Glaciers are melting faster than ever before, and with them 69 per cent of the world’s freshwater supplies. Billions of people are expected to lose access to drinking water, energy and irrigation, and ultimately to their homes. In order to make the research results collected over decades as well as the scientific projections understandable for everyone, the initiative “Meltdown Flags” visualises glacier retreat using the flags of the countries where glaciers exist. The white areas on the flags are reduced in three stages – from 1995, the year of the first UN climate summit, to today and finally to 2050, the “point of no return” for glaciers. Online, each flag uses data to show the status of glacier melt in the respective country. Here, visitors could also access additional information and were invited, for example, to offset their own carbon footprint. An accompanying exhibition allowed interaction with the flags using the Meltdown AR filter, which was also used in classrooms to provide insights for students. Following their launch at the Madrid Climate Summit, the Meltdown Flags have gathered global support with more than 152 million contacts across 73 countries.
Statement by the Jury
The “Meltdown Flags” campaign raises awareness of global glacier melting in a highly original and impactful way. The use of each country’s flag not only brought much needed and important attention to glaciers, but also created a sense of identification by showing the extent of glacier retreat in each country. The otherwise rather dry data was thus presented in an excellent and media-effective way.
Credits
Client:
METER Group, Inc., Pullman, WA, USA
Design:
Serviceplan Germany, Munich, Germany
Project Team:
METER Group: Scott Campbell (CEO)
Christian Hertel (VP Marketing)
