Where words fail, can art prevail? OPS joined global collaborators to amplify the climate emergency at Climate COP26 in Glasgow, teaming with global artists to orchestrate a powerful projection event that illuminated the conference venue with an urgent message to the world.
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) brought together government, civil society, business leaders, and activists to accelerate critical action towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gases and confront the climate crisis.
Directed by OPS Executive Director and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Louie Psihoyos, “Voices for Earth” was an hours-long projection event that showcased the climate crisis and framed the critical actions needed to ensure a path to a regenerative future.
Like we have done in the past with our other global projection events, we projected an urgent call to action to world leaders and people everywhere through compelling art and imagery.
The venue, known as the SEC Armadillo, had been blank for most of the COP. On Friday, November 5th at 7PM GMT, the walls of this iconic building were lit up with imagery and the voices of some of the world’s most iconic leaders and never-before-seen works from renowned artists, activists, and storytellers.
The visual spectacle amplified powerful messages of equity and social justice from youth climate leaders, Indigenous leaders, scientists, luminaries, and voices from around the world. You can see some of the projection event here and learn more about the campaign.
The state of our planet is mission critical. Around the world, storms, floods, extreme temperatures, and wildfires are intensifying. Air pollution affects millions around the globe, unpredictable weather causes untold damage to homes and livelihoods, and endangered species face diminishing habitats.
Despite the opportunities, we are not acting fast enough. To avert the impending climate catastrophe, countries need to go beyond current commitments to reduce or offset carbon emissions to achieve ‘net zero’ emissions targets by the middle of the century.
In 2015 at COP21, the Paris Agreement—the first legally binding global climate change agreement—solidified participating country commitments to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
These commitments are important because every fraction of a degree of warming contributes to environmental destruction and human tragedy. More importantly, the world is currently not on track to limit global warming to this important benchmark.
In early December 2015, and just a week before this historic climate meeting in Paris, OPS and partners illuminated the walls of St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican, reaching over 147 million people and over 4.4 billion impressions to inspire and catalyze this important meeting.
The only way to keep global warming below 1.5°C and avert climate catastrophe is to keep fossil fuels in the ground, revolutionize clean technology, and prioritize and restore nature—our best ally and defense against climate chaos.
85% of US greenhouse emissions come from fossil fuels, the primary contributor to the twin climate and extinction crises. China, the United States, and the nations that make up the European Union are the three largest emitters of carbon dioxide (just one of the greenhouse gases)—which means we all have work to do.
OPS stands in solidarity with recent climate protests across the United States, including the “People vs. Fossil Fuels” mobilization at the White House, highlighting the climate justice movement and calls to President Biden to use his executive authority to declare a climate emergency and stop approving fossil fuel projects at COP26.
#ProjectingChange Glasgow started with a moment to amplify the world’s most important messages, waking humanity to the urgency of the climate crisis, and illuminating a bold vision for how we solve it. Now, it is about the movement it will inspire.
What you can do!
Sign the petition to encourage the Biden Administration to build back fossil free and declare a climate emergency.
Begin your climate solutions journey with Project Drawdown’s Climate Solutions 101 and table of solutions to learn about game-changing real-world action that you can take to save the climate today.
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