Our Home is Burning in Poignant Climate Emergency Spot

As the world stays home to stop the spread of Coronavirus, there has been a temporary decrease in carbon emissions. Meanwhile, government agencies seeking to quickly jumpstart the economy will work to further reduce regulations, clearing the way for polluters to destroy the delicate balance of the Earth.

Scientists have long voiced concerns that climate change does not just impact the environment, but also our health by increasing rates of infectious disease. Until we address the issue of climate change on a global scale — we’ll be facing new and more damaging pandemics for years to come. As hurricane, flood and fire season approaches in the US, the cascading disasters will only get worse. All of these things are connected and it’s more vital now than ever to continue this fight. The public wants a radical response to climate change with the same urgency as we're seeing for the Coronavirus.

According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), we are less than 12 years away from not being able to undo our mistakes. In that time, unprecedented changes in all aspects of society need to take place, including a reduction of CO2 emissions by at least 50%.

This new spot by LA based creative agency FF (founded by Fred & Farid) portrays a family in their morning routine acting as if everything was normal, despite fires burning all around their house. The campaign is inspired by the famous quote from Greta Thunberg, the founder of Fridays For Future. During her speech at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, she said: "I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.” At the same event the following year, Greta Thunberg repeated her plea: “Our house is still on fire and your inaction is fuelling the flames by the hour.”

Joe Hobbs, organiser at Fridays For Future US, says: "We believe it's time people realise that climate change isn't going to happen, but that it's already happening. You may have become accustomed to it, but it's a serious problem we face on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we’ve moved past the time where it’s enough just to be worried. We need an immediate collective action. We hope that by watching this video people will realise they

need to take action now, instead of putting it off until later”.

The 'Our House Is On Fire' spot will also open an important digital event for Fridays For Future on 24th April. The organisation will launch an unprecedented 24-hour climate change live-stream, featuring countries from all around the world. Fred and Farid - FF’s Founders, says: “We are proud to work with Fridays For Future again on this project. This young and highly inspiring organisation founded by visionary activist Greta Thunberg is making a huge impact and our agency is honoured to help in any way that we can."

For the film, FF partnered with director Andrew Bruntel, Ways & Means for production, Exile for the edit, Method Studios for VFX and Company 3 for Colour. This film marks the second collaboration between FF and Fridays For Future. In 2019, they worked together to develop a local tourism campaign called 'Local Warming', revisiting vintage tourism posters from across the world, revealing what they would look like through the lens of today’s climate change reality.