Favourite Climate Crisis Documentaries

Seeing as COP26 is coming up in Glasgow, I thought I'd collect together a load of the documentaries which helped me to learn more about the climate crisis and which I highly recommend watching.

These documentaries all focus specifically on different aspects of the climate and ecological crisis and what is contributing to those, however, if you just want to watch some documentaries to motivate you to solve the climate crisis then there are also some wonderful nature documentaries out there. Some honourable mentions would have to be anything done by David Attenborough and for general travel with some landscape and nature thrown in, then I would recommend Simon Reeve and Romesh Ranganathan's documentaries.

Blackfish

This documentary is about Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive killer whales. It helped me to really consider the impacts of places like SeaWorld and safari parks or zoos. This one is definitely a tear-jerker though, especially if you know anything about the intelligence of mammals in the sea.

Planet of the Humans

This documentary is probably for the people already with a lot of knowledge about the climate crisis because it examines the decision of environmental groups and leaders to partner with billionaires and corporations to help save the planet and questions whether green energy can actually help even though they also use up resources and involve some forms of fossil fuels and non-renewable energy sources. Me and my family enjoyed this one although it can make you feel pessimistic about the climate crisis, although I think I was probably already pessimistic anyway.

Cowspiracy

This documentary is all about eating a plant-based diet for the planet so being vegan or vegetarian or somewhere close to that. It discusses the impact of animal agriculture on the environment including with regards to climate change, water use, deforestation and ocean dead zones. This helped to make my brother decide to go from a meat eater to a vegetarian (he's now a vegan) and helped me to eat a mostly vegan diet. So if you feel like you need convincing to try meat-free Monday or only eating meat in 1 out of 3 meals a day or to try swapping out your protein sources occasionally, then check out this documentary.

Seaspiracy

This documentary is from the makers of Cowspiracy and looks at the environmental impact of fishing. This made me so happy that I had already given up eating fish and meat some time beforehand because it was pretty stressful to know everything that comes with the fishing industry and how ruinous that is to the ocean and the wildlife there. I recommend this documentary although as some criticism of it has stated, the facts may not always be 100% accurate and they are out to target the people who are meant to be advocating for the wildlife and are lying about it so you can take what you want from this documentary. 

The True Cost 

This documentary is all about the fast fashion industry and its effects on the garment workers, cotton farmers, and the environment from when the clothes are made to when they are discarded. It examines the consumerism and mass media of the fast fashion industry and links this to global capitalism. It is a brilliant documentary with stunning investigative journalism. I watched it when I had almost fully decided to never buy a new piece of clothing again (see here for more on that) and this definitely helped me to decide for sure.

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

This is a wonderful film about Attenborough's love of nature and has been dubbed his "witness statement for the natural world and vision for the future". Really it is just a piece all about nature and wildlife and the natural world and how beautiful all of it is and how if humans don't change our ways and decide to reverse the climate and ecological crisis and sixth mass extinction then we will lose a whole lot more than just somewhere to live. Watch it. 

Extinction: The Facts

This documentary is all about the sixth mass extinction which is the mass extinction event currently happening and caused by us humans, and the consequences of biodiversity loss and climate change. This documentary does not shy away from the facts or the horrors of what we have done to our planet but it does give up some hope and some solutions which can help to spur us on to reversing this crisis. I highly recommend it if you are interested in the facts around extinction and how this is much higher than the base level extinction rate expected for our planet.

Apocalypse Cow: How Meat Killed the Planet

This is George Monbiot's documentary all about the effects of eating meat and animal products on the environment and how we should all try to transition to plant-based or vegan diets (if we can and especially if we are privileged). Again this one is all about the problems with animal agriculture and how they destroy the environment and contribute to the climate crisis.

AN HONOURABLE MENTION OF ONE I NEED TO WATCH

Rivercide

This documentary is George Monbiot's documentary about the pollution entering our rivers and how bad that problem really is. I haven't watched this one yet but I love Monbiot's journalism and have high hopes for this one especially as it will focus on a problem that is close to home here in England.