Blackadder star and veteran Time Team presenter Sir Tony Robinson told Sky News he wanted the message on climate change to be less pessimistic and more optimistic.
“I’ve been frustrated for some time with the way we talk about climate change,” he said.
“It’s like there’s nothing but unhappiness and sadness.
“We might as well suck our thumbs, sit in the corner and wait to die.”
Sir Tony, who has made several documentaries on climate change, was speaking at the launch of video game Floodland, a survival title set after a climate-induced apocalypse.
The city builder forces players to face environmental challenges as humanity tries to survive after a catastrophic flood wipes out most of the population.
“We cannot be paralyzed in inactivity”
Sir Tony said the games are a way to reach a generation that has become prone to climate anxiety and show them there is still hope for the future of the planet.
“I was looking for pieces of culture that would discuss these really serious things but do it in a creative and even upbeat way,” he said.
“I think it’s very important that we don’t just teach children that climate change is so terrible that they should be paralyzed into inactivity.
“There’s evidence that some kids are starting to think that, but we don’t have to teach them that.
“We need to teach them the positives – and what better way to teach them that than on their screens?”
Read more:
Can play make us greener?
The impact of flooding is visible throughout the game. Photo: Vile Monarch
“The biggest problem facing the planet”
Floodland developer Vile Monarch chose the city-builder genre to complement the game’s message.
“The idea of the game was to make you feel constructive,” said writer Alexander Stoganov.
“A lot of games pit you against terrible atrocities that people can commit against each other to survive, and this game shows just how constructive you can be.”
Despite the game’s sometimes depressing aesthetic, Sir Tony compared it to a Shakespearean tragedy.
“You don’t walk away from most productions of Othello and King Lear and think, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going back to the theater again, it was all so miserable’.
“You celebrate the play, you celebrate the acting, and that’s, I think, what Floodland does so well.
“He’s looking for a new way to tackle the biggest problem facing the planet.”
Read more:
How “green” is your local town center?
Floodland tasks you with rebuilding society after a climate catastrophe. Photo: Vile Monarch
“We must hold politicians accountable”
Regardless of projects like Floodland, Sir Tony said a lot more action was needed from governments to tackle the climate crisis.
In this month fall statementChancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced the government will proceed with the Sizewell C nuclear power station to boost energy security and further diversify harmful carbon.
It has also pledged an additional £6 billion in energy efficiency funding from 2025.
Sir Tony said: “There are aspirations in this, there are things that will help us, but there is also a lot of hot air – and that’s where we come in, because we have to hold the politicians responsible.
“Alone, as individuals, there is a limit to what we can do: we can lead by example, eat a little less burgers.
“It’s ordinary people and governments working together that will solve this problem.”
The climate fair with Tom Heap
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday and The Climate Show with Tom Heap Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.
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The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
