In the USA the Republicans have done everything they can to thwart President Obama’s climate change policy. It seems that many of them are plain sceptical about the whole thing — and so like the band on the Titanic just play along to the same old tune while the ship is sinking.
But in Hollywood there is usually a more progressive ethos – and indeed major players such as Leonardo Di Caprio Gwyneth Paltrow and Francis Cameron have been champions of the environmental cause. Cameron’s Avatar was a massive ecological statement which reached millions.Indeed he went on to make a short film “A Message from Pandora” about the epic battle to stop the building of the Belo Monte Dam (a cause also highlighted on our website) in the Brazilian Amazon.
The UN is obviously aware of all this and so Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been in Los Angeles today and yesterday as part of the United Nations initiative that aims to raise the profile of critical global issues in partnership with the international film and television industries.
During the visit, Mr. Ban has attended a forum to discuss climate change and environment, and the empowerment of women and protection of children, with the creative community in Los Angeles.
He will also take part in a Facebook Town Hall today via online video-link to promote the use of social media as a platform to raise awareness and funding for critical global issues.
The UN has collaborated with the entertainment industry on a number of projects under the Secretary-General’s Creative Community Outreach Initiative (CCOI).
As part of the Initiative, the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) provides film, new media, television, and documentary producers around the world with access to information about the work of the UN and its priority issues, as well as offer logistical advice and assistance.
Among the collaborations so far, the hit US television series “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” filmed scenes at the historic UN Headquarters building in New York for one of its episodes in 2009 that involved children and armed conflict as well as refugees.
That same year, the UN-backed campaign to raise awareness about malaria – which claims over one million lives annually – had a starring role on the season premiere of the television comedy “Ugly Betty.”