LocationsThe Weather Kids campaign, created in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization and The Weather Channel, calls for urgent climate action for the next generations.
UN Development Programme Disrupts Global Television Airwaves with Shocking Weather Forecasts from the Future to Mobilize Climate Action Today
March 21, 2024
The Weather Kids campaign is part of UNDP’s efforts to inspire public conversation and mobilize action on climate change.
BARBADOS – March 21, 2024 – Television audiences who tuned in for their local weather reports today were met with a surprise – a special forecast from the year 2050. While the format was familiar, the forecasts – anchored by children – were not. These young TV meteorologists joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its new Weather Kids campaign, created in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The Weather Channel, the flagship consumer brand of The Weather Company.
The campaign is part of UNDP’s efforts to boost awareness on the impacts of climate change and to mobilize people around the world to take meaningful climate action for future generations. Watch the 2050 forecast delivered by Weather Kids:
The special Weather Kids segment aired on CBC TV 8 in Barbados during Mornin' Barbados and the CBC Evening News and across the region on CaribVision. It warns viewers that rising temperatures will continue to bring more of the catastrophic climate change impacts that we are currently experiencing to people and the global economy. These include a projected impact on 94% of the world’s children, threats to food security and a potential rise in taxpayers’ bills globally of trillions of US Dollars.
The forecast ends with a powerful plea from the children: “It’s not just a weather report to us. It is our future.” Viewers are encouraged to sign a pledge to act by making financial decisions that align with sustainability and educating themselves on climate solutions and global climate action. UNDP’s new video series Climate Action Explained, narrated by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, which complements the campaign, highlights some of the concrete solutions that are already happening.
“The Weather Kids add a powerful voice to alert us to a future that will certainly materialize if we do not take meaningful climate action today,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “Continued inertia on climate change will lead to an increasingly uninhabitable planet for the ‘kids of today’ and future generations. We can only course-correct if we move at speed and scale now. That includes decarbonizing our economies and advancing access to affordable, clean energy for all; protecting and restoring our natural world; and empowering communities to have their say in their countries’ climate pledges.”
UNDP Resident Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Limya Eltayeb, underscored the urgency of climate action for the Caribbean. “The most vulnerable countries, many of which are Small Island Developing States, are more affected by extreme weather though contributing the least to climate change. A large part of our work at UNDP Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean focuses on increasing the adaptability and resilience of local people to the impacts of climate change – working closely with communities and with the support of our donors, and other development agencies. There’s a small window of time left, but we can make it if we act now – and act together.”
The Weather Kids campaign is part of UNDP’s efforts to inspire public conversation and mobilize action on climate change on the road to the COP30 climate negotiations to be held in Brazil 2025. COP30 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and is a critical opportunity to get the world on a path aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as countries submit a new round of climate actions and goals they plan to undertake. These plans – known as ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDCs) - are at the very heart of the global fight against climate change.
Weather Kids is underpinned by UNDP’s extensive work on climate change and climate action. The newly established UNDP Climate Hub delivers the UN System’s largest portfolio of support on climate action in nearly 150 countries. UNDP’s flagship Climate Promise initiative has supported action to tackle global warming by working with 85% of the world’s developing countries on their NDC submissions.
Designed to emulate weather reports television viewers see every day, the projected forecasts were developed using data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UNDP’s Human Climate Horizons data platform.
The Weather Kids will air on news channels in more than 80 countries around the world. This global reach was made possible by a broad coalition of partners, many of whom donated their time and services for this common cause. In addition to airing the Weather Kids segment, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation supported the video production, while the Caribbean Media Corporation is supporting the campaign by aiding in the distribution of its content to Caribbean broadcasters. In addition to these core partners, UNDP would like to thank the Barbados Meteorological Services for supporting the campaign via its digital channels.
Visit the campaign website at www.weatherkids.org
Media contact: yajaira.archibald@undp.org
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About UNDP
UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and the planet. Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.
About WMO
WMO is the United Nations system's authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.
About The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation
The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is a public radio and television broadcaster, located in The Pine, St. Michael in Barbados. Founded in 1963 as Radio Barbados, it later opened television services in 1964. The CBC broadcasts on channel 8 and is the only legally licensed, over-the-air television channel broadcasting in the country of Barbados. The corporation also owns and operates three radio stations: CBC Radio on 94.7 MHz FM and 900 kHz AM, The One on 98.1 MHz FM and Q-100.7 on 100.7 MHz FM. Learn more at www.cbc.bb
About The Caribbean Media Corporation
The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) is the Caribbean region’s premier multimedia content distributor dedicated to excellence in news and communication services. We also specialize in Print and Social Media, Broadcast on terrestrial television and radio stations, Cable television and Satellite Uplink Distribution across the Caribbean, to North America and the world. Our network includes terrestrial television stations in the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname. Our cable television channel CaribVision, is a 24/7 cable service available in 16 Caribbean territories and the CARIFORUM states, and New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ontario & Quebec in Canada.
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