The Olympics stop the world and bring it together. The destruction of the planet has not. It’s one of the uncomfortable truths about human existence that we are killing the planet we depend on and are half-hearted about changing that.
Christian Aid, the UK charity fighting global poverty, is using the power of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to inspire people to urge people to Join the race against the climate crisis in a campaign by independent creative agency, Impero.
The hero film places a sports commentator’s excited voiceover over dual scenes of Olympic endeavour and climate change’s devastating impact. “What you are about to see could well change history” he announces as the film begins. it’s not the smoothest presentation of an argument, but that doesn’t undermine the urgency of its message.
20% of Olympic nations face extinction from sea level rise and extreme weather by 2030. And, while the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5C above pre-industrial averages refers to the long-term, the exceeding of this target over the last 12 months indicates that this goal will be missed soon unless urgent action is taken.
The spot ends with a call to action to sign up to Christian Aid’s campaign to beat the climate crisis at caid.org.uk/ClimateRace.
The TVC will be live for the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, from July 26 to August 11. The full campaign includes pre-roll videos across Olympics content on Sky Sports VOD, on climate content on Sky News VOD, and as in-feed videos on X. There will also be a Sky homepage takeover for 24 hours over the men’s 100m final (Sunday, August 4) and again for 24 hours over the women’s 200m final (Tuesday, August 6).
Christian Aid director of fundraising and supporter engagement, Nick Georgiadis, stated, “The last time representatives from every nation descended on Paris was the UN climate summit in 2015 where the Paris Agreement was signed. It’s terrible that nine years later that agreement is under serious threat with both carbon emissions and global temperatures continuing to rise causing ever more dramatic and record-breaking climate events.
“With all eyes on Paris for the 2024 Olympics games, we hope our campaign can raise awareness of the dangers we face and inspire the collective action the world now needs.”
Alastair Mills, joint executive creative director at Impero, added, “Climate change is already impacting sport. Deadly summer heatwaves have become the norm in continental Europe, so it was inevitable they’d be in the headlines in the run up to the Paris Olympics. The campaign joins in with this narrative in a powerful and compelling way that engages our target audience – a group who, as mid-lifers, care deeply about how their actions set an example to their community and their families – and motivate them to act.”
A survey of those taking part in last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest found 85% saying the sport in general has suffered because of the climate crisis. This was an increase of 72% the year before.
Credits:
Creative Agency: Impero
Executive Creative Director: Al Mills
Creative Team: Beatriz Zambrano
Motion Editor: Precious Salazar
Designe: Charlie Dyckhoff
Account Director: Shannon Farmer
Chief Strategy Officer: Chris Tyas
Producers: Julia Tallis & Shaye Laree Thompson
Project Manager: Julia Tallis & Shaye Laree Thompson
