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Obki (2024)

Children’s TV is one of the best-performing genres for climate storytelling, with 65% of productions containing explicit or implicit references to climate compared to 39% across other genres.

Obki, an animated series from Sky Kids, follows a lovable ‘eco alien’ on a mission to save Earth from climate change alongside his time-traveling friend, The Orb. Commissioned by Sky Kids as part of Sky’s commitment to raise awareness of the climate crisis, the series delivers practical, fun, and actionable sustainability lessons in two-minute episodes – ensuring its messages resonate with young audiences without creating climate anxiety.

Teaching the Planet Through Adventure

Embedding sustainability through story

01.

Actionable storytelling

Obki focuses on the fifteen biggest sustainability issues that kids and parents can act on immediately, from planting vegetables at home to avoiding products using palm oil. The team worked closely with Sky’s Sky Zero environmental programme to select the most relevant topics and keep up with the latest sustainability trends.

02.

Solution-led narratives

While the show doesn’t shy away from the realities of climate change, episodes are always celebratory in resolution, keeping the tone light and engaging for children.

03.

Expanding the stakes

In series three, the show introduced multi-episode story arcs, new characters, and more peril, ensuring the environmental messages were woven naturally into the fun, fast-paced storytelling.

“For series one, we picked the fifteen biggest issues in sustainability that we could do something about practically. We wanted to cover topics which could be actioned immediately by kids and parents, like planting vegetables at home or avoiding products that use palm oil. As part of this process for series one, we worked closely with Sky’s environmental impact programme, Sky Zero, to understand the most relevant topics to explore, as well us staying across latest sustainability trends and innovations. We didn’t want to talk down to children in our storytelling, but equally we need to make sure the issues are portrayed accurately. We keep the tone light, and most importantly, when kids see Obki appear on screen, they know they’re in for a fun time.”

Amanda Evans, Creator of Obki

The Impact

Reaches young audiences with practical, easy-to-understand climate actions.
Uses short, two-minute episodes to make sustainability engaging and achievable.
Ensures children learn about climate solutions without fostering anxiety.
Demonstrates how children’s content can combine entertainment with education for real-world impact.

This case study was undertaken with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery as part of the Sustainable Screen Fund, to support all BFI National Lottery awardees in building environmental understanding and action on positive environmental change.