Mother. Multidisciplinary storyteller and researcher. Producer: Women & the Wind Doco. Hand-building a Floating Stories Lab. Disseminating science revealing fiberglass (GRP) impacts on marinelife.
Watching the scenes in Dubai is a little haunting. Late last year I was contracted on a VR project ‘What If’ to be screened at Cop 28 in Dubai. The short animated film explored scenarios along the lines of ‘What if the UAE did nothing to curb climate impacts by 2050?’ Devastating flooding events were a plausible outcome (backed by scientific research). I’ve co-produced VR films that have screened at other COP events. As the years pass, I’ve grown more disenheartened with these conferences that appear to be more about networking and business than actually taking much-needed decisions that will see the world’s most vulnerable communities have a better chance at managing existing and inevitable climate impacts. When we invite rich leaders to fly in on private jets, put them up in 5-star hotels, silence locals and activists and hold the conference and subsequent debates in air conditioned venues, are we ever going to get the results necessary? I’d love to see COP held in the actual environment, with the local communities, leaders housed in home stays without frills and certainly without controlled climate devices like air con or heating. The VR films we’ve made for COP were supposed to ‘teleport’ decision makers to ground zero where they can experience first hand what local communities are up against. But let’s be real, a VR film can not simulate the experience of living through extreme weather events and other devastating outcomes of anthropogenic climate change, especially if the viewer is watching the experience comfortably in a controlled climate where they can easily slip back to business as usual as soon as they remove their headset. If we want to get serious at COP, let’s get decision makers out of their comfort zones, on the ground in real environments listening to the stories from those impacted by climate change directly. Better ideas? Let’s talk solutions 🙏🏼 #dubai #cop #climatechange #vr
