Duke hails TV writers for ‘planet placement’ messages in shows
‘This really is Prince William’s baby, which is why Earthshot is now fourth in line to the throne’
THE Duke of Cambridge has praised television writers for inserting “planet placement” messages into their shows to keep climate change at the forefront of viewers’ minds.
The Duke hailed the “innovative” and “emotive” environmental messages written into programmes to persuade audiences to help save the planet.
In a video address to Bafta in his role as president, he shared his hope that writers would do more to keep “environmental issues high up on the agenda”.
His message introduced a special segment at the Bafta Television Awards highlighting “planet placement”, in which “sustainability messages” are worked into drama, documentaries, sports and entertainment shows.
Recent examples, praised in a 2021 report about UK broadcasting, include the BBC’S Great British Sewing Bee competition which had a section on transforming charity shop clothes with a view to sustainability, and an episode dedicated to “reduce, reuse, recycle”.
Another was Sky using its broadcast of the north London derby between Arsenal and Spurs – watched by 2.6 million fans – to hold a “sustainability-themed quiz” between two footballers.
The Duke has made the environment one of the cornerstones of his work, creating the Earthshot Prize to encourage the public to find solutions to the most critical challenges facing the planet over a decade.
During last night’s awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Duke said: “Now more than ever, programme makers have a unique opportunity to ensure climate change and sustainability remain at the forefront of our collective consciousness.
“By creating innovative, educational and emotive content for television, writers and producers are playing a unique role in ensuring the future of our planet is something that we all want to talk about.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen some fantastic examples of this across a wide variety of programmes and genres. I hope you will all continue to carry on your invaluable work, keeping environmental issues high up on the agenda of programming in the years ahead.”
Dermot O’leary gave a “special thanks” to the Duke after accepting the Best Live Event award for the Earthshot Prize, which the presenter described as Prince William’s “baby”. He said that working on the show had been a “privilege” and “the most life-affirming experience for all of us”.
He added: “A word as well, just a special thanks to Prince William, because it is very easy to be cynical about someone who comes from such privilege but he approached the whole thing with this incredible empathy and enthusiasm, vitality, and this really is his baby, which is why Earthshot is now fourth in line to the throne.”
In 2019, Bafta hosted a launch event titled “Planet Placement”, aimed at teaching the film and television industries to “help to raise awareness about climate change by introducing sustainability messages into the content we see on our screens”. The organisation said: “Its purpose is to challenge the creative community and inspire them to create world-changing content.”
That year, Christiana Figueres, the former executive secretary of the United Nations Climate Convention, who is now chairman of the Earthshot Prize, told programme makers: “We must get out of the story that we cannot address it, and replace that mindset with determination, creativity and innovation. Bafta can help us do that.”
The 2021 report found that, across the main British television channels, the number of times “climate change” was mentioned in one year rose from 3,125 in 2018 to 12,715 in 2020.