Can storytelling help save the planet? Netflix thinks so: The company worked with the team behind the United Nations’ COP26 international climate conference to curate a collection of sustainability stories on the streaming service.
The Netflix “Together for Our Planet” collection of 30 TV shows, films and documentaries includes real-life nature documentaries like “Our Planet” and Oscar-winner “My Octopus Teacher”; climate-science docs like “Breaking Boundaries”; dramas like Norwegian TV series “Ragnorak”; sustainability travelogue series “Down to Earth With Zac Efron”; and films including Bong Joon-ho’s pro-vegetarian fantasy “Okja” (pictured above) and Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax.”
To be sure, Netflix also sees an opportunity to incrementally boost its subscriber rolls as well as burnish its brand with the eco-friendly content initiative.
Netflix customers can browse the collection at this link. The company also is making episodes from original series “Our Planet” and “Explained,” as well as feature-length documentary “Chasing Coral,” available for free to anyone on YouTube in a new playlist (at this link).
The collection launches ahead of the UN’s COP26 global climate summit, taking place Nov. 1-12 in Glasgow, Scotland.
“We can no longer afford to wait to act against the threat of climate change. But we still have time to write our own future,” Alok Sharma, president of COP 26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, said in a statement. “I hope this collection of stories on environmental and climate action inspires even more people, and their leaders, to take action as the world gathers together for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.”
In a recent study commissioned by Netflix, 62% of people surveyed said they’re “extremely interested” or “very interested” in watching TV shows and movies that touch on climate issues. The survey of 13,000 adults in 16 countries was conducted over the summer of 2021 by National Research Group.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Netflix announced its “Net Zero + Nature” initiative, under which the streamer committed to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2022 (and every year afterward).
Here’s the full list of titles on the “Together for Our Planet” list:
- 72 Dangerous Places to Live
- A Holiday in the Wild
- A Plastic Ocean
- Absurd! Planet
- Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
- Chasing Coral
- David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
- Down to Earth with Zac Efron
- Fire Chasers
- Fire in Paradise
- Green Frontier
- IO: Last on Earth
- Izzy’s Koala World
- Kiss the Ground
- Mission Blue
- My Octopus Teacher
- Okja
- Our Planet
- Our Planet: Behind the Scenes
- Penguin Town
- Ragnarok
- The Minimalists: Less is Now
- There’s Something in the Water
- Tiny Creatures
