James Norton: Make tackling climate change the next great human achievement
The actor fronts
a new campaign video from The Climate Coalition.
James Norton (Gareth Fuller/PA)
By Laura
Harding, Press Association Senior Entertainment Correspondent
February 13 2019 12:33 AM
James Norton has called on
people to make tackling climate change “the next great human achievement”.
The Happy Valley actor lends his voice to a new video released by campaign
group The Climate Coalition in which he compares the fight against global
warming to the development of vaccines and the moon landing.
The video features Norton listing a string of human achievements,
including the curing of diseases and creation of languages and music, and
culminates with him asking whether saving the world from climate change
would be “our greatest achievement of all”.
The coalition is made up of more than 130 organisations ranging from aid
agencies such as CAFOD and Christian Aid to groups such as the Women’s
Institute, WWF, RSPB, and the National Trust.
The film is being released as part of its Show The Love campaign, which
celebrates things that could be lost without efforts to tackle climate change –
from beaches to bees and cricket to coffee.
Norton said: “For a long time, we’ve thought about climate change as
something that’s happening far away or something that belongs to the future,
but the floods and heatwaves we’ve been hit with more frequently here in the UK
and across the world are changing that. We need to act.
“ We can be the
generation that achieves the greatest of all humanity’s successes ”
James Norton
“I’m not perfect but I’m trying to change things in my own life – cycling
whenever I can, buying less stuff and not wasting food.
“If we all try to make changes in our lives while using our power to
influence those who can make the world of difference then, as it says in the
film, we can be the generation that achieves the greatest of all humanity’s
successes.'”
Writer and director Richard Paris Wilson added: “Climate change is the
biggest issue of our generation. You can’t help but read the studies and watch
the news and feel fearful of the future.
“It’s easy to feel helpless, but we wanted to make a film that celebrated
the power of humanity, and all the great things we’ve done together.
“Even though we got ourselves into this mess, we really can get ourselves
out.”
Press Association
