JUNE '24: TOMORROW IS TOO LATE
In just a few days many of us will be back at Cannes Lions Festival, for what feels like a pivotal moment for the creative industries. Facing greater pressure than ever from clients, audiences ?and regulators to play a leading role in tackling climate change and nature loss,?leaders are feeling the heat?- just this week we heard the Secretary-General of the United Nations call for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising.
So, in this month’s This Changes Everything, our new look newsletter, we’ll talk about our plans for Cannes and how we’re bringing together some of the best creative minds in the business to tell new stories, in new ways, and with new voices.
PLUS:
“It’s time for leaders to decide whose side they’re on. Tomorrow is too late”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres marked World Environment Day on Tuesday, June 5, with a call for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising.
The context for what he described as crunch time for climate was clear. The last 12 months have been the hottest on record and as he stated, 'humanity needs an exit ramp of the highway to climate hell.'
“Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed, even as they have sought to delay climate action — with lobbying, legal threats and massive ad campaigns.? They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies – Mad Men, remember the TV series — fuelling the madness.
“I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction.? Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones.? Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet — they’re toxic for your brand.”
But as Secretary-General Guterres also set out, we have the power to change this.
“Your sector is full of creative minds who are already mobilizing around this cause.? They are gravitating towards companies that are fighting for our planet — not trashing it,” he said.
We believe in the power of creativity to break down the barriers to climate action, and to shape a world in which everyone feels inspired to be a part of the solution. If you would like to join our coalition of climate allies creating a global movement to shift public opinion and promote behavioral change through new climate narratives, then get in touch .
CANNES '24: GO EPIC OR GO HOME?
When it comes to the creative industries there isn’t a bigger stage than Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – which makes it the perfect place for the New Zero World team to engage with allies who share our vision for a world where creativity inspires everyone to take climate action.?
On Tuesday, June 18th. We’ll be at the Goals House in Cannes, joined by Katja Iversen, CEO of the Museum for the United Nations , gathering some of the biggest names and brightest minds in creativity, to begin work on a world-changing campaign; ‘The Most Important Brief’. Delivered through the Earth Public Information Collaborative (EPIC), which we launched in partnership with the Global Commons Alliance, this is a first-of-a-kind collaboration aligning brands, the creative community, global media, storytellers ?and the science around SDG Goal 13, an urgent call to action on climate change and nature loss. Convened by Tim Kelly, Executive Director, EarthHQ at Global Commons Alliance and moderated by Natalia Vega, New Zero World founder and CMO of EPIC, discussion will focus on drivers of behavioral change of the global population, how EPIC is set up to scale messages of sustainability across the world, and how we can develop a “generation-defining” ?creative brief together.?
We’ll be revealing more details soon, and if you’re heading to Cannes and would like to attend an exclusive kick-off conversation? or would like to connect separately to find out more about our New Zero World programmes, please email the team [email protected]
And that's not all. Here's what else we're up to at Cannes:
We are delighted to be partnering with the International Advertising Association and ACT Responsible to bring the New Zero World message to the Sustainability Hall at Cannes Lions. Look our for our displays and panel sessions, as well as our on the ground team, who will be interviewing leaders who are making an impact.
Our Young Creatives initiative is returning to Cannes to focus on how the next generation of creative talent can reshape the industry, including a special briefing for young creators to be held in the Sustainability Hall.
WELCOMING OUR LATEST PARTNER -?HORIZON MEDIA
Where better to announce our new partnership with Horizon Media, than at their Sustainable Media Summit in New York City, on May 23.
With a line-up including Mary de Wysocki , Chief Sustainability Officer at Cisco, Dan Slagen , Chief Marketing Officer at tomorrow.io , Ann Tracy , Chief Sustainability Officer, Colgate-Palmolive, ?Johan Smith, VP of Environmental Social Governance Strategy & Programs, IBM and Sweta Chakraborty , CEO of We Don’t Have Time - this was a great moment to share our vision for transforming climate communications.
Not only that, but in a fireside chat with Latraviette D. Smith-Wilson , Chief Equity and Marketing of Horizon Media , our founder and Executive Director, Natalia Vega ( Berry ) , revealed our new partnership between the Earth Public Information Collaborative and Horizon Media, named Media Agency of the Year by MediaPost, Adweek and AdAge.
“While global issues can often feel ‘too big’ to impact, we know that the power of collaboration and partnership can advance meaningful solutions that none of us could ever create in a silo. Big issues require bold thinking and transformative action, and we look forward to working with EPIC and its partners to reimagine large-scale approaches, messaging and impact to inspire positive change on a global, regional and local level,” said Latraviette.
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Natalia said: “There are few agencies in the world with the level of industry knowledge and influence as Horizon Media. Not only that, but they share our vision for a world in which we can supercharge climate action through creativity. As momentum builds behind New Zero World and EPIC, we are so excited to have Horizon alongside us.”
HOPE AT THE HEART OF?STRATEGY
BY Ross Findon?? , COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, NEW ZERO WORLD “Sometimes it is almost impossible not to feel hopeless and broken. After all the flooding, fires, and droughts of the last three years worldwide, all related to climate change, and after the fury of Hurricane Otis in Mexico, my country, I really thought governments were ready to listen to the science to act in the people’s best interest.”? It’s hard not to be shaken by quotes like this one from climate scientist Ruth Cerezo-Mota. She was just one of 380 scientists from the International Panel on Climate Change ?(IPCC) interviewed by UK newspaper The Guardian last month .
It found that 80% believe we are facing temperature rises of 2.5C, blasting past the 1.5 Paris target, with many – just like Cerezo-Mota – expressing feelings of doom and hopelessness. Yet we know that every fraction of a degree avoided will have a huge impact on the well-being of millions of people. ?So, in the face of doom, what can creatives and communicators do to ensure doom does not derail action?
Here’s what experts told us:
“If our message is one of hopelessness and the pitiable plight of the natural world we have ruined, we will not galvanize audiences to positive action. We must convince more humans that the threat to our environment is crucial to them, personally. Why should a Midwestern farmer care about melting glaciers thousands of miles away? Because it is not just the polar bear that suffers from the worst drought in twelve centuries or deadly flooding – both of which can cause crops to fail." | Will Hackman , author and climate communications leader.
“When you combine negative news coverage with misinformation campaigns funded by the fossil fuel industry that spread climate doom and denial, it’s no wonder that doom has permeated our psyches, harming mental health and convincing many that climate action is futile. But just beyond the headlines, the world is already transforming how it generates energy, transports people and things, designs buildings, and grows food. These actions can create a thriving, equitable future, and we urgently need to change the narrative to reflect this reality—because to be successful, we’ve got to hurry up, and we need all hands on deck,” | Marcy Franck , senior communications strategist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
“Many media articles still describe our toughest challenges - especially on climate - as invincible and hopeless. Is it any wonder that people are beginning to give up? We need stories of possibility and interconnectedness more than ever. We need to feel like we are part of a great generational endeavour where we can actually, yes, really, create a better world for everyone.” | Zoe Tcholak-Antitch , Strategic Communications Specialist at the Global Commons Alliance and Global Optimism .
Find out more about how to create balanced climate narratives that drive action in our white paper A New Era in Climate Communications.
AN EXISTENTIAL CHOICE?FOR THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY
BY David Fenton , AUTHOR OF “THE ACTIVIST’S MEDIA HANDBOOK.” SENIOR ADVISOR @ YELLOW DOT STUDIOS , FOUNDER OF FENTON: THE SOCIAL CHANGE FIRM.
“The fossil fuel industry has an existential choice to make. It can join us in a rapid clean energy transition and prosper. Or its products will destabilize our climate, flood all the coastal cities of the world, collapse insurance markets, make food unaffordable, send waves of climate refugees to our shores, increase wildfires, smoke, heat waves, and droughts plus make hurricanes stronger. This is the choice. “
Read David Fenton’s message to fossil fuel executives , delivered at this year’s EarthX conference here (Via FrameLab).
You can dive into David's contribution to a New Era in Climate Communications at climatecommunications.earth
ON STAGE AT THE GREEN MEDIA SUMMIT
Our founder Natalia Vega was joined on stage by climate communications expert and former Museum of the UN CE Molly Voss Fannon at the Green Media Summit in New York in April, where they delivered the keynote talk Empowering Tomorrow’s Consumers: Best Practices in Communicating Brand Sustainability Efforts.
?? You can watch the session here .?
OUR LATEST ANNUAL REPORT IS LIVE
“Thank you for being a part of this community. The road ahead is one filled with possibilities to work together and to go further and faster than ever before and I hope you will find the stories of collaboration and collective progress in this report a source of hope and energy. ?Together, we can be the authors of a thriving future — one in which crisis catalyzes action, conflict yields to collaboration, and humanity prevails.” Natalia Vega | Founder, New Zero World.
CONTACT OUR TEAM TO LEARN HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Collaboration is essential to address climate change. Let’s work together to reimagine and reshape our future for the better, together. We need people from all regions, all backgrounds, and of all industries to get this right. Get in touch here.
Natalia Vega ( Berry ) Founder & Executive Director
Documentary presenter of ANIMAL, Book Author at Penguin Random House, Born Free Trustee
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