The UN Development Programme and SAWA Global Cinema Advertising Association today launched a one-week international cinema advertising campaign across 11 countries, this includes across all Pearl & Dean cinemas in the UK and Ireland.

Global cinema audiences will be surprised to see – a special forecast for the year 2050. While the weather format is familiar, the forecasts – anchored by children – are not. These young TV meteorologists joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its newly produced Weather Kids campaign, created in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The Weather Channel, the flagship consumer brand of The Weather Company.

Supported by global celebrities and UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, including Oscar-winning Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh, American actor Connie Britton, and Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, 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 for future generations.

Watch the 2050 forecast delivered by Weather Kids here.

The segment warns viewers that rising temperatures will continue to bring more of the catastrophic climate change impacts that we are currently experiencing to people and the global economy. These include a projected impact on 94% of the world’s children, threats to food security and a potential rise in taxpayers’ bills globally of trillions of US Dollars. “Everything is crazy. Schools are closed because it’s too hot. Wildfires are burning whole towns. And floods are making everything wet and gross,” announces one young presenter.

The forecast ends with a powerful plea from the children: “It’s not just a weather report to us. It is our future.” Viewers are encouraged to sign a pledge to act by making financial decisions that align with sustainability and educating themselves on climate solutions and global climate action. UNDP’s new video series Climate Action Explained, narrated by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, which complements the campaign, highlights some of the concrete solutions that are already happening.

“The Weather Kids add a powerful voice to alert us to a future that will certainly materialize if we do not take meaningful climate action today,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “Continued inertia on climate change will lead to an increasingly uninhabitable planet for the ‘kids of today’ and future generations. We can only course-correct if we move at speed and scale now. That includes decarbonizing our economies and advancing access to affordable, clean energy for all; protecting and restoring our natural world; and empowering communities to have their say in their countries’ climate pledges.”

“The Cinema Medium delivers a powerful and effective environment for reaching the hearts and minds of attentive moviegoers around the globe.” said Julian Pinn, SAWA, CEO. “SAWA and its members are proud to continue their partnership with the UNDP in its efforts to reenergize the world towards taking meaningful action in the fight against climate change.”

SAWA was a leading partner in UNDP’s “Don’t Choose Extinction” campaign, where Frankie, a computer-generated dinosaur stormed into the United Nations General Assembly, seizing its iconic podium, and urging stunned-looking dignitaries to avoid the dinosaurs’ fate—extinction—by making changes to tackle the climate crisis. The campaign film viewed over 2.2 billion times, was part of an eight-week international cinema advertising and social media campaign, running in 30 countries produced in 15 languages.

The Weather Kids campaign is part of UNDP’s efforts to inspire public conversation and mobilize action on climate change on the road to the COP30 climate negotiations to be held in Brazil 2025. COP30 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and is a critical opportunity to get the world on a path aligned with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as countries submit a new round of climate actions and goals they plan to undertake. These plans – known as ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDCs) – are at the very heart of the global fight against climate change.

Weather Kids is underpinned by UNDP’s extensive work on climate change and climate action. The newly established UNDP Climate Hub delivers the UN System’s largest portfolio of support on climate action in nearly 150 countries. UNDP’s flagship Climate Promise initiative has supported action to tackle global warming by working with 85% of the world’s developing countries on their NDC submissions.

Designed to emulate weather reports television viewers see every day, the projected forecasts were developed using data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and UNDP’s Climate Horizons data platform.

The Weather Kids will air on news channels in more than 80 countries around the world. This global reach was made possible by a broad coalition of partners, many of whom donated their time and services for this common cause. In addition to our core partners the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The Weather Channel, the flagship consumer brand of The Weather Company, UNDP would like to thank: Activista; Earth X; Pvblic Foundation, The Artery, ICCO – the International Communications Consultancy Organization – and SAWA, the Global Cinema Advertising Association and its network of members.

Visit the campaign website at www.weatherkids.org

About UNDP
UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and the planet. Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.

About SAWA Global Cinema Advertising Association
SAWA is the global trade body of Cinema Advertising Companies who sell the medium and Associated Companies that supply services and products to the cinema advertising industry. SAWA develops international standards and best practices for the Cinema medium and works to improve communication among Cinema Advertising companies around the world in order to facilitate streamlined buying of the Cinema medium for brands and agencies. SAWA has partnered with UN entities since 2015 to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.