Climate films in the net: And who pays the bill?
The climate change stopper: nice idea, completely useless in its application
29. Juli 2010
Just flip the switch, wait a few seconds – and climate change has already been stopped. A handy little device is all you need. There’s just one problem... The climate catastrophe is the subject of many videos in the internet. And some of them are really worth seeing. By Tanja Beeskow
The nature film Home portrays the current state of our Earth in an absolutely eye-catching way: using exclusively aerial shots, it reveals a unique view of our planet and its beauty – but also of its vulnerability. The breathtaking imagery of photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand shows us why our world is worth protecting and makes an emotional appeal to our own sense of responsibility.
This article is one of many reports, interviews and blogs on the portal Culture and Climate of the Goethe-Institut Taipeh – to be found under
www.goethe.de/minusplusco2.
The message is clear: if people in the industrial nations do not change their consumer habits, and the exploitation of the planet continues unchecked, then only a few years remain to preserve the Earth as we know it today. With a change of attitude and the deployment of environmentally-friendly technologies, we still have a chance to stop the process of environmental destruction.
Home was the first film to be premiered simultaneously in the cinema and on Youtube, the aim being to reach as large an audience as possible. With almost 1.5 internet viewers and the cinema audiences this aim may well have been reached already.
Short films can give simple explanations of complicated issues
The complex connections between human activities and climate change are explained in the short film Our Little World in just four minutes. In an easily accessible and narrative style the film by the Film Group of the University of Augsburg explores the impact chain as part of the projectIllustration and Info-Graphics on the subject of Ecology and Climate Change.Photo-montages and animations explain the earth’s sensitive eco-system. This also includes the two mammals Mr and Mrs Hansen. They are a married couple and are happy in their little world - a cosy allotment garden. But one day, when grilling a chicken on their rotisserie, they ask themselves - what came first, the chicken or the egg? Starting with the electric rotisserie in their allotment garden, the various production and impact chains are retraced, and we see that each of our decisions has knock-on effects.
The film finally lists the consequences of our way of life: increasing luxury leads to greater energy requirements, this in turn puts a strain on the environment and causes the temperatures on our planet to rise. The results are rising sea-levels, environmental refugees and wars waged over the constantly diminishing supply of fossil fuels. The film ends on a tongue-in-cheek note - since this will all happen at some time in the future, the Hansens might as well enjoy their roast chicken.
In the short film Die Rechnung (The Bill) the German actors Benno Fürmann, Bjarne Mädel, Christoph Tomanek and Ina Paule Klink cast an entertaining light on the subject of “ecological injustice”. In the pub Benno Fürmann and Bjarne Mädel talk about their luxurious lifestyle. They drive fast cars, go on long journeys, find green electricity and energy-saving light bulbs too expensive, and they eat meat from Argentina. The third member of the group, Christoph Tomanek, spends his holidays on an organic farm, rides a bike and wants to set up a car-pool. Ridiculous, say his friends. When they are presented with the bill for their carbon footprint, they are rather amazed by the high costs incurred by their lifestyle – but they don’t find it really that bad. After all, they are not the ones who will pay the bill – this will be the lot of the developing countries.
Only at the end of the film are the hard facts presented: the average CO2 emissions per capita in the developing countries are compared with those of Germany – and all the fun of leading a life of luxury comes to an abrupt end when the pub is filled with climate refugees.
A successful promotion film for the ecological compatibility of wind power is the two-minute, English-language clip Mr. W by Epuron. The company has specialised in the development of regenerative energy projects.
Clips for the younger generation
Mr. W is the wind - he feels useless and unpopular until he is put to use as wind energy. This clip, which showcases renewable energy production, makes an emotional appeal to the younger generation in particular.The generation that has grown up with the internet criticises the ruthless exploitation of the environment by governments in its very own way. An example of this is the joke software programme Climate Change Stopper, already available in versions 1.0 and 2.0.
The Climate Change Stopper 1.0 promises to save the world – installing the software programme will prevent global warming, end the pollution of air and water and stop the extinction of the species. The programme will stabilise Mother Nature and restore the ecological balance.
The video, however, states quite clearly - the installation of such a programme is not that simple. A crash is on the agenda.
Nor is Climate Change Stopper 2.0 able to eliminate the errors of the first version. So a simple programme cannot save our planet.
All the short films presented here have one thing in common- they show that climate change is not just an issue for politicians, but one which calls upon each one of us to check his or her own personal lifestyle in terms of its sustainability.
