The Climate Reality Check
is a tool designed to evaluate whether
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
is being represented in
films
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
,
TV shows
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...
, and other narratives. Developed by Good Energy
and Matthew Schneider-Mayerson,
this test was inspired by the
Bechdel Test
The Bechdel test ( ), also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a measure of the representation of women in film and other fiction. The test asks whether a work features at least two women who have a conversation about something other than a m ...
(also known as the Bechdel-Wallace Test
), which measures
gender representation
Gender diversity is equitable representation of people of different genders. It most commonly refers to an equitable ratio of men and women, but also includes people of non-binary genders. Gender diversity on corporate boards has been widely ...
in media.
The Climate Reality Check aims to ensure that climate change is depicted in on-screen stories.
History
The Climate Reality Check was introduced to address the absence of climate change representation in popular media.
The tool was developed through a collaboration between Good Energy, a nonprofit story consultancy, and Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, a researcher at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres.
Rice University comp ...
. The goal was to create a simple yet effective measure to encourage the inclusion of climate-related themes in entertainment media. According to the official Climate Reality Check website, the tool was authored by Dr. Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Carmiel Banasky, Bruno Olmedo Quiroga, and Anna Jane Joyner.
The Climate Reality Check made its first public debut on March 1st, 2024 on
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
,
[https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/2024/03/01/1235354889/all-things-considered-for-march-1-2024 All Things Considered] a
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
produced by
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
.
Criteria
To pass the Climate Reality Check, a narrative must meet the following criteria:
: 1. Climate Change Exists: The story must depict the presence of climate change through impacts or solutions. This can be shown through events like heatwaves, rising sea levels, or the use of renewable energy.
: 2. A Character Knows It: At least one character must demonstrate an awareness of climate change. This awareness can be shown through dialogue, narration, actions, or visual imagery, such as reading an article about climate change or discussing extreme weather events.
Application
The Climate Reality Check has been applied to films across multiple studies led by different organizations.
A research team at the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment at
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...
, led by Dr. Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, used the Climate Reality Check to conduct a systematic content analysis of 250 of the most popular fictional films released between 2013 and 2022. They found that only 9.6% of the 250 films passed the Climate Reality Check.
They also found that climate change was present in twice as many films released during the second half of the decade they examined (2018 to 2022) compared to the first half (2013 to 2017).
Films that included at least one character who is aware of climate change (passing both parts of the test) performed 10% better at the box office than those that did not.
Note: Since the Climate Reality Check is intended to check whether films are reflecting the reality of climate change, films that are high fantasy, not set on Earth, set before 2006, or set after 2100 were excluded.
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
applied the Climate Reality Check to the 20 films that earned the most at the box office from 2018-2022. Of those 20 films, 4 passed the Climate Reality Check: ''Aquaman'', ''Jurassic World Dominion'', ''Venom'' and ''Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'' — while ''The Batman'' passed only one element of the test
The Oscars
Thirty-one fictional, feature-length films received Oscar nominations in 2024. Of those, thirteen fit the Climate Reality Check's inclusion criteria: stories set in the present or near future, on Earth, in this universe. Those films were: ''Barbie'', ''American Fiction'', ''Anatomy of a Fall'', ''Past Lives'', ''May December'', ''Nyad'', ''Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One'', ''The Creator'', ''Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'', ''Io Capitano'', ''Perfect Days'', ''The Teachers' Lounge'', and G''odzilla Minus One''.
Of the nominated films coded, 23% (3 films) passed the Climate Reality Check. Those films were: ''Barbie'', ''Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One'', and ''Nyad''.
References
{{reflist
Film criticism
Tests
Media bias
Climate change