New York, USA – The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has unveiled a new YouTube series, Climate Action Explained, which explores what climate action looks like around the world. As climate change impacts intensify, the series outlines the need to scale up the many climate solutions already underway to secure a greener, safer future.

Introduced by UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador and actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the four videos showcase how we can adapt to the impacts of climate change, restore the world’s forests, power communities with sustainable energy and enable young people to drive climate action.

The solutions come from 12 countries across five continents: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Georgia, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, India, Panama, Tuvalu, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.

“The climate crisis can feel overwhelming and scary, but we do have the solutions we need to address this challenge head on. By showcasing the leadership of developing countries around the world, our new video series proves that,” remarked Cassie Flynn, Global Director of Climate Change at UNDP. “What we now need is to boldly scale up these solutions, together.”

The Climate Action Explained video series is part of UNDP’s efforts to ignite public conversation and mobilize action on climate change on the road to the COP30 climate negotiations which will be held in Brazil in 2025. COP30 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and is a critical opportunity to get the world on a path aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5° C, as countries submit a new round of climate pledges and action plans. These plans – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – are at the very heart of the global fight against climate change.

“The climate crisis is already here, hitting headlines across the globe. The bad news is that, without urgent and meaningful action, extreme weather and disasters are set to become only more common and more intense. On the other side of that, we have the good news, which is that progress is possible,” UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador and actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said. “The stories highlighted in the Climate Action Explained video series show us that we have the answers to fight climate change and build a better, safer future.”

UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji Resident Representative Munkhtuya Altangerel added:

“As the impacts of climate change accelerate — including more extreme weather and sea level rise — it is increasingly urgent that countries and communities adapt, and we explore partnerships that are fit for the future. UNDP Pacific’s support to the people of Tuvalu is the embodiment of partnership, through support from both the Green Climate Fund and the Government of Australia, alongside the Government of Tuvalu. Together we are not only helping build resilience to the impacts of climate change but supporting a valuable investment for the future of Tuvalu with a focus on both people and planet.”

The Climate Action Explained video series is underpinned by UNDP’s extensive work on climate change and climate action. UNDP’s newly established Climate Hub delivers the UN system’s largest portfolio of support on climate action in more than 140 countries. UNDP’s flagship Climate Promise initiative has supported action to tackle the climate crisis by working with more than 80 percent of the world’s developing countries on their NDC submissions.

The Climate Action Explained video series will be available in English, French and Spanish at launch and will be further translated to other languages in the coming months.

The video series is released jointly with UNDP’s Weather Kids campaign. Designed to look exactly like weather reports television viewers see every day, Weather Kids features children reading projected weather forecasts from 2050, urging meaningful climate action today. Created in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and 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.

To learn more, visit: http://climatepromise.undp.org/climate-action-explained   

For more information on the campaign or to request an interview, please contact:
In the U.S.: mehmet.erdogan@undp.org I +1 917 256 9945
In Europe:  florin.marin@undp.org I +40 722 418 457