Documentaries are ideal spectacles of real-life occurrences, with insights into backstories and vivid descriptions. They separate themselves from the customary motion picture with hard-hitting truths and the potential to bring change. Documentaries about climate change depend on visual imageries, interviews and research that alarms the audience of the neglected environmental crisis.

The issue of environmental change has been pivotal for several documentary filmmakers, many of whom have been nominated for Academy Awards. With several world leaders committing to their countries becoming net-zero in the future, the current situation is far from optimism. On the contrary, environmental concerns increase with every passing day, with each hazard having the inherent probability of causing long-term damage to the planet.

Amidst a grim outlook, documentaries about the environment could be a major catalyst for positive advancements. Here are ten such documentaries that do not hold back in being vocal about climate change.

10 An Inconvenient Truth

True to its name, An Inconvenient Truth delivers some uncomfortable but empirical facts about global warming, which is a reality in the 21st century. Based on former US Vice President Al Gore’s efforts to educate the masses about global warming, the documentary sets itself as a classic educational piece that has continued to set standards for other documentaries. An Inconvenient Truth waves through Al Gore’s own journey with the concept of climate change and his initiation with the subject. Gore uses real-life examples and satellite images of the Earth to strengthen his claims, along with sound scientific data to support the actual effects of climate change being observed in the world. The documentary was widely acclaimed at the time of its release and won two Academy Awards. Though Gore’s passion for the environment is widely known, his famed slide show about climate change was what prompted producer Laurie David to get interested in the topic. The rest, as they say, is history.

Related: Best Movies About Climate Change, Ranked

9 Gasland

Gasland is an eye-opening documentary that deals with the growing concern about hydraulic fracturing in the United States. A common method used by drilling companies to extract oil or gas from the ground, hydraulic manufacturing, also called fracking, is also claimed to have long-lasting negative effects through groundwater contamination and other negative effects. Josh Fox, the creator of Gasland, investigates the issue when he receives an offer from a gas company offering a huge sum of money in return for using his family’s land for drilling. His quest for more information leads him to various regions and communities that have been directly affected by the phenomenon.

Apart from the documentary, Josh Fox has kept his activism against hydraulic manufacturing alive to generate more awareness on the issue. Gasland made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was positively received, even going on to receive an Academy Award nomination. The documentary was responsible for starting a whole country-wide movement against fracking, with many celebrities joining the cause.

8 Before The Flood

Before The Flood is an environmental documentary that follows Leonardo DiCaprio visiting the most vulnerable places on Earth affected by the perils of climate change. DiCaprio, being a climate activist himself, has mentioned the goal of the documentary to show the urgent need to find solutions and reverse the damage caused to the planet by climate change. DiCaprio was involved in the project for three years along with its director Fisher Stevens, where they discovered the spillover effect of such climate change issues.

The documentary curves heavily towards climate change denial and how ignorant politicians or corporations could be a disaster to the already developing crisis in front of the world. Famed director Martin Scorsese also joined the documentary as an executive producer, while National Geographic Documentary Films distributed it. Before The Flood also delves into the subject of a carbon tax and how it could solve ongoing environmental issues.

7 Home

A 2009 documentary, Home, is directed by the French environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The documentary is a French production and uses narration and visuals from aerial shots from over 50 countries to show how the rising population of the Earth is the greatest threat to the environment and its sustainability. The documentary is available for free on Youtube, and has various downloadable versions available on the internet.

The film's cinematography, which spanned several regions, was the main aspect where the film drew praise from its critics, while it was lauded for its non-profit initiatives to spread its message worldwide. The documentary has several sections, starting with the Earth's water cycle and moving through the planet's rising population, agriculture, fertilizers, and many other examples of cities and regions at risk of climate change.

6 Honeyland

Honeyland documents three years in the life of a beekeeper in Lozovo, North Macedonia, named Hatidže Muratova. Living in a remote village with an ailing old mother, Muratova makes a living selling honey in the country's capital, Skopje. The documentary shows how her life changes when a family settles in her village. Learning the art of beekeeping from her, her neighbors forget the basic law of living in balance with nature when they don't heed her advice of not selling the entire honey of the bees.

Through the story, Honeyland takes a sharp turn toward how environmental degradation occurs at the hand of humans themselves when they remain ignorant of how much humankind depends on nature and its offerings.

The Macedonian documentary was acclaimed worldwide and received the distinction of being the only documentary to be nominated for both Best Documentary Feature and the Best International Feature Film categories at the Academy Awards. Its message of maintaining ecological balance with nature and restricting human consumerism stands true even today in the world.

5 David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet is a 2020 documentary released on Netflix that deals with the Earth's changing patterns with the environment since Attenborough could recall. Right from his birth in 1926, Attenborough narrates how he witnessed the environment and habitations around the world going through constant transitions. He observes how the world's dwindling biodiversity could have a cascading effect on at-risk species and the entire planet. Stating examples of natural vegetation that could change for the worse, Attenborough lends his personal take on the current situation and how it could take a negative turn sooner than imagined. He cites various methods, such as effective land use and others, to control the effects of climate change and nudges to try changing the course of such drastic biodiversity loss.

The documentary was critically successful and was hailed for Attenborough's detailed explanations of his experiences with specific species of animals and natural hotspots worldwide.

4 Seaspiracy

Seaspiracy is an earnest attempt by its creator Ali Tabrizi to showcase the ill effects of commercial fishing and pollution on the health of marine bodies around the world.

Shot in various locations in Japan, Africa, Scotland, and others, the documentary claims the pollution of marine ecosystems worldwide to be caused due to fishing gear and ghost nets on a much bigger scale, rather than the minuscule pollution caused by straws or other smaller elements. It slams environmental and certification organizations for focusing more on the latter and hence, has attracted considerable attention to its opinions regarding marine pollution. Seaspiracy constantly hints at the reduction of fish consumption to be the solution to such issues of marine life, but others have contested the claim.

3 Kiss the Ground

Kiss the Ground is a unique take on a new form of agriculture called regenerative agriculture to improve the health of the components of the environment. Featuring cameos by many celebrities, Kiss The Ground is narrated by Woody Harrelson. The documentary, released in 2020, drives through the looming crisis of soil degradation and the role of pesticides in it. It moves deeper into how net carbon reduction could only stop future emissions, and something had to be done about legacy carbon emissions that are hurting the planet. It implies regenerative agriculture is an important solution to the problem, with diverse crops that could improve soil health.

The documentary derives its name from the Kiss the Ground non-profit that has been involved in such efforts for years.

2 8 Billion Angels

8 Billion Angels, directed by Victor Velle, focuses on the origin of humankind in the modern times, reflecting on the constant harm afflicted by humans on nature through pollution and other harmful phenomena. However, the documentary considers the bulging population of the planet to be the root cause of all environmental degradation and stringent population control to be an effective solution. Scarcity of natural resources, famines, and increasing carbon footprints all had increasing population as a factor deep down to have increased its harmful effects. The documentary features many experts who dwell on the issue and offer their opinions on population control as a measure to save the planet.

1 Ice on Fire

Ice on Fire is yet another documentary on the environment, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio which focuses on the solutions in front of the world to combat climate change and a possible extinction ahead. Science emerges as the main savior, as depicted by Ice on Fire, while it stresses the alarmingly faster release of methane from the Arctic region owing to global warming. Practical and scientific solutions are provided in the documentary, which could serve as means to combat climate change right in our homes.