The United Nations on Thursday launched Mission 1.5, its most ambitious outreach effort to bridge the information gap between the people and governments on ways to limit climate change. Mission 1.5 will offer 20 million people across the world an opportunity to air their views on climate action that they want their leaders to adopt. The campaign was launched in the presence of several celebrities, youth activists and UN officials.
The campaign led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed an internet and mobile-based video game in which players act as climate policymakers who try to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The campaign seeks to remove the disconnect between citizens and governments on climate action that led to school strikes and mass protests across the world.
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Global warming is defined as a long-term rise in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere. It is the increase in surface temperatures mainly caused by human activity. The manifestations of global warming are visible now and include rising sea levels, changing regional precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, melting of polar ice and expansion of deserts.
After finishing the game, players vote on key climate actions they want the governments to adopt. The data generated from the poll will be analysed and delivered to governments, which face a paucity of reliable data on public opinion on the issue. The biggest global survey till date was done ahead of the 2015 Paris climate talks that involved 10,000 people across 76 countries.
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The Mission 1.5 game is available to the citizens of all the countries at mission1point5.org in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Sajna Nair is a former banker. Her areas of interest are environment, art and culture.