I'm A Celebrity: 'Keep show in UK to help climate change'

After being taken off air because of storms and intruders in the castle, I'm a Celebrity bosses could be forgiven for thinking "UK, get me out of here!"

But makers of the hit reality TV show hosted by Ant and Dec have been urged to "set an example" and keep filming in Wales to help tackle climate change.

The Size of Wales charity said ITV's flagship show should no longer fly celebrities out to Australia.

ITV has not commented but pledged to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

"When you have companies like ITV and others that make commitments around net zero, often they'll build into their plans with stuff like carbon capture and offsets," said Kevin Rahman-Daultrey, of the Size of Wales climate change charity.

"But the best thing you can do is remove the footprint in the first place.

"It's not just about planting trees and trying to offset our emissions, we need to have companies like this making commitments to film more locally in the UK."

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! is normally filmed in the tropical Australian jungle, but for the last two series during the Covid pandemic it has based itself in chilly Gwrych Castle in north Wales.

"The show last year was very successful and they filmed it in Wales, so we don't need to necessarily go to Australia in order to have good content to watch," added Mr Rahman-Daultrey.

For 12 celebrities and I'm A Celebrity's famous hosts, first class flights down under from London produce more than 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to one carbon footprint calculator.

That's not taking into account production staff, family, internal flights or the impact of making the show itself.

What impact does TV have on climate change?

The Size of Wales charity says, on average, one hour of British TV can create 10 tonnes of CO2 emissions to make, which is five times the average amount a single person emits in a whole year.

"We are talking significant contributions with just a single person flying from the UK to Australia and to make a show like this you're talking maybe 100 people going over," said Mr Rahman-Daultrey.

"And suddenly you start getting into quite significant levels of CO2 emissions.

"In order for us to meet the Paris Agreement targets and to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, we need to get people in the UK's carbon footprint a year down to about two tonnes.

"That's a single economy flight to Australia and you've used up your entire limit of carbon in a year if you're trying to be sustainable.

"So it is a very significant impact that this can have for what is essentially our entertainment."

The Size of Wales charity's remit is to plants trees, support communities worldwide and help reduce deforestation and Mr Rahman-Daultrey said eliminating the need to travel as "one of the largest contributions when it comes to the footprint" would have a big impact.

Storming of the castle

I'm a Celebrity is currently enjoying its 21st series, although ITV had to take the unusual step of cancelling live shows last weekend after Storm Arwen caused "significant damage" to the set.

It meant contestants like football great David Ginola and broadcaster Louise Minchin had to be removed for safety reasons.

ITV also had to remove intruders from the Grade I-listed 19th Century castle near Abergele while the celebrities were away hiding from the bad weather.

Mr Rahman-Daultrey feels the fact that I'm A Celebrity was taken off air because of a climate event is an ironic coincidence.

"The reality is that as we emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere we increase the risk of extreme weather and severe storms", said Size of Wales' policy and educational manager

"CO2 captures heat that fuels more powerful weather systems and the more we fly and emit the more we increase the risk of storms.

"While the UK will in no way be immune to this in future, the UK's weather will remain milder than many other places in the world.

"We need to reduce our emissions from all sectors and entertainment is no exception."

'People want businesses to act'

Dr Katharine Steentjes, from Cardiff University, has been looking at the psychology towards climate change and her research says people want "urgent action" by big businesses.

"What really came out in the research was that people really see it as a joint responsibility of all these big businesses and political leaders, as well as themselves," she said.

Ms Steentjes said she thinks a permanent move of the show to the UK by ITV "would really resonate with people in the UK" especially after the recent COP26 climate summit in Glasgow

She also thinks "effective messaging" and having a "trusted source" say how they plan to meet their targets with an example like this would really be welcomed by the by the UK public.