Chris Packham has slammed the ‘right-wing’ media for its coverage of the climate crisis in an interview with The London Economic.
The broadcaster and popular conservationist said outlets were ‘assisting’ government ministers in making short term political gains by ‘obscuring the facts’ and ‘drowning out’ experts over the extent of the climate crisis.
It comes as the Daily Mail was accused in March of promoting climate change denial, while Extinction Rebellion claims it has been ignored by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom following complaints GBNews had platformed climate ‘sceptics’.
On one programme, former GBNews presenter Dan Wooton blasted activists and climate ambassadors for employing what he desired as ‘hysterical and provocative’ language to produce despair.
Calls for measures to tackle the climate crisis have increased significantly in recent months following the actions of protest groups such as Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain.
According to a YouGov poll published in June, more than half said they felt negatively about the future of the environment, while a separate survey released in October found two-thirds of Brits want the UK to lead the world on climate change.
Packham’s comments come just days after the conclusion of the 28th Conference of the Parties in Expo City, Dubai, which saw states approve a climate disaster “loss and damage fund”.
The former Autumn Watch presenter took aim at the talks, describing Cop28 a ‘wasted opportunity’ for world leaders to make progress on solutions to the climate crisis.
The summit drew fresh criticism this week with scientists describing the failure to call for a phase-out of fossil fuels ‘devastating’ and a ‘tragedy for the planet and our future’.
For the conservationist, who accused Rishi Sunak of playing ‘political football’ with green policies, the press have ‘drowned out’ the messages of environmental activist groups such as Just Stop Oil.
“I think that what we are competing against here is people that are determined to make short term gain, both personally and politically. And they have the very significant assistance of the right wing press, which continue to push their agenda and obscure the real facts,” he said.
“When the scientists, when the protesters, when the government and when the UN stand up and say: ‘Well, excuse me, that’s actually not true’, they’re drowned out. As a consequence, no one gets to hear it.
“I think we’re in a very difficult period at the moment whereby getting the truth more broadly and more excessively to our population has been made deliberately much more difficult.”
He added: “What we don’t hear is that groups block the street because they want a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energies. That’s their message. But that message isn’t cutting through because the right wing press drown it out and they don’t want it heard.”
Watch the full clip below:
Related: UN secretary general sends urgent message on the climate crisis
