Steve Backshall & Sky CEO Headliner

Wildscreen festival 2020 is pleased to announce its first keynote: Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Group Chief Executive will be in conversation with TV presenter, adventurer and wildlife expert Steve Backshall.

Under Jeremy’s leadership Sky has saved over a billion trees in the Amazon through its Rainforest Rescue Campaign, partnered with WWF to fight for healthy oceans, and has now set the ambitious target for its business to become net zero carbon by 2030 – two decades ahead of government targets. 

BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve Backshall has been passionate about the wild world ever since he could crawl. A veteran of the CBBC Deadly series and his global hit Expedition, Steve is currently in production with SHARK which is Sky Nature’s first premier natural history commission. SHARK with Steve Backshall is a three-part series from True to Nature for Sky Nature, with a companion series for Sky Kids.

The two will discuss their shared love of the natural world, the climate crisis and the role of nature programming, and what broadcasters can do to accelerate their own progress towards net zero carbon.

Jeremy Darroch said:

“Every company depends on and is fundamentally connected to the environment and we all have a responsibility to protect it. That’s what inspires Sky’s ambition to become net zero carbon by 2030 – two decades ahead of government targets. We are committed to using our voice through world-class nature programming, documentaries, and news reporting, to highlight the issues affecting our natural world and the threats that it is facing.”

Steve Backshall said:

“The power of nature programming and reporting to change viewers’ hearts and minds about the survival of our natural habitat never ceases to amaze me. We face a huge challenge in changing the way we work in order to reduce our impact on the natural world. We should all be nature and climate campaigners. I hope this interview inspires more ground-breaking nature programming and commissioning from broadcasters.”