5 Climate Change Documentaries You Need To Watch Now

It’s Friday night, you’re tucked in bed with a glass of wine and trying to cope with your eco-anxiety. You’ve already binge-watched Planet Earth and Cowspiracy, and you’re totally sick of The Inconvenient Truth by now. Or maybe you haven’t had the courage to dabble in documentary-mania. Whether you are an environmental policy nerd and activist or a bit of a climate documentary skeptic, we have the top picks for you.

Our Planet (2019)

This eight-part docu-series takes viewers through the planet’s spectacular beauty, and examines the ways in which climate change impacts the Earth’s living creatures. Narrated by Emmy and BAFTA-winner Sir David Attenborough, Our Planet is perfect for binge-watching and will make you want to do something (anything!) to protect our utterly gorgeous home sphere. 

Available on Netflix. 

Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale (2016)

Nadeli: A Baby Elephant’s Tale is a documentary following the life of Naledi, an orphaned African elephant, and the efforts of a group of rescuers to save her life. It seeks to spread a wider message about the plight of the planet’s largest living land mammals, whose numbers have declined by 62% in just the past decade. With an estimated 100 African elephants being killed daily by poachers for ivory and meat, not to mention the environmental threats to their natural habitat, these beloved creatures could go extinct within the next decade! 

Available on Netflix. 

Eating Animals (2017)

Do you know what’s really on your plate? Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s best-selling memoir and narrated and produced by Natalie Portman, Eating Animals will open your eyes to the environmental, economic and health issues of industrial animal farming. The film goes back to the history of food production in the United States to show how farming has evolved from being sustainable and local to the complete opposite, exposing the livestock agriculture industry’s entrenched animal exploitation, its heavy use of antibiotics and hormones, and the carbon emissions, land and water pollution inherent to meat rearing. One thing’s for sure: you will question everything you eat after watching this. 

Available on Hulu and Amazon Prime. 

Mission Blue (2014)

Infamous oceanographer Sylvia Earle has spent her entire life documenting the world’s oceans, and advocating for change to protect it from pollution. Mission Blue goes through Earle’s journey in telling the world how much destruction humans have done to the oceans and aquatic life. This documentary will make you see the situation through her lens, whilst also offering an element of hope about how our actions can help save the oceans from further destruction. 

Available on Netflix. 

Chasing Ice (2012)

Chasing Ice is a documentary exploring the melting glaciers in the Arctic circle. It is a visual masterpiece by National Geographic photographer James Balog that records global warming’s effect on the melting ice caps. The incredible landscapes captured in the film will make you think twice about how your daily actions have impacted the environment. 

Available on Netflix and Amazon Prime. 

Lead image courtesy of Freepik.