12 Of The Best Climate Change Documentaries To Watch This Earth Day
Today is Earth Day, a day dedicated to protecting the environment and the world around us. To mark the occasion, we’ve put together a list of some of the best climate and nature documentaries to watch.
These documentaries not only teach more about conserving the planet and fighting climate change, but also showcase the incredible wildlife and scenic vistas on Earth. Here are 12 of the best climate documentaries to watch this Earth Day:
Planet Earth III
The latest instalment of the Planet Earth series, Planet Earth III, sees the 97-year-old David Attenborough doing what he does best: providing unparalleled knowledge about our world with some truly amazing footage. Like all of Attenborough’s recent documentaries, PEIII comes with a message of the importance of conservation and stressing that time is running out to save the environment, with episodes showing how natural habitats for all sorts of animals are fast-changing. Despite the important warning though, the series is full of hope for the future and there’s some typically awesome animal antics: wild dogs, gliding tree frogs, huge rhinos and colourful birds are just a few of the creatures inhabiting the series.
Watch it on: iPlayer
I Am Greta
The modern, Gen Z face of the climate movement, Greta Thunberg has become one of the most famous figures in the fight against climate change. You’ll know her from news stories and social media debates, but I Am Greta takes a look at the activist behind the headlines. Released in 2020, two years after she began to receive attention for her climate change strikes, the doc follows the teenage Swede as she continues to demand stronger action on the issue. There’s a lot here about her personally and why she decided to start speaking out, and her first protests outside the parliament building in Stockholm. You’ll also learn about her family and how her Asperger’s affects her thinking, as well as building resistance to criticism. If you feel like you want to know more about the world-famous campaigner, I Am Greta is the place to start.
Watch it on: iPlayer, Disney+
Blackfish
Acclaimed, BAFTA nominated Blackfish represents the increasingly popular view that venues like SeaWorld and similar sea animal parks are often cruel to their captive creatures and unethical. Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film examines how orcas in particular are treated by SeaWorld, and focuses on Tilikum, an orca who killed, or was involved with, three deaths at the park. Orcas are not naturally highly aggressive, and the doc lays out the case that the fact that Tilikum was involved in three out of the four deaths of humans in contact with captive orcas suggests that captive treatment results in this kind of behaviour. It had a strong impact in 2013, resorting in lower ticket sales for SeaWorld.
Watch it on: Apple TV
Before the Flood
One of the most famous figures in the climate movement is Leonardo DiCaprio– so much so that he’s slowed down his film star career to focus on it. Before the Flood is one of a number of projects he’s been involved in about climate change, and covers how it has affected different areas of the globe. Being one of the biggest names in showbiz, DiCaprio was able to attract plenty of prominent figures for the film, including Barack Obama, Pope Francis, Elon Musk, Sunita Narain, Johan Rockstrom, John Kerry and Ban Ki-Moon.The actor himself narrates and is seen in different areas of the globe as he investigates the impact of climate change, and also refutes and argues against climate denial, particularly from lobbyists and politicians.
Watch it on: Disney+
An Inconvenient Truth and An Inconvenient Sequel:
Truth to Power
Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was released back in 2006, and while the general ideas behind it are now more common knowledge than it was then, it’s still worth seeing now. The former US Vice President became dedicated to the climate movement, and this film did much to alert people to the problem of climate change. It’s not very flashy, but it distils the details of why the world is changing into a digestible hour and a half, as well as outlining solutions. It was and remains an important documentary for its warnings on an issue that’s only gotten worse since. The 2017 sequel follows how the battle around climate change has evolved, including progress made and further problems. Gore also addresses climate denial espoused by some political leaders and why it must be overcome.
Watch An Inconvenient Truth on Paramount Plus and the sequel on Amazon Prime
2040
With climate change, it can sometimes be tricky to think far ahead into the future to imagine what the world will look like decades down the line. Director Damon Gameau has done that thinking for us, setting his documentary-feature film hybrid in the year 2040, and envisioning a world that could be. Motivated by his concern about what things will look like for his daughter in the future, he imagines the earth of 2040 where humanity has embraced methods to combat climate change, and altered our lives to slow it down. It’s less about apocalyptic warnings for the future, and more about what can be achieved if governments and businesses choose different paths. There’s a lot of focus on preserving the planet for future generations, and utilising the best ideas we’ve currently got.
Watch it on: Apple TV
A Plastic Ocean
One of the biggest issues causing climate change and damage to the planet is the abundance of plastic and other waste polluting oceans. A Plastic Ocean follows several researchers and divers as they document the devastating effects of plastic pollution, and just how much of it there is around the world. Aside from ruining the vistas of the sea, the plastic problem harms underwater life, with dolphins, whales, seals and other sea creatures ingesting and becoming entangled with waste. The pollution also increasingly impacts the habitats of animals as well as destroying coral life, adding to for example the huge decline of the Great Barrier Reef. The doc highlights how we need to step up efforts to prevent more pollution, and try to mitigate the damage already caused.
Watch it on: Apple TV
Chasing Ice
Think of climate change and global warming, and an enduring image is of melting icecaps. This is what Chasing Ice is about: the 2012 film follows photographer James Balog as he sets out to document the effects of climate change. Along with the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), the photographer travels to parts of Greenland, Iceland and Alaska to photograph and record images to help explain climate change and the threat it poses. Originally a climate sceptic himself, Balog over time came to realise how urgent the crisis has become after taking trips to icy areas. He and his team use time lapses to capture climate change in action, and you’ll watch as a huge chunk of glacier collapses into the sea. It’s a fascinating and often hard-hitting watch.
Watch it on: Apple TV
Chasing Coral
Another symbol of just how fast climate change has gone over the decades is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, an underwater vista and the world’s largest coral reef system. As the years have gone on, the amazing coral there has slowly been bleached and has been damaged by pollution and the changing environment, and this forms the core of Chasing Coral. A team of filmmakers dive beneath the surface to examine the side of climate change that we don’t see in our everyday lives, investigating how and why the Great Barrier and other coral reefs have slowly withered away. Of course, it’s not just a loss of wonderful colours and underwater views that’s a problem, but also the damaging impact the loss of coral is having on the wider ecosystem, harming millions of fish and other creatures over time.
Watch it on: Netflix
My Octopus Teacher
My Octopus Teacher lit up the internet when it was released back in 2020 and charts the relationship between Craig Foster, a naturalist and filmmaker, and a wild octopus. Foster had been diving in South African waters when he came across a young octopus that he decided to follow for close to a year. Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed’s documentary will make you appreciate how humans and nature can connect, and how we can learn lessons about ourselves from the animal world. This is a film less about the negative effects that humans can have on the planet, and more about how we can have a positive bond with animals and our environment. It won the Best Documentary Oscar in 2021, and you’ll probably never get as emotional over an octopus as in these 85 minutes.
Watch it on: Netflix
Jane
Jane is a documentary all about the life of primatologist Jane Goodall, and how she became the world’s leading expert on chimps and their lives. It chronicles how she evolved from an untrained 26-year-old in the late 1950s assigned to observe chimps to her status as a renowned conservationist. It’s amazing to watch her interactions with chimps and discover how close they are to us, and her work to improve our understanding of primates. You’ll also see how she overcame criticism and pushback for her discovery of chimps using objects as tools, and her observations of chimps exhibiting human-like behaviour, like apparent depression and territorial fights. Much like My Octopus Teacher, it shows how humans and animals can coexist peacefully.
Watch it on: Disney+
Our Living World
A recent addition to Netflix, Our Living World is narrated by Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett, and is both a nature documentary and an important warning about the effects of climate change. Here in particular, the focus is on ecosystems and how every animal and plant affects others- and how these systems are vulnerable to breaking down. A striking image from the show is a rhino slowly plodding through a town, apparently unbothered by the humans there watching it, and this is just one example of our interaction with the animal world. There’s plenty of shots of creatures big and small, cute and fearsome, as Blanchett takes us through just how they’re connected to each other. For some truly impressive nature eye candy, Netflix’s new series is one to watch.
Watch it on: Netflix
