The UN Development Program and SAWA Global Cinema Advertising Association today launched a one-week international cinema advertising campaign across 11 countries, including all Pearl & Dean cinemas in the UK and Ireland. Global cinema audiences will be surprised to see – a special forecast for the year 2050. While the weather format is familiar, the forecasts – anchored by children – are not.
These young TV meteorologists joined the United Nations Development Program for its newly produced Weather Kids campaign, created in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization and The Weather Channel, the flagship consumer brand of The Weather Company.
Supported by global celebrities and UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, including Oscar-winning Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh, American actor Connie Britton, and Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the campaign is part of UNDP’s efforts to boost awareness on the impacts of climate change and to mobilize people around the world to take meaningful climate action for future generations.
The segment warns viewers that rising temperatures will continue to bring more of the catastrophic climate change impacts that we are currently experiencing to people and the global economy. These include a projected impact on 94 percent of the world’s children, threats to food security and a potential rise in taxpayers’ bills globally of trillions of US Dollars. “Everything is crazy. Schools are closed because it’s too hot. Wildfires are burning whole towns. And floods are making everything wet and gross,” announces one young presenter.
The forecast ends with a powerful plea from the children: “It’s not just a weather report to us. It is our future.” Viewers are encouraged to sign a pledge to act by making financial decisions that align with sustainability and educating themselves on climate solutions and global climate action. UNDP’s new video series Climate Action Explained, narrated by Coster-Waldau, which complements the campaign, highlights some of the concrete solutions that are already happening.
“The Weather Kids add a powerful voice to alert us to a future that will certainly materialize if we do not take meaningful climate action today,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator. “Continued inertia on climate change will lead to an increasingly uninhabitable planet for the ‘kids of today’ and future generations. We can only course-correct if we move at speed and scale now. That includes decarbonizing our economies and advancing access to affordable, clean energy for all; protecting and restoring our natural world; and empowering communities to have their say in their countries’ climate pledges.”
"The cinema medium delivers a powerful and effective environment for reaching the hearts and minds of attentive moviegoers around the globe." said Julian Pinn, SAWA, CEO. "SAWA and its members are proud to continue their partnership with the UNDP in its efforts to reenergize the world towards taking meaningful action in the fight against climate change."