Climate change may be one of the greatest existential crises facing humanity, but to what degree does it permeate movie storytelling?
A new study by consultancy Good Energy has sought to find out, by exploring the level to which climate change appears in this year’s Oscar nominations.
According to the group’s study, 31% of the eligible nominees this year acknowledged climate change – either depicting climate change to some degree, or having one of the characters reference it.
Climate change
Climate change references were most pronounced in Arco, Bugonia, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus and Sirat, the study found, with Good Energy describing 2026 as ‘a defining year for climate at the Oscars’.
Elsewhere, environmental messages are evident in Avatar: Fire and Ash, Hamnet and Train Dreams.
Previous research by Good Energy has shown that climate change is rarely addressed in mainstream cinema. A study of 250 popular films released between 2013 and 2022 found that only 9.6% met its criteria, dubbed the ‘climate reality check’.
Among Academy Award nominees, the proportion has similarly varied – in 2024, 23% of eligible nominees passed the climate reality check, while only 10% did so in 2025.
Turned a corner?
Commenting on Good Energy’s study, Yale Climate Connections questioned whether Hollywood has ‘turned a corner’ in terms of the representation of climate change in film, pointing to 2026’s run of films to date, and forthcoming features, such as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the Dune finale, Wuthering Heights and The Bride!
“While there’s a chance that more than 31% of the eligible Oscar winners will pass the climate reality check in 2027, it seems equally likely that the tally will fall back to 2025’s 10%,” noted Yale Climate Connections’ Michael Svoboda.
“I see nothing in the FirstShowing.net schedule for 2026 that might offer an extended engagement with climate change. Just more aliens, zombies, races/hunts/competitions to the death, and the psychopathic killers of horror films. Oh, and AI!”
‘Stop procrastinating’
This year marks ten years since actor Leonardo DiCaprio used his acceptance speech for Best Actor (for The Revenant) to talk about the urgency of tackling climate change.
“Climate change is real, it is happening right now,” he said. “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.” Read more here and here.
