World leaders are currently gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations’ COP26 summit. The topic at hand: climate change. We’re at a critical point on Earth. Just a few months ago, the UN released a new report on humans’ contributions to climate change. And, not only is it a “unequivocal” yes that humans are very much causing our entire planet to warm, we’ve reached a point where a lot of the damage is irreversible. It’s pretty bleak stuff, but climate activists all over the world are haranguing leaders to do more—and certainly better. At the UN COP26 summit, which runs for two weeks between late October and mid-November, world leaders are working to accelerate the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (Of which most of the world—including the US, once again—is in agreement.)
Ahead of the summit, United Nations Development Programme launched a Don’t Choose Extinction initiative. And to remind us of the direness of the current circumstances, they enlisted a famously extinct creature.
Yep, the Tyrannosaurus rex, voiced by Jack Black. (We first saw this video at DesignTAXI).
In the video, the T. rex lambasts our decision to self-sabotage our world—and our own existence, calling out governments for the “hundreds of billions of public funds” spent on fossil fuel subsidies globally. Comparing funding fossil fuel subsidies to meteors—you know, the thing leading to our demise—it questions why we’re not using the money for better things. Like, for instance, helping those living in poverty. This dino certainly has a point.
The Don’t Choose Extinction initiative lays it out pretty clearly on its site: “Man-made climate change will cause more frequent and more intense fires, floods, storms, hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves—to the point where some of them will be happening at the same place at the same time.”
We’re already seeing this take shape all over the world, just look at your local news. The UN points out that even if somehow you manage to avoid these catastrophic natural disasters, there’s also “diseases that are more likely to spread” and, of course, air pollution.
It’s all very anxiety-inducing stuff, but it’s our current reality. Luckily, the UN decided to take the route of slightly added levity, to take the edge off this dire call to action.
