This Campaign Sees Kids Take Over Weather Reports in Over 80 Countries to Mobilise Climate Action
Global television audiences who tuned in for their local weather reports on Saturday, March 23rd - World Meteorological Day - were in for a surprise: a special forecast from the year 2050.
While the format is familiar, the forecasts – anchored by children – are not. These young TV meteorologists joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its ‘Weather Kids’ campaign. Created by Activista for the UNDP in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The Weather Channel, the project was devised to alert viewers, in a non-doom-and-gloomy way, to a future that will certainly materialise if we do not take meaningful climate action today.
Supported by global celebrities and UNDP Goodwill ambassadors, including Oscar-winning Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh, American actor Connie Britton, and Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the campaign is part of the UNDP’s efforts to boost awareness on the impacts of climate change.
Designed to mobilise people around the world to take meaningful climate action for future generations, the spot highlights the climate crisis’ projected impact on 94% of the world’s children, from global threats to food security to staggering increases in worldwide taxes to the tune of trillions of US dollars.
One young presenter announces, “Everything is crazy. Schools are closed because it’s too hot. Wildfires are burning whole towns. And floods are making everything wet and gross.” The forecast ends with a powerful plea from the children: “It’s not just a weather report to us. It is our future.”
As the forecast closes, it encourages viewers to sign a pledge to act by making financial decisions aligned with sustainability, and by educating themselves on climate solutions and global climate action at weatherkids.org.
To find out more about the inspiration and logistics behind a truly global campaign, LBB’s Addison Capper speaks with the UNDP's CCO Boaz Paldi and Activista ECD Paco Conde.
LBB> What was the initial brief or problem set out by the client?
Boaz> Create a climate action campaign that will resonate with people across the world and illustrate the generational price of the climate emergency.
LBB> How did you arrive at what sort of shape the solution would take? What options or ideas did the ideation process throw out?
Paco Conde> We started working on this campaign in the winter of 2022, amidst a barrage of breaking news on extreme weather worldwide. It felt like every day, the warnings scientists had sounded for decades were playing out in real-time on our screens. From the beginning, we knew our focus had to be on weather reports. That’s when Frankie, the dinosaur from our previous UNDP campaign, sprang to mine. But this time, instead of addressing the UN General Assembly, Frankie would bring us the weather forecast.
LBB> Where did the idea for the kids' weather report initially come from? And why did it make sense?
Paco> It came from the universal truth that we all desire a better future for our children. It doesn’t matter where you're from, who you vote for, or what you think about climate change; we all agree on that. In a world where even science is polarising, who better than kids to ignite climate action?
LBB> The aim of this campaign is to present the issue at hand but without so much doom and gloom. Why is this method particularly powerful? And why is doom and gloom less effective for some people?
Beto> Doom and gloom tactics don't resonate. People tune out when bombarded with messages designed to scare them. Optimism is the key to inspiring effective responses to the climate crisis. That's why the forecasts delivered by the Weather Kids strike the right balance — highlighting the issue while offering hope and showcasing available solutions. At weatherkids.org, users can explore how climate action can positively impact the future lives of younger generations.
LBB> This was a global initiative - how did you pull it off from a logistical perspective? How did you get all the different broadcasters involved?
Boaz> The trick was to speak with meteorologists and weather reporters. They are aware that the climate emergency is accelerating because they report on the extreme weather occurrences daily. However, they lack the tools to effectively convey the story in a way that engages the public. ‘Weather Kids’ provided them with a highly accessible platform to address the issue and connect with audiences. Through them, we were able to form critical partnerships that facilitated widespread dissemination. Additionally, we leveraged partnerships established during our previous campaign, 'Don't Choose Extinction.' Returning to these alliances, it was easy for them to recognise the potential of ‘Weather Kids’ and join us.
LBB> And how did it work from a production perspective?
Beto> The Artery was our production partner. They did a great job producing the international versions that served as guidance for all the local versions. [The Artery founder and CCO] Vico Sharabani and his team worked their magic to create the weather graphics, cast the first five kids, and filmed them at the Weather Channel studios. Then, they created the toolkit that all the local UNDP offices and TV networks used to create their own versions.
LBB> What was casting like? How did you get the kids involved?
Beto> Given the global nature of the campaign and the client, we aimed to represent as many regions and ethnicities as possible. We began by casting five kids for the international versions, who were filmed in the Weather Channel studios in Atlanta. We then used AI technology to create dubbed versions of the kids to reach more markets. Subsequently, UNDP offices worldwide briefed their local TV networks to cast their own Weather Kids, who were broadcast live from their respective sets.
LBB> What kind of results did you see after the broadcasts?
Boaz> We have a huge engagement across the globe. The campaign connects with people by making us think about the children in our lives. As the UNDP goodwill ambassador said, “It's the one thing we can all agree on; we need to leave a better world for our children.” From the early results, we can see this sentiment is true. We have found a common denominator to talk about the climate emergency. In a world so divided, we believe that ‘Weather Kids’ unites us all in taking climate action.
LBB> What were the trickiest components and how did you overcome them?
Paco> It’s a very simple idea but extremely complex to bring to life. Every component of the project presented unique challenges, from integrating IPCC weather projections with children's language and weather reports to creating graphics that depicted weather forecasts and solutions. Fortunately, Casey Rand, the writer of the project, and our production partners, The Artery, nailed it. Additionally, figuring out how to coordinate hundreds of networks worldwide to create and broadcast their Weather Kids live on the same day was a daunting task. With the help of our PR partners at ICCO and the World Meteorological Organisation, we were finally able to achieve our goal.
