British Politico Urges Video Game Manufacturers to Include Message about Global Warming

The message has made it everywhere else - Hannah Montana songs, every night on the news, in books and cartoons, so why not video games? If you want a preview of tactics that could be on the way in the name of curbing global warming, take a look across the pond at what they're doing in Europe.

In Britain, Lord Puttnam, the founding chairman of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts and a former chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill issued a statement ahead of his speech slated for the end of this month at the Terra future conference, urging video games to be used to spread the message about global warming.

"Serious games based upon real-life geography should be vital tools in our fight against climate change," said Lord Puttnam in a statement. "Educating people about the impact of prolonged changes to our climate in an accessible way is the best catalyst for action I know."

British politicians have been actively promoting various ways to curb the effects of so-called anthropogenic global warming. On Feb. 4, Lord Turner, the British climate czar, told the U.K. Environmental Audit committee that climate laws may be needed to restrict airplane flights and reduce carbon emissions.

And video games haven't been only used to convey political messages. During the 2008 presidential campaign, the Obama campaign placed political in 18 video games, including Electronic Arts game "Burnout Paradise" for the XBox 360.

The British have already developed two climate change-themed games. One was developed in conjunction with the U.K. Department of the Environment and Oxford University called Operation: Climate Control. The other, Climate Challenge, was developed by the BBC, Oxford University Environmental Change Institute and ClimatePrediction.net.