Through Innovative #EyeOnClimate Campaign, the UN Foundation Leverages Photography to Spotlight Climate Change Solutions

Today, the United Nations Foundation launched the third series of its award-winning Instagram campaign, #EyeOnClimate, to highlight solutions to climate change in the lead up to COP25, the next UN meeting on climate action in December. The user-generated content (UGC) campaign will once again harness captivating photos and storytelling from global photographers and advocates who bring a compelling, personal lens to the issue.

This year’s #EyeOnClimate campaign focuses on climate solutions from nature, inspired by two recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Reports that revealed how we must change our relationship with nature to solve the climate crisis. Solutions featured in the campaign showcase how protecting and restoring habitats — from forests to mangroves to coral reefs — support healthy ecosystems, communities, and climate action. Salesforce is joining this year’s campaign, which will also be amplified by the voices of National Geographic photographers on social media and to their 124 million Instagram followers on @natgeo.

“The recent UN Climate Action Summit showcased new commitments and solutions, but we know they are not enough,” said Rajesh Mirchandani, Chief Communications Officer at the UN Foundation. “We need greater action from all parts of the world and all sectors, and we hope #EyeOnClimate can spotlight more of the kind of solutions we need to advocate for and scale up.”

Research shows that climate solutions receive far less coverage in the media than the causes and consequences. A recent study by Public Citizen found that U.S. news media mentioned climate solutions or mitigation just 13% of the time when discussing climate change. #EyeOnClimate addresses this gap by encouraging photographers and people everywhere to share their climate solutions on Instagram with the hashtag #EyeOnClimate. In 2018, the campaign inspired over 700 images featuring climate solutions to be shared online. Previous #EyeOnClimate campaigns have won a Shorty Award for Best Use of Hashtag and PR News Social Media Award for Best Instagram PR Campaign.

Photographers, advocates, and individuals on Instagram interested in participating can visit eyeonclimate.org to learn more.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation acts as a strategic partner to help the United Nations mobilize the ideas, people, and resources it needs to drive global progress and tackle urgent challenges. We focus on issues at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals, build initiatives across sectors to solve problems at scale, and engage citizens who seek action. Founded in 1998 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner, the UN Foundation works with philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual partners. Learn more at: www.unfoundation.org.