Cannes Lions Announces Distribution of Sustainable Development Goals Lions Funds

Following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals Lions at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the inaugural Grand Prix winner, The Palau Legacy Project, was last night honoured with the “Champion for Humanity” Award from the We Are All Human Foundation. The Award was presented during the We Are All Human Foundation & Global GoalsCast UN General Assembly Kick-Off Reception of the UN’s Global Goals Week, a reception to gather a coalition of champions and celebrate progress and key initiatives that made a difference over the last year.

Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder of We Are All Human and Senior Adviser to the SDG Lion Award said, “We want to kick off the UNGA week with optimism and ‘possibilism’. There’s much to do, but it is totally possible to achieve a better world for all. There is an increasing number of champions from all walks of life putting sustainability at the centre of their activities. And on the other hand, consumers all around the world are increasingly buying with their beliefs and voting with their hearts.”

The We Are All Human “Champion for Humanity” Award is a recognition for individuals or initiatives that have significantly contributed to scalable, positive progress towards advancing a better world for all. Last night, Juan Fernando Fonseca, 5 time Latin Grammy Award winner, was also awarded for his dedication over the decades to the achievement of peace and an end to the armed conflict in Colombia and as an advocate for the healing of the society.

The Sustainable Development Goals Lion were launched to advance awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were unanimously adopted by world leaders at the United Nations in 2015. The Lion exists to encourage the creative industries to celebrate and support sustainability around the world, and set a precedent as an award for creativity for humanity.

Owned by Ascential plc, Cannes Lions is committed to giving back to relevant projects and causes. Alongside the See It Be It gender initiative, the #MoreLikeMe diversity initiative and membership of the UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance, revenues generated from both The Glass and SDG Lions are given back to relevant charities.

Last night, Philip Thomas, Chairman, Cannes Lions, announced that the SDG Lions had generated €323,280 of funding which would be donated to various projects as advised by the UN. Thomas said, “We launched this Lion because we know that creativity is a force for good, and that Cannes Lions brings together the world’s greatest creative minds to work on solutions for the world’s biggest problems. Entry numbers exceeded our expectations and it’s a real privilege on behalf of all the entrants to donate the funds to projects advised by the UN.”

Claudia Romo Edelman who was part of the conception of the SDG Lion Awards said “We Are All Human will continue to work with the creative community to inspire impactful content. It will annually distribute an award to the Champion of Humanity during the UNGA, and a Champion of Creativity for Good during the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity”

Global Goals Week exists to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The annual week of action, awareness and accountability, is currently taking place in New York until 29 September, #globalgoals.