From Kenya to Lithuania to Colombia, Voices4Climate competition winners from 116 countries have received their prizes and certificates! We would like to again thank all of the participants for using their creative energy to document and share climate change stories.
Would you like to see Harrison Ford cuddling an orangutan orphaned by deforestation? Meet a scientist who studies ocean warming on Christmas Island? Or understand how drought helped cause today’s heart-rending human disaster in Syria?
Un violinista toca frente a su público, cierra los ojos e imagina que se escapa con su instrumento. A su alrededor árboles, monumentos y animales se derriten poco a poco, todos víctimas del calentamiento global. Mientras todo eso ocurre, él nunca para de tocar.
<p>El reconocimiento vino por parte de un jurado liderado por Bernardo Bertolucci, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1MY5lid8A&feature=share&list=P…; target="_blank">Fernando Meirelles</a>, Walter Salles y otros grandes nombres de la industria cinematográfica además de expertos en cambio climático como Rachel Kyte, vicepresidenta del Banco Mundial.</p>
<p>El corto además fue proyectado en una de las conocidas pantallas en Times Square en Nueva York, por donde pasan unas 300.000 personas a diario.</p>
<p>Recientemente Francina y Benjamín viajaron a Buenos Aires para asistir al festival Ventana Sur (uno de los mercados de cine latinoamericano más importantes de la región) donde el director argentino Pablo Trapero -también miembro del jurado del concurso- elogió el corto que fue proyectado ante cientos de profesionales de la industria. “Trapero nos dijo que le gustó mucho la animación, que la vio con su hijo de 12 años”, cuenta Francina con orgullo.</p>
Sport matters to us. Most of the world passionately follows sport, whether it’s football, baseball, cycling, tennis, or the athletes competing at the Olympics.
The Voices4Climate competition has officially come to a close, and our panel of esteemed judges has begun the gargantuan task of looking over more than one thousand music videos, photos, and videos on climate change. The Connect4Climate team would like to extend our thanks to all of the part
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/legacy/Julie_Allen.png" style="width: 149px; height: 71px;" /></p>
<p>Julie Allen is Creative Director for Social Responsibility at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). In this role she is responsible for the strategic and creative development of pro-social media campaigns across all platforms for VIMN - this includes long and short form on-air programming, events and digital content. Julie is co-creator of <a href="http://mtvvoices.com/">MTV Voices</a>, MTV's global pro-social platform for the millennial generation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/legacy/Rocky.jpg" style="width: 149px; height: 71px;" /></p>
<p>Dawuni has leveraged his popularity across the African continent to bring his unique Afro Roots sound to global audiences and champion social causes. Over the course of his career, and the release of five albums, his infectious grooves and dance-inducing anthems have consistently excited fans, including some of music's biggest stars with whom he's performed and collaborated. Having appeared at many of the biggest World and Reggae music events, Dawuni has worked alongside superstars Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Jason Mraz, Sharon Jones, and Janelle Monae.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Dawuni's activism reached new heights when he was recently invited to meet with Ghana's top leaders on a broad range of issues and was appointed the country's Tourism Ambassador and World Music Ambassador for the <a href="http://www.musiga.org.gh/" target="_blank">Musician's Union of Ghana</a>. He was just announced as an Ambassador for the <a href="http://www.cleancookstoves.org/" target="_blank">UN Foundation's Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves</a>, joining ambassadors Julia Roberts and Chef Jose Andres to raise awareness. These efforts are in addition to his ongoing involvement with Product (RED), UNICEF, the Carter Center & the UN Foundation. In 2012, Rocky was also chosen by CNN as one of the top ten African musicians alongside Youssou N'Dour and Cesaria Evora and was featured on CNN's African Voices.</p>
<p><a href="http://connect4climate.org/initiative/humanitarian-music-star-rocky-daw…; target="_blank">See our full post on Rocky Dawuni here.</a></p>
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<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/legacy/rkyte.png" style="width: 149px; height: 71px;" /></p>
<p>Rachel Kyte is the former Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. She has overall responsibilities for the organization's global work in climate change, agriculture, environment, infrastructure, urban development, disaster management, and social development. Rachel chairs the MLT. She has held the VP position since September, 2011.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Prior to her appointment, Ms. Kyte had been Vice President for Business Advisory Services at the International Finance Corporation since 2008. From 2004, Ms. Kyte served as IFC's Director for Environmental and Social Development, where she led efforts to develop new sustainability performance standards. Through the Equator Principles, adapted by 70 commercial banks and 34 export guarantee agencies, these standards are now a global benchmark illustrating that improved environment and social standards can raise financial performance in emerging markets. Prior to joining IFC, she was a member of the management team of the World Conservation Union. She has held elected positions in Europe, and founded and led non-government organizations focusing on women, the environment, health, and rights.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Ms. Kyte was recently appointed as Professor of Practice in Sustainable Development at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston. Ms. Kyte holds a MA in International Relations from The Fletcher School, and a BA in politics and history from the University of London. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/team/rachel-kyte" target="_blank">See her posts on the World Bank Blog here</a>.<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;
color:#787878"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/legacy/Cedella.jpg" style="width: 149px; height: 71px;" /></p>
<p>Cedella Marley is an accomplished singer, author, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. The first-born of Bob and Rita Marley, she has combined her multifaceted creativity with her family legacy to champion causes such as reducing maternal mortality, access to safe drinking water, and protecting the environment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The world first met Cedella as a singing and dancing teenager with The Melody Makers, the Marley sibling group which, over two decades, has sold millions of albums and won three Grammy Awards. Cedella continues to record and is currently at work on her debut album, produced by her brothers Ziggy and Stephen. Cedella balances the responsibilities of motherhood (she and her husband have three sons) with the management of the Marley family's numerous business endeavors and the demands of designing her celebrated women's casual wear collection 'Catch A Fire.' She is the CEO of Tuff Gong International, the record label founded by her father in 1965 and director of The Bob Marley Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization. She oversees Hope Road Merchandising, LLC, a Marley family entity that manages the rights to Bob's name and likeness, and the Marley merchandising conglomerate House of Marley. Cedella also helms<a href="http://www.1love.org/">1Love.org</a>, the family's recently launched social networking/charity foundation which is working to channel the energy of Bob Marley's 37 million Facebook "friends" into positive work and charitable causes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><a href="http://connect4climate.org/initiative/musician-author-cedella-marley-ju…; target="_blank">See our full post on Cedella Marley here.</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/legacy/Kenny.png" style="width: 149px; height: 71px;" /></p>
<p>Kenny Young has written and produced more than 25 chart records, including the Grammy Award-winning song, 'Ai No Corrida' and 'Under the Boardwalk.' He received the United Nations Global 500 Award for outstanding practical achievements in the protection and improvement of the environment as co-founder of the Earth Love Fund. He co-produced the Hollywood Genesis Award-winning film 'Spirit of the Forest,' a BBC-TV documentary feature about the destruction of the Amazon, and wrote a benefit record of the same name, which was released by Virgin Records and featured over 50 major international artists.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Founder and Music Producer at<a href="http://www.apeuk.org/" target="_blank"> Artists Project Earth (APE</a>), he is the creative force that has engineered five highly successful '<a href="http://www.rhythmsdelmundo.org/" target="_blank">Rhythms del Mundo</a>' charity albums in support of over 300 climate change projects around that world that feature Coldplay, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Radiohead, U2, Amy Winehouse, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mumford & Sons, and many other renowned international artists.<o:p></o:p></p>
Everything started with a title, Connect4Climate Ambassador to Latin America. I did not want it to be just a name; I wanted to make good use of this title and put it to work.
Some of the smallest visitors to the Alcantara Magic Garden-Connect4Climate pavilion had big ideas about climate.
Hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world gathered in the rain on Rio de Janeiro's famous Copacabana beach to celebrate World Youth Day on Tuesday, July 23rd.
The Connect4Climate team is honored to welcome humanitarian and international music star Rocky Dawuni as a judge for the Voices4Climate photo/video/music video/podcast competition.
.@NelsonMandela Inspiring #COP20 Leadership "Make Our World a Sustainable Source" -
<p>Gratefulness for the beauty of nature is not something that occurred to the late, great Nelson Mandela in just the final years of his life. During his 27 years in jail on Robben Island, he fought to have a garden installed on the roof of his prison, where he and his fellow inmates could grow vegetables for their meals.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>"To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction," he recalled in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Walk_to_Freedom" target="_blank">Long Walk to Freedom</a>. "The sense of being the custodian of this small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom." We have to remember that Nelson Mandela placed climate justice amongst his priorities for all people. He immediately knew that climate change would have devastating consequences on the most vulnerable citizens of our global society.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Nelson Mandela, who died last year at age 95, left two legacies for climate advocates — the necessity of endless and incremental campaigning and the value of divestment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>In his 1995 autobiography, he wrote, “There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” One would ask: what would Madiba do for the climate change movement now, if he were still around? Most likely his immediate response would have been: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Perhaps he would have even added: “ Change never comes without a fight.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Mandela’s wisdom on climate change is still relevant, he could teach and promote the greatest of values like no other. <a href="http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=7347" target="_blank">Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon</a> has noted: “Nelson Mandela was more than one of the greatest leaders of our time, he was one of the greatest teachers, and he taught by example.” Climate change is the “next great moral” issue, in a similar way as apartheid once was.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The difficulties Mandela had to overcome for South Africa are similar to the difficulties that lie before mankind, making his contribution invaluable in our search for solution to tackle climate change.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Nelson Mandela’s vision of a “rainbow egalitarian society” is identical to the environmentalists’ dream of a habitable planet Earth and healthy environment for present and future generations. Mandela was like a man awoke too early in the darkness, while the others were all still asleep. Nelson Mandela’s spirit will inspire generations to come to follow his path and build a better future.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p><strong>“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great, you can be that generation” - Nelson Mandela</strong><o:p></o:p></p>
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