Today, celebrities and youth activists met with UN officials, governments and civil society to launch Mission 1.5, a campaign that aims to bridge the gap between people and governments on ambitious climate action. 

 

Mission 1.5 aims to give 20 million people around the world the opportunity to have their say on ways to limit climate change that they want to see adopted by government leaders. The campaign, led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), hopes to address the disconnect between citizens and governments that has seen a groundswell of public opinion by citizens around the world, including school strikes and mass protests. 

 

 

The campaign is built around an internet and mobile-based video game, developed by UNDP alongside experts in game development, climate science and public polling, in which players take on the role of climate policymakers and make decisions to try to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

 

After the game, players are asked to vote on key climate actions they want to see adopted. This data will be analyzed and delivered to governments, who often lack access to reliable information on public opinion on climate action. 

 

The previous biggest international survey of public opinion on climate change canvassed 10,000 people across 76 countries, and was conducted ahead of the 2015 Paris climate talks.

 

The Mission 1.5 game is available at www.mission1point5.org and can be played by people in every country in the world. 

 

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said: "Together with partners from across the private and public sectors, we have the ability with this campaign to connect millions of people with their governments in an innovative two-way discussion on solutions to the climate crisis, and increase ambition ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow later this year.”

 

For over 20 years, UNDP has been working closely with the Government of Azerbaijan and national partners to adopt prudent climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, to promote energy efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions and prepare for extreme weather events that climate change brings.

 

 “In Azerbaijan UNDP is providing support to the Government in meeting its Paris Agreement obligations to reduce GHG emissions by 35% by 2030. In order to achieve this it is crucial that greater support is provided to alternative solutions such as energy efficiency, renewable energies and technological innovations, which in turn could pave the way to thousands of new green jobs, thereby supporting economic diversification”, UNDP Resident Representative to Azerbaijan, Alessandro Fracassetti said. 

 

About Mission 1.5 

Mission 1.5 was developed by UNDP and partners as an online platform that educates people on climate action and connects them with their governments and policymakers. The campaign is called Mission 1.5 because we must act now to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  

 

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