Amsterdam, Netherlands Creatives for Climate, a non-profit global network dedicated to climate action, has appointed Antonia Estall, a youth change agent, as the Asia-Pacific chapter lead. Estall’s appointment is tasked with taking action across the region, encouraging professionals to oppose greenwashing and build a climate action movement among their peers. 

Estall’s main focus will be on New Zealand, where nine out of ten New Zealanders prioritise checking a product’s green claims before making a purchase, according to research by Consumer NZ. Furthermore, according to UK research conducted by CIM in October 2020, 40% of marketers admit they do not possess the credentials required to communicate sustainability in an effective manner. 

Estall worked at ECG Consulting Firm before taking on her present positions, where she honed her research, creativity, and social media marketing talents. Additionally, she is part of Designers Collection NZ, expanding her knowledge in these domains. Estall is a motivated climate activist who emphasises an intersectional approach to climate justice. 

Joanna Kelly, chief executive at the Centre for Sustainable Finance, said, “The stories we tell about the net-zero transition are fundamental to the pace of progress toward our 2030 targets. The climate transition has huge implications for New Zealand, where access to markets, customers, and capital is at stake. The launch of the global Creatives for Climate non-profit in Aotearoa offers creative industries much-needed tools for advising clients on how to communicate with credibility. It’s a great way for NZ creatives to get in the game on sustainability.” 

Meanwhile, Gemma Rasmussen, head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ, stated, “The reality of the New Zealand market is it’s very easy for a company to make a false or misleading sustainability claim about a product or service and go unchecked because greenwashing is essentially unmonitored. Shoppers can find it hard to differentiate between what is legitimately sustainable versus what is greenwashing, so the creative industry plays a crucial role in holding the line when it comes to genuine sustainable communication. Any efforts to empower more truthful advertising and marketing are very welcome.” 

Furthermore, Matt Haliday, senior lecturer in advertising and brand creativity AUT, expressed, “It’s exciting to see Creatives for Climate in Aotearoa. Having an organisation calling out greenwashing in the industry and helping creatives draw a line in the sand is important. We can all see which way the wind is blowing. Creatives for Climate are trying to help us prepare for the storm.” 

Manila, Philippines – The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the Philippines, in partnership with Epson Philippines, have launched a 3D virtual museum to raise environmental awareness among Filipinos amidst issues of climate change nowadays.

The virtual museum will provide a platform that allows users from all over the world to have an immersive experience of going to an actual museum in the comfort of their homes. 

In relation with Epson Philippines’ ‘Turn Down the Heat’ campaign, the virtual museum will feature exhibits that will educate users on how they can help to reduce their impact on global warming by keeping track of their energy consumption and carbon footprint from their homes and workplaces. 

Justine Cruz, director for marketing and resource generation at WWF-Philippines, said that they aim at promoting an educational and discovery hub on the current state of the environment amid climate change.

“This virtual museum offers a three-dimensional immersive experience that will guide the people in learning and discovering how climate change affects various ecosystems. It aims to provide environmental awareness and help people reduce their impact on global warming as they actively track their energy consumption and carbon footprint through sustainable changes in lifestyle,” Cruz said.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Bonoan, marketing division general manager at Epson Philippines, commented that the educational features offered by the virtual museum will contribute to the environmental awareness of the youth, the academe, and the general public.

“Visitors can expect to learn about the effects of climate change on plants, animals, and humans as they navigate through the habitats and ecosystems featured in the virtual museum. The experience also includes suggestions on how they can integrate sustainable choices in their daily lives to conserve the environment. Through the virtual museum, EPC hopes to harness positive change as we work towards a greener tomorrow,” Bonoan concluded.

The virtual museum project will feature an audiovisual gallery of different ecosystems that provide users with various information on how these certain ecosystems are affected by climate change.

Singapore – Social media platform Twitter has announced that it will be prohibiting misleading advertising regarding climate change on their platform. The announcement was made to a recent blog by the company in celebration of this year’s Earth Day.

The blog, written by Director of Sustainability Seán Boyle and Global Sustainability Manager Casey Junod, notes that said approach is informed by authoritative sources, like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports. 

“We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” they said.

They also added, “We recognize that misleading information about climate change can undermine efforts to protect the planet. In the coming months, we’ll have more to share on our work to add reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations happening on Twitter.”

Twitter also pledged to continue its dedicated topic rollout on the platform to help people find personalised conversations about climate change, which included a stint for #COP26 last year, where Twitter rolled out pre-bunks — hubs of credible, authoritative information across a range of key themes, like the science backing climate change, made available in the ‘Explore’ tab, ‘Search’, and ‘Trends’.

The platform also noted that the climate conversation happening on Twitter is ever-expanding and uniquely global. Since 2021, conversation about sustainability has grown by more than 150%, and they have seen a 60% increase in terms like ‘restoring’ and ‘rebalancing’. In addition, discussion around waste reduction has increased by over 100%, and decarbonization by more than 50%.

“We all have a part we can play in tackling this urgent, global crisis. From volunteering with an environmental organisation in your community, to joining a Twitter Space with environmental experts, to learning more about protecting our planet, there are lots of ways to get involved,” the company concluded.

Singapore – The Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore’s national water agency has recently launched a new campaign highlighting the possibilities of how climate change can create adverse affects not only to the weather but also the country’s coastlines and water supply.

Titled ‘The Climate is Changing’, the spot narrates through a series of news montages and real-life scenarios on how climate change can be destructive by means of extreme drought or excess flooding. Furthermore, the campaign highlights how through various strategies such as emergency preparedness and water conservation can help alleviate the risks brought by climate change.

Overall, PUB’s new campaign speaks through the core of the institution through these four objectives: enhancing flood resilience, strengthening coastal defenses, safeguarding water security and reducing carbon footprint through the use of clean energy.

“While climate change may be an existential challenge that calls for collective effort and the buy-in of entire nations to move the needle, individuals also play an important part to mitigate the effects of climate change. By using only what we need and practising good water habits, the resultant savings in energy and resources required to treat and produce water go towards reducing our collective carbon footprint,” PUB said in a press statement.

For Cindy Keng, director of the 3P Network Department at PUB, the campaign coincides with the board’s annual water campaigns every March and the government’s launch of Singapore Green Plan 2030, which envisions Singapore to be a sustainable city.

“We felt it was also the right time to showcase PUB’s efforts in adapting to climate change which has a serious impact on our water resources. The threat is real – and PUB must demonstrate its ability to rise to the challenge of ensuring we have a sustainable water supply, protecting Singaporeans from sea level rise and flooding, as well as charting a greener future by harnessing energy from the limitless resource that is the sun,” Keng stated.

The ad has been uploaded on PUB’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The campaign also features a microsite called ‘Make Every Drop Count’ where Singaporeans can participate in various campaigns and strategies to support PUB’s social cause. This includes purchase of blue-themed deals, and participation in water conservation awareness events held specifically by institutions and schools across Singapore.