An Inconvenient Truth
On 22nd June I made the short walk from my office in Parliament to the National Film Theatre to attend the premiere of a new film. The film was introduced by two of the most recognisable men either side of the Atlantic, but this was no red carpet moment – this was serious stuff. Former US Vice President Al Gore was in town to introduce his film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. He was introduced by Gordon Brown who welcomed Al Gore and his film for bringing to the public eye what is undoubtedly the most important issue of our time – climate change.
For the next hour and a half the audience were informed, enthused, and at times horrified. The film offers an articulate and digestible narrative on the causes and effects of climate change and of the link between our accelerating carbon emissions and our changing climate. Some of the visual elements of the film are truly shocking – receding glaciers, collapsing ice sheets, cataclysmic flooding and droughts.
Don’t be put off by the description of the film as a documentary, or that a large chunk of the film is quite simply Al Gore presenting a slide show. It is slick, entertaining and captivating whilst making hard science uncomplicated and marrying intellectual force with moral urgency. Al Gore’s personality genuinely comes through in the part biopic moments of the film, but in mapping out his decades-long crusade it never strays from its real intention of debunking myths and bringing clarity to the debate.
Climate change is not just a political issue, but a moral one. This film is a great informative and inspirational telling of hard truths. It recognises the reality of the crisis and persuasively makes the case for changes in our behaviour. As Gore says, “It’s just human nature to take time to connect the dots. But there can be a day of reckoning when you wish you had connected the dots more quickly.” This film sets out today’s greatest challenge to us all.