TELL OFCOM: GB News is misleading its viewers about greenhouse gases again

Watch: GB News host casts doubt that methane and carbon are bad for the environment.

On 31 July 2024, GB News host Bev Turner cast doubt on the scientific consensus that methane and carbon are bad for the environment. This unscientific assertion was not backed up by evidence or challenged in any way.

Turner’s claims about greenhouse gases violated Ofcom rules 5.1 and 5.7, which require impartiality, accuracy and avoiding misrepresenting facts.

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

Programme details:

Programme title: Britain’s Newsroom
Date of broadcast: 31 July 2024
Time of broadcast (24 hour clock): 11:51
Channel / station*: GB News

Your complaint:

Subject: GB News host Bev Turner made unscientific and misleading claims about greenhouse gases which were not challenged or counter-balanced. This was a violation of Ofcom rules 5.1 and 5.7, which require accuracy and impartiality.

Description:

Here’s a few bullet points to include:

• On 31st July, GB News Host Bev Turner on Britain’s Newsroom expressed doubt about the “consensus that methane and carbon is bad for the environment” and that “we need to move towards a carbon-zero environment”, claiming that “there’s disputes about that”.
• Turner has previously engaged in climate denial and minimisation on the show. 
• Turner’s claims were inaccurate and unscientific because methane and carbon dioxide are proven without doubt to be bad for the environment, and this basic fact is acknowledged by NASA, the UN, the ICPP, and countless scientific bodies. NASA identifies methane and carbon dioxide as two of the “Four Major Gases That Contribute to the Greenhouse Effect”, i.e. the trapping of heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This causes unsustainable temperature increases, leading to droughts and wildfires among many other things. It is basic climate denial for Turner to deny these scientific facts.
• Turner’s claims about greenhouse fases violated Ofcom rules 5.1 and 5.7, which require respectively that “News, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality” and that “Views and facts must not be misrepresented”.