TELL OFCOM:  Climate harms are not “hypothetical”

Watch: GB News broadcast says ‘harms of climate change are largely hypothetical’

Read our complaint to GB News

On 16 March, GB News’s Nana Akua show invited a guest who said that ‘the harms of climate change are still very much hypothetical and likened climate awareness to “climate catastrophism”. The host did not challenge these views, and the guests who appeared afterwards also each presented their own arguments against climate action.
Together, Stop Funding Heat supporters will argue that this program failed to meet the requirement for ‘due impartiality and due accuracy’ — a requirement under Rule 5.1 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code.

Submit your complaint to Ofcom using this form and by following the guidance below.

Programme details

Programme title: Nana Akua
Date of broadcast: 16 March 2024
Time of broadcast (24 hour clock): 17:22-17:35
Channel / station: GB News

Your complaint

Subject: GB News’s Nana Akua programme breaches rule 5.1 on due impartiality and due accuracy when discussing the NHS’s plan to address climate change

Description:

Here’s a few bullet points to include:

  • Guest Andrew Montfort, director of Net Zero Watch and author of a climate change sceptic blog, made statements that raise concerns regarding accuracy. He said “the harms of climate change are still very much hypothetical. And so we should deal with the certainties rather than the possibilities.” The presenter, Nana Akua, did not challenge Monfort’s remarks but rather nodded and responded with “interesting, very much.” Additionally, Montfort likened climate change awareness to “climate catastrophism” stating that it is “like a religion.”
  • These statements are particularly concerning when considered alongside the views expressed by the presenter and other guests, business consultant Brian Catt and journalist Danny Kelly.
  • The absence of a range of viewpoints and the alignment of all guests and the presenter against initiatives related to addressing climate change further implies a failure to meet the requirement for due impartiality and accuracy.
  • This coverage appears to be in violation of Rule 5.1 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code. I urge Ofcom to investigate this matter and take appropriate action.

For more information, the full complaint submitted by Stop Funding Heat relating to this suspected violation is available here.

This page includes all the information you need to lodge a complaint to Ofcom. 

Deadline for complaints: April 12, 2024 11:59 pm

Submitting a complaint to Ofcom should take you less than 10 minutes and is completed via a form on their website.

Go straight to OFCOM
Read our guide

Submitting a complaint to Ofcom should take you less than 10 minutes and is completed via a form on their website.

  • Ofcom is the UK’s public regulator for communications services. Among other responsibilities, their job is to ensure that TV channels uphold the Broadcasting Code. This code requires broadcasters to protect the public from harmful and offensive material, avoid unjust or unfair treatment of individuals and organisations, and report the news with due accuracy and impartiality.
  • Ofcom has real power to yield. Sanctions they can issue include directions not to repeat content, fines — and crucially, the power to suspend or revoke a TV channel’s licence to broadcast.
  • Ofcom must carefully consider every single complaint to see if their rules have been broken. If the complaint is strong, Ofcom will launch a formal investigation process.
  • Ofcom will not reply to each specific complaint but instead publishes records of the complaints received, investigations underway and breaches on their website, every fortnight.
  • Complaints must be about a specific breach of the code and submitted within 20 days of the program going to air.