The BBC has performed a U-turn and amended one of its educational pages after criticism over text that highlighted “positive effects of climate change”.
The broadcaster was called to task by leading environmentalist George Monbiot who condemned the messaging on its Bitesize page which said climate change is good because more resources, such as oil, would become available “in places such as Alaska and Siberia when the ice melts”.
It also stated that warmer temperatures “could lead to healthier outdoor lifestyles”, particularly in the UK.
However, just a few hours later, the page had been edited to remove all “positive effects” and now just focuses on the negative aspects, including the risk of some species becoming extinct, rising sea levels and an increase in diseases such as malaria.
The BBC told i it had “reviewed the page and are amending the content to be in line with current curricula”.
BBC Bitesize is the BBC’s free online study support resource for school-age pupils in the UK, designed to aid pupils of all ages in both schoolwork and exams.
Mr Monbiot thanked everyone who had commented on and shared his tweet and added: “The BBC has now dropped that ridiculous list of “positive” aspects of our global catastrophe. But two questions remain: why did it think this fossil fuel propaganda was an appropriate teaching tool, and why did it ignore previous requests to change it?”
He then said: “To those seeking to blame this on the exam boards: no, this nonsense didn’t come from them, but was developed independently by the BBC. I think, as licence payers, we have a right to know how, why and by whom.”
The BBC told i the page had been amended and there was nothing more to add.
This also came on the day the Queen made a significant intervention on climate change as she and Princess Anne, the Princess Royal visited the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI) – her final engagement as part of the traditional Royal Week visit to Scotland.
Mr Monbiot had earlier highlighted one of the Bitesize pages, aimed at GCSE pupils, which focuses on climate change and the effects of a rise in the Earth’s temperature due to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The writer and activist took to his Twitter page to call out the BBC and wrote: “This is what @bbcbitesize is teaching our children about climate breakdown.
“I’m sorry, but it’s an absolute disgrace. You could come away thinking: ‘on balance, it sounds pretty good’. It could have been written by Exxon.”
Exxon, or ExxonMobil, is a US multinational oil and gas corporation
“The BBC has a long and disgraceful history of both-sidesing the greatest threat to life on Earth. Every so often, it puts out a memo claiming it has got its act together. Then it fails again. People who make this content believe “neutrality” = impartiality. It’s the opposite.
“Here is one of the ‘positive’ aspects of the collapse of our life support systems it lists: ‘more resources, such as oil, becoming available in places such as Alaska and Siberia when the ice melts’.
“Are they actually trying to misdirect and bamboozle GCSE students?”
Another “positive effect” BBC Bitesize cites is “new tourist destinations becoming available, to which Mr Monbiot quipped: “Birmingham-on-Sea?”
And he soon got his followers talking as one said: “Old tourist destinations can repackage as diving holidays.”
To which another referred to three British nuclear power stations and replied: “The sea will be particularly warm around Sizewell, Berkley, Dungeness… a lot of heat in flooded nuclear reactors. Year-round watersports!”
