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OOH climate change campaign debuts at COP26

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November 3, 2021

Over the next two weeks, 20,000 world leaders and delegates will meet in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26 summit to discuss solutions to the world's climate crisis. Conservation International has released a global OOH campaign with Clear Channel, "Hear me while you can," to inspire world leaders, delegates and people around the world to understand the perils of climate change, according to a company press release.

Over the duration of COP26, Clear Channel digital screens will showcase Conservation International's campaign, which invites passers-by to "stop and listen to the beautiful sounds of nature."

The digital screens will feature a QR code which, once snapped, takes the user to conservation.org/HearMe, where they can listen to nature sounds from the Amazon rainforest to South African savannah, from Southeast Asia mountains to the North Pacific Ocean, and learn more about Conservation International's work to protect nature.

The campaign comes as nearly 3,000 delegates participated in the Convention on Biodiversity COP15 talks earlier this month, where governments agreed to pledge more investment to protect biodiversity.

"Nature isn't just something that is beautiful to see and hear — it is essential in the fight to slow climate change, to our very survival. The science on this is clear: if we don't invest in stopping the destruction of nature, we will fail to avert climate catastrophe — even if we get everything else right," Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, said in the release. "We are working across the global south – and now, here at COP26 in Glasgow — to drive investments to nature for the benefit of people and the climate."

Nature can provide at least 30% of global action required to prevent the most dangerous impacts of climate change — yet solutions such as protecting, restoring and managing forests, mangroves and peatlands receive less than 3% of all global climate funding, according to the release.

"Hear Me" gives a nod to "Nature Is Speaking" films that Conservation International launched with MAL\FOR GOOD in 2014, and whose tag line, "Nature doesn't need people. People need nature," drives home the point that saving nature is really about saving ourselves.

Clear Channel is lending its support to the campaign by donating advertising space on digital screens across its markets, in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

This global pro-bono OOH campaign builds on Clear Channel's commitment to using OOH's strengths, its mass reach and ability to build brand fame, to give a voice to one of today's most pressing issues — climate change.

"At Clear Channel, our ambition is to create a better world through the ways in which we use our out of home advertising platform," William Eccleshare, CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, said in the release. "This can only be achieved if we protect the future first. We're playing our part in two vital ways: first, by using the power of our medium to extend the reach and facilitate debate on important issues that often don't get the attention they deserve. This includes our pro-bono campaign with Conservation International which we're incredibly proud to be helping amplify so that people worldwide, and not just the delegates of COP26, are invited to the conversation.

"Second, we're making tangible changes to how we operate as a business to reduce our environmental impact. For example, earlier this year we developed a prototype for a new piece of street furniture that cleans the same amount of air as 20 trees, and we continue to use recycled materials to build our bus shelters and partner with charities like Trees for Cities to create greener cities."

Clear Channel is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and has committed to be carbon net zero by 2050 across its global operations in line with the Paris Agreement. Conservation International works in 30 countries around the world, helping to create a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet.