Last night marked a new first, as eight of the late-night talk shows banded together for Climate Night, dedicating their Wednesday night shows to shine a light on the climate crisis. The event was coordinated by veteran producer and writer Steve Bodow in line with Climate Week NYC and marked a positive step forwards in the top media outlets raising awareness of such a crucial issue.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert; The Daily Show With Trevor Noah on Comedy Central; The Late Late Show With James Corden on CBS; Full Frontal With Samantha Bee on TBS; Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Seth Meyers on NBC; and Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen all included a segment on their show centred around Climate Night. Get the highlights below:
Amongst the comedy spin, Jimmy Kimmel gave a very stern warning on how big the issue really is. Kimmel declared that climate change was the issue that trumps all issues, saying "the car is going off a cliff and we’re fiddling with the radio."
On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah used the opportunity to highlight how climate change can have a knock-on effect on a number of other things, from turtle reproduction to global food production. Watch some of the highlights.
On The Late Late Show, James Corden asked his band members for the ways they were getting climate action done and highlighted inspiring stories of the efforts people are making in the global effort against climate change.
On Late Night with Seth Meyers, he said it was the “one night where we put aside our intense, white-hot rivalries and come together to raise awareness for the vast effects the climate is having on our lives and the things we can do to help.” Myers teamed up with James Corden to do a shared intro on the issue.
Samantha Bee on Full Frontal took a different approach, highlighting issues in water infrastructure, saying "no one wants to think about sewage, but we all need to support the water infrastructure that supports us. Because waste disposal is vital to society and sanitation is a human right — unless you’re at an outdoor music festival, in which case, it’s a distant memory."
Jimmy Fallon took a different approach, choosing to host the famous climate activist Dr. Jane Goodall to give a call to action for people around the world to plant new trees.
And Stephen Colbert highlighted the issues that we are seeing now to impress upon how much damage climate change is causing, and how we must take climate action now.