2022•11•07     Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

© Aris Sanjaya/CIFOR

What: Press conference at COP 27 (with livestream)
When: Wednesday 9 November 2022, 11:00 a.m.

Where: Press conference room Cairo (area E) and on the livestream:

Who:

• Prof. Shen, Xiaomeng, United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
• Dirk Wilutzky, Academy Award-winning director
• Martina Donlon, Climate Lead, United Nations Department of Global Communications

Why:

The science on climate change is clear. Without drastic action, disasters like droughts, floods and storms which we are currently seeing around the world will become worse, and their impacts will be felt everywhere. Yet, climate action across the board is not nearly as ambitious as it needs to be. While the threat of climate change is widely and globally discussed, both individual and governmental ambition is far from being sufficient. New actors coming are emerging in the climate action space in the form of artists, filmmakers and musicians, and they have a crucial role to play in the climate action fight. To achieve the 1.5 degree limit, today’s greenhouse gas emissions will need to be cut by 45 per cent in the next eight years. This can only be achieved through an unprecedented global shifts, which will affect all aspects of our lives. The United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Security, a UN think thank on climate change and environmental risks, works with the understanding that producing climate research is not enough, but that innovative storytelling is key to changing attitudes and behaviors at the individual and collective level. The focus on science communication includes working with actors from different fields in an integrated way, as for example the Academy Award-winning director Dirk Wilutzky, who is a key partner in the UNU-EHS Transformative Urban Coalitions project, which works on de-carbonization in Latin American cities, or the Art and Exhibition Hall of Germany with whom UNU-EHS launched its newest Interconnected Disaster Risks report to the creative and science communities. The United Nations Secretariat is encouraging UN bodies, influencers and content creators in the general public to follow a set of tips on “communicating on climate change” to creatively engage audiences and generate bottom-up momentum for ambitious climate action.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Janine Kandel (at COP27 in Egypt)
Head of Communication
United Nations University
Institute for Environment and Human Security
Phone: + 49 151 2672 1390 (mobile)
kandel@vie.unu.edu
www.ehs.unu.edu