Summary

We time travel to 1979 and the rumblings of science that has politicians, industry leaders and a few members of the public, on the alert. Some of the world’s most respected scientists have presented findings that leave little doubt: The planet is warming and human activity is making it happen.

Huge strides are made as politicians from different continents and opposing ends of the political spectrum come together to understand and act. Energy industries add evidence from their own comprehensive scientific studies and leap into research around alternative energies. Jimmy Carter puts solar panels on top of the White House and welcomes a clean energy future.

In a single decade, a crisis studied by just a few scientists becomes the subject of Senate hearings. It makes front-page news and prompts the largest diplomatic negotiations in the world’s history. Renewable energy research and production promises ingenious solutions to transition us from fossil fuels. The IPCC is formed, and a treaty signed by nearly all of the world’s nations. Ambitious emissions reduction targets are set. It’s extraordinary progress.

But in the early 1990s, seemingly invisibly, a new threat – that isn’t carbon – changes everything: disinformation. It’s not just false or inaccurate information that proliferates, but inaccurate information created with the intention to confuse, conflate and misrepresent the science of climate change: Disinformation.

The C Word looks at the last half century of climate science and plays it against the corresponding timeline of contradictory business messaging, political showboating and media contortion to reveal, simply and clearly, how evidence of a warming planet was translated into something speculative at best and, at worst, the raving of doomsday prophets. Using only what was said and heard at the time, we let world leaders, heads of industry and the media reveal the critical role communication has played in shaping public opinion on climate.   

The C Word is a 100% archive film - and that makes it 100% unique. By relying exclusively on archive material, we can’t indulge in the luxury of hindsight. Instead, we are crafting a breathtaking ‘time accurate’ focus on how false information is created, spread and successfully changes how we think and act (or, in this case, don’t act).

We trace how, in the 1990’s climate science is politicised – until the message doesn’t matter, only the messenger. Al Gore and other ‘learjet liberals’ are accused of peddling their climate hoax and phoney facts. It’s suggested if these loonies are allowed to influence policy, single mothers in Utah will no longer be able to afford power or drive their Chevy.

We meet the foundations bank rolling 1.2 billion dollars to counter science. Not surprisingly, their message is getting traction. It becomes clear that there’s an institutionalised effort to oppose climate change legislation and an army of powerful people behind the scenes pulling the strings. It also becomes clear that they know their campaign isn’t about truth, it’s about creating doubt.

By 1996, scientists warn that most industrialised countries will not meet agreed limits. While fossil fuel funded think tanks, like The Committee for A Constructive Tomorrow commit to ‘educating the public and exposing global warming for what it truly is – a massive redistribution scheme’.

We follow this process, using the honesty and dynamism of archive, to the global crisis point of today; all the way to contemporary denialism and, in contrast, the people at the coalface of climate change impacts (and their supporters) who are rising to urgently address climate issues and decades squandered. This cohort includes politicians, business leaders, scientists, champions of alternative energy and ordinary people determined to be heard.     

And at the end of this film there is hope and clarity: A clarity that encourages us all to recognise the power of disinformation, engage with expert science and move forward in a powerful spirit of collaboration. 

By highlighting the problem, we highlight the solutions which are already in train. We introduce the nations where community, business and even political leadership now insist on zero carbon futures and renewable energy sources. The film will conclude with the geopolitical uprising and strategic alliances now turning the tide to prioritise climate justice.