s not long before Gove disappears once again into thin air.
The series ends with what seems like good news for Hugh - the onshore wind ban has been lifted, or has it? And then Rishi Sunak’s Net Zero speech angers Mary, Hugh and Kevin. They are frustrated the government isn’t doing more and seems to be gaslighting the public. They end with a rallying cry to the audience to use their power as citizens, consumers and in the ballot box to shape the policy this country and the world needs to tackle climate change.
Read More | Download flyer
Kevin will focus on the appalling state of British houses that are wasting energy unnecessarily when the government could so easily demand better. Mary will take on the government over their uniquely generous treatment of the oil and gas sector. And Hugh goes on a mission to get the senseless ban on onshore wind lifted. Between them, these three veteran campaigners will use every trick in the book to hold government and big business to account.
The series kicks off with Kevin, Mary and Hugh hearing from some of the country’s foremost climate experts that the government’s performance on climate change is appalling. The experts tell the presenters that there is a solution, it’s the 6th Carbon Budget written by the government’s own advisors, the Climate Change Committee. The solutions exist, the government just needs to implement them... But Number 10 isn’t following the Committee’s advice.
Fired up by the government’s fearmongering on net zero, Kevin heads to the Swedish town of Vaxjo to find out what a carbon free life looks like. He finds out that in Vaxjo, climate change is not being used as a political football, but instead as a common goal for politicians to work towards, and the benefits for residents are clear.
Meanwhile, Hugh commences his campaign to lift the ban on onshore wind with a visit to a Shropshire town whose onshore wind project is at risk of being scuppered by a few objectors. The defacto ban, put in place by David Cameron in 2015 has not only cost us all £180 extra on our energy bills, but also means we continue to burn expensive foreign oil and gas.
Mary is on a mission to get our Prime Minister to read the 6th Carbon Budget and recruits the help of professional prankster Oobah Butler to try to catch Rishi’s attention. He makes a trip to Downing Street.
Returning from his trip to Sweden, Kevin meets a man who thinks there might be a connection between large donations given to the Conservative party by the property industry and the fact this government isn’t demanding that the same industry builds better new homes. Kevin has heard that Britain’s most profitable housebuilder have lobbied government over green policies in the past, so he gets himself into an industry dinner with the aim of asking them some questions – are they still trying to water down better building standards?
Having been turned down for an interview, Hugh tracks Grant Shapps down at a conference with hopes of getting him to lift the ban on onshore wind. Hugh spots an opportunity to speak to Shapps, but will he listen?
The final episode begins with Mary investigating the uniquely generous tax regime that benefits the oil and gas industry. She’s shocked to discover that the government plans to cover the cost of developing Carbon Capture and Storage projects with taxpayer money rather than asking the polluting and wealthy oil and gas industry to pay. But that’s not the worst of it, at a time when we should be weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, she finds out that Britain is the most profitable place in the world to open an oil and gas project. She asks Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for an interview.
Oobah is still working on brilliant ways to get the PM to read the 6th Carbon budget, and now he’s come to Fairbourne, in Wales, which is under threat from rising sea levels and due to be decommissioned in 2054. The residents, who could be the UK’s first climate refugees, are furious and they too have messages for government.
The presenters now all have government ministers in their sights. When Jeremy Hunt turns Mary’s interview request down, she comes up with a cheeky idea to catch his attention – a big red bus emblazoned with a very bold message. Will he listen to her now?
Elsewhere, Hugh is up in the middle of the night activating his own attention seeking campaign which sees Grant Shapps in the firing line, but will Hugh come a cropper with the police?
After his own brush with the Met Police, Kevin finally gets in front of Michael Gove, who promises him an interview... but it’s not long before Gove disappears once again into thin air.
The series ends with what seems like good news for Hugh - the onshore wind ban has been lifted, or has it? And then Rishi Sunak’s Net Zero speech angers Mary, Hugh and Kevin. They are frustrated the government isn’t doing more and seems to be gaslighting the public. They end with a rallying cry to the audience to use their power as citizens, consumers and in the ballot box to shape the policy this country and the world needs to tackle climate change.
Read More | Download flyer
Starring: Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Mary Portas
Produced By: Keo Films
Producer: Martha Delap
Executive Producer: Will Andersen
Broadcaster: Channel 4 | Year of Production: 2023
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