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Presenting the 3rd Edition of the Film4Climate Post-Production Award
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At the Guadalajara International Film Festival in 2018, Connect4Climate introduced an exciting opportunity for Latin American filmmakers passionate about climate action and sustainability more broadly: the Film4Climate Post-Production Award. Partnering with the leading post-production company LaserFilm, C4C launched a work-in-progress film contest whose winner received full post-production for their sustainability- and social issues-minded film at zero cost to them. The second-ever recipient of this award, “Son of Ox,” just wrapped its post-production at LaserFilm this spring.

Now, in collaboration with the Chilean Corporation of Documentary (CCDoc), C4C is bringing the popular contest back for a third round as a part of Conecta 2019, an event taking place from December 10 through 13 alongside COP25 in Santiago. If you’re from Latin America, have a film in the works focusing on one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and would like to submit your film to be considered for the Film4Climate Award at Conecta, you have until August 28 to do so! LaserFilm will once again be providing the winner with full post-production at its studio in Rome, Italy.

As C4C’s Program Manager Giulia Braga says, “We are tremendously excited to collaborate with CCDoc and to continue the long-standing partnership with LaserFilm. Film is perhaps the most uniquely effective medium for amplifying the need to act urgently to protect our planet.”

CCDoc’s Executive Director Flor Rubina adds that films can “give audiences quite a special focus on social and environmental issues relevant and vital to advancing our culture and society.” Andrea Di Nardo, Managing Director at LaserFilm, agrees: “Movies are mirroring the major issues of our society,” he says. “LaserFilm has a mission: producing movies that raise awareness about SDGs. And that's the goal of our prize as well.”

Riding the Wave of Sustainability Into the G7 Summit

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Each year, the G7 summit brings international leaders together to discuss world affairs and identify potential solutions to pressing global issues.

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Connect4Climate Remembers Max Thabiso Edkins at D.C. Youth Assembly
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From Aug. 8-10 in Washington, DC, passionate young people joined veterans of geopolitics on the campus of George Washington University for the 24th session of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation’s Youth Assembly. The aim of the three-day event was clear: to identify strategies maximizing youth’s impact in the global push to bring the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to fruition.  The group gathered at GWU included students of many talents from all over the word: economics, policy, science and the arts were all represented.

 

Connect4Climate advisor Francis Dobbs had the opportunity to address the audience in a panel centered on Climate,Youth and Innovation. He was joined by Dr. Miroslav Polzer, Secretary-General of IAAI GloCha; Hawa Diallo, Public Information Officer at the UN’s Department of Global Communications; Bobby Kia, cofounder of The People’s Prize; Frank Niepold, Climate Education Senior Program Manager at NOAA; and Tracey Ritchie, Director of Education for the Earth Day Network.

As convenor of the session, Dr. Polzer dedicated the gathering to our dear C4C colleague and climate hero, Max Thabiso Edkins, who we lost in March of this year, with a video introducing Max to the young audience followed by a minute’s silence. Each member of the panel then spoke on their own programs and youth campaigns; all were agreed that the mobilization of youth is critical in checking the advance of climate change now and rolling back the tide in the years to come. “We have to help open the door for young people,” Tracey Ritchie asserted. “When you ask, ‘Where is our army of climate activists?’” Frank Niepold added, “the answer is that it’s the youth.”

Last to speak, C4C’s Francis Dobbs delivered a heartfelt presentation in honor of  Max Thabiso Edkins, whose passion for elevating young voices and bringing young people into climate discussions was renowned worldwide. Dobbs announced an exciting new campaign to keep Max’s memory shining bright across the global climate community while simultaneously galvanizing youth engagement in on-the-ground action.

At the heart of the campaign is the simple symbol of a green bow tie pin, a nod to Max’s signature bowtie that he would wear at almost every climate event and a reliable eye-catcher on a dress or lapel.

“Max was a man of fashion, and he loved his bow ties,” Francis told the assembled young people, “but as both a scientist and a communicator they also had a special meaning to him. The bowtie symbolizes how the complexities of science are often woven together into wonderful structures that also make a strong statement.”

Beginning on September 10, C4C will launch a climate awareness bow tie blitz, distributing the colorful pins among partners and allies while simultaneously deepening youth outreach efforts all around the world in the spirit of Max’s own relentless activism.

Francis concluded the panel talk with the signature call-and-response sign-off of Nelson Mandela, which Max had always held a special fondness for.  “Amandla,” (“Power”), Francis began. “Awethu!” (“To us!”), the young room replied.

"Youth Unstoppable" Hits the UK

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At the age of 15, climate-conscious filmmaker Slater Jewell-Kemker embarked on an international odyssey to chronicle youth activism around the world and “make something that is overwhelming and abstract”—the looming specter of climate change—“a little more human.” The sweeping documentary film that resulted from her journey, Youth Unstoppable, first hit screens last year, and has made waves wherever it has traveled since.

Envision Virgin Racing Brings Sustainability Dialogue to NYC Races

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In a world where Harley-Davidson is now offering an electric bike, Ford is touting an electric truck, and electric scooters fill city streets everywhere, it seems safe to say that the electric automotive industry has taken off in a big way. Formula E electric auto racing, which proves that electric vehicles can be just as sleek and powerful as their gas-guzzling counterparts, reflects a growing global interest in the vision of a carbon-free future.

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My Learning Journey at Innovate4Climate 2019
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On June 4, the World Bank Group's third Innovate4Climate (I4C) global conference convened in Singapore for honest discussions of climate finance and investment markets. Innovate4Climate is an annual opportunity for leaders of all sectors to come together and accelerate action on climate finance, technology and development.

As part of the Connect4Climate #YouthTakeover initiative, I and four other students from Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information were invited to manage C4C's social media channels to share the details of our educational journey throughout the conference.

It was an inspiring experience for us to get the rare chance to listen to financial experts explain market mechanisms that would drive the climate investment market. As communications majors, we were brought in to learn about the economic drivers and influences that hold the potential to greatly ease mankind's transition into a climate-friendly world.

Before the main conference began, our team participated in a climate change journalism workshop, where journalists from all around the region came together to discuss the skills involved in reporting on climate impacts and solutions. The workshop explored the many ways that journalists today can report, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of different mediums such as photography, informative videos and writing. Many experts were also brought in to share their thoughts on the effectiveness of communications in the digital sphere, and to educate us on the intricacies of the climate disaster that we would need to take to heart.

By getting the chance to interact with prominent journalists from all around the region, we also learned that every country has unique challenges with the social psychology of their target audience. We thus took the opportunity to pool our knowledge and trade media ideas within the group, diffusing important information like data and academic research that could greatly benefit the efficiency of future international communications efforts.

On the first day of Innovate4Climate, the team split up to cover various plenaries from distinguished speakers of the climate finance industry. Mr. Vivek Pathak, regional director for the IFC in East Asia and the Pacific, marked the start of the conference with a rousing and humorous speech highlighting the first signs of imminent change—and expressing his approval of the lack of plastic at the conference.

Throughout the few days of the conference, we went through several important plenary topics such as the plastic revolution, development of green bonds in Asia Pacific, catastrophe bonds and the commercialization of clean tech. Although some of the topics were very niche, we were able to pick up vital points from the speakers that helped us understand key foundational links among various economic stakeholders and private-public partnerships.

The end of Innovate4Climate was marked by an exciting innovation pitch competition. We got an exclusive front-row view of the five finalists' pitch presentations: each of their ideas had immense potential to change current structures in the agricultural, transport and architectural industries and foster a greener future.

The pitch hub contestants flew in from all over the world and were brimming with confidence and determination to achieve their goals. It was heartening to see how small-medium enterprises were considered a key part of the innovation process and were given an opportunity to fulfill their potential on the world stage.

We are honored to have been a part of Connect4Climate's #YouthTakeover, a brilliant initiative that brings young people into the climate conversation and that offered us a deeper look into the mechanisms that will shape our future. Throughout our journey, the team regularly had to brainstorm collectively on our social media strategies, as we were tasked with understanding complex financial knowledge and simplifying it for our youthful audience.

 

It was a great chance for us to identify challenges in traditional reporting from mainstream media while actively honing our own lexicons and skill sets to be able to connect more efficiently to the youths we represent.

Michael Grimm, CEO of Carbon Negative, delivered perhaps the most memorable quote of the event for us. He was on hand in the journalist workshop to explain fully the frightening scenarios and consequences that are to come, but he found a silver lining in the fact that we will all need to band together if we are to successfully save our planet.

"Climate change will not see nationality, race or socioeconomic statuses. It will affect us all, but I am positive we can beat this."

Innovate4Climate 2019 Digital Media Zone

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On June 4, the World Bank Group's third annual Innovate4Climate conference will convene in Singapore to brainstorm bold new strategies for financing eco-friendly development across the planet. Climate champions from the spheres of business, policy, banking and tech will pool their expertise to tackle pressing topics such as sustainable cooling and efficient battery storage.

Climate Advocacy Comes to Cannes

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Already underway, this year’s Cannes Film Festival runs through next Saturday in scenic southeast France, and celebrates bold, innovative messaging across the medium of film—and beyond. Connect4Climate’s focus at the festival will be the exciting virtual reality presentations taking place at the XR Hub on May 19 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM local time.

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Earth Day Network Gala Unites Disparate Climate Campaigners
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The Earth Day Network's Climate Leadership Gala, which took place this Wednesday at a hotel ballroom in Washington, D.C., saw an unlikely congregation of climate allies come together to recognize one another's work in accelerating climate action and to lay out new strategies for ensuring a greener future. Attendees included influencers from governmental organizations, popular media, social media, private industry, and the youth protest movement.

Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers kicked off the festivities with a reminder of the impact the original Earth Day made on so many people in the United States and abroad back in 1970, and maintained that the Network remains fully committed to promoting that same kind of enthusiasm around climate issues to this day. Rogers and her organization are looking forward to the many climate awareness activities planned for Earth Day 2020.

Washington, D.C.'s Ward 3 councilmember Mary Cheh emceed the event, calling special attention to the recent achievements of youth in the realm of climate advocacy.

Early on, the night focused on the efforts of business leaders to cultivate greener images for their brands. Suzanne DiBianca, executive vice president of corporate relations at the San Francisco-based software firm Salesforce, accepted an award in recognition of her company's work eliminating its carbon footprint and enlisting community stakeholders in a sustainability and climate awareness campaign. Toyota's sustainability director Kevin Butt, for his part, discussed the automaker's latest strides in hydrogen- and electricity-powered vehicles, and laid out new goals for further reductions in the company's overall carbon emissions.

After these talks the gala pivoted toward popular media when well-loved Today show veteran Al Roker accepted an award of his own for his commitment to communicating the severity of climate change. In his speech, Roker said he was grateful to be able to use his platform to distribute scientific fact to the American public and keep the dialogue on sustainability going in these contentious political times.

As fish and falafel dinners were served to the assembled guests, National Football League chef Charity Morgan took to the podium to discuss her work improving the diets of American footballers. She noted that, contrary to what you might expect, the food provided to these athletes has historically been nutrient-poor and unsustainable. She's been changing that one meal at a time, establishing a positive, sustainability-minded relationship with the NFL and arranging more nutritious plant-based dietary options for players.

The next award recipient was the evening's youngest speaker, 13-year-old climate striker Alexandria Villaseñor, who was recognized for her work galvanizing the first-ever worldwide school strike for climate on March 15. Inspired by school strike for climate pioneer Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor is mobilizing youth around the world for an even mroe ambitious international demonstration on May 24.

Rounding out the evening were presentations from actress-turned-documentary filmmaker Ashley Bell and blockbuster director James Cameron. Bell, whose documentary debut Love and Bananas makes a compelling emotional case for the protection of elephants worldwide, accepted her climate leadership award with a call to preserve the beauty of nature for future generations. Cameron concluded the gala with remarks beamed in from New Zealand, focusing on the importance of civic engagement in bringing about systemic change and exhorting everyone to "Get involved, get informed, and vote Earth!"

Young Climate Leaders to Make Their Voices Heard in Italian #StudentTakeover

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In recent years, global youth have demonstrated in spades their enthusiasm for climate action and their skill at rallying others to join them in their pursuit of a greener planet. Recognizing that we all have much to learn from the brave example of these enterprising youth leaders, Connect4Climate is handing its social media channels over to student groups in Rome, Italy tomorrow to kick off an exciting new series of #StudentTakeover sessions.

Connect4Climate is a World Bank Group Multi-Donor Trust Fund powered by Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development that drives climate action through advocacy, partnerships, and creative communications.

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