New York, NY – 10 July 2019 | After the successful 2016 #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet campaign, the Angry Birds are joined this time around by their longtime enemies (turned “frenemies”) the pigs and are looking to spread awareness about individual actions we can all take to combat climate change.
As part of the campaign, a public service announcement is launching today starring the Angry Birds, the green piggies and the English-speaking voice cast behind the film The Angry Birds Movie 2. Together, they are encouraging citizens to discover and track simple everyday actions that can make a difference by using the UN’s innovative new online climate action tool, the ActNow Bot.
“Climate change is already impacting our world today regardless of where we live,” said Maher Nasser, Director, Outreach Division, UN Department of Global Communications. “It is through climate action – built on cooperation and collaboration within and across communities – that we can confront the climate crisis. We see many people around the world sounding the alarm and demanding action by world leaders. We are grateful to the Angry Birds for adding their voice again to the call for each of us to lead by example and demonstrate that every action counts.”
Harnessing advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the ActNow Bot is a fully interactive chatbot located on the UN’s website (un.org/ActNow) that connects with users and suggests everyday actions that can be taken to preserve the environment. Every action completed is counted to encourage others to join the campaign as well as to send a message to leaders in government and business that citizens want climate action and are willing to take it. The collective actions will be presented during the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in New York in September 2019.
The Angry Birds and pigs themselves will be on hand for the first ever takeover of the ActNow Bot website from July 23-30, encouraging users with individualized suggestions – like traveling more sustainably, saving energy or eating less meat – in a campaign to highlight the impact that collective action can have at this critical moment in our planet’s history.
The new frenemies, the birds and the pigs, will come together at the United Nations in New York to celebrate the launch of the campaign on Wednesday, 10 July at 2:30 pm at the SDG Media Zone in the Visitor’s Lobby. The campaign launch will be live streamed on un.org/SDGMediaZone where the video PSA will be premiered, featuring actors Rachel Bloom, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones and Jason Sudeikis.
“We are really proud that the United Nations and the Angry Birds continue to work on climate issues together through the #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet campaign,” said The Angry Birds Movie 2 producer John Cohen. “Even our beloved birds and pigs are putting their differences aside and coming together for this great cause. We all need to come together to help create a more sustainable world and I’m so happy that the Angry Birds will have a chance to help spread this universal message.”
For media inquiries or requests for press interviews, please contact:
Esra Sergi
Associate Public Information Officer
Department of Global Communications
sergie@un.org
+1 917 367 8304
Carlos Islam
Manager, Special Events
Department of Global Communications
islamc@un.org
+1 212 963 2985
FOR CAMPAIGN ASSETS (INCLUDING PSA): http://bit.ly/AngryBirdsActNow
ABOUT THE ACTNOW CAMPAIGN
ActNow is the United Nations’ global call to individual action on climate change. The campaign is a critical part of the UN’s coordinated effort to raise awareness, ambition, and action for climate change and accelerate implementation of the Paris Agreement. Primarily an online and social media campaign, ActNow uses advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to spur behaviour change. The ActNow Bot recommends daily actions to reduce our carbon footprints – like traveling more sustainably, saving energy or eating less meat. For more information, visit www.un.org/ActNow
About the UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War and is committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. It is currently made up of 193 Member States who in 2015 unanimously adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more information, visit www.un.org
