World Wildlife Fund spotlights global climate records in Olympics campaign

Just days before the start of the Paris Olympics, scientists reported that July 24 was Earth’s hottest day on record, breaking a record set just a day earlier.  

That’s the sort of mark related to climate change that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sought to highlight in its latest campaign, released on Monday, as people around the world celebrate athletes’ monumental achievements during the Olympics. 

The Climate Games calls attention to the increase in global temperatures and extreme weather events in recent years by juxtaposing these dangerous developments with the concept of breaking records in sports.

The 60-second spot uses sportscasters' voices to narrate record-breaking climate disasters paired with videos of wildfires, flooding and people affected by extreme heat. 

“The whole world is watching the Olympics, and we all celebrate the impressive sports records that athletes are able to break,” said Hallvard Vaaland, copywriter for Try, the agency behind the campaign. “We needed to use that [occasion] when people already care about records being broken to spotlight the records that are not meant to be celebrated.”

Producing the spot required transcribing clips of hundreds of sporting events and recreating the commentary, Vaaland said. The agency provided templates to WWF offices around the world, which they can customise to feature their own country’s climate records.