A Tonne of Cool
As a panellist at the launch of Prince Charles’s ‘Costing The Earth - The Accounting For Sustainability’ campaign, Global Cool founder Dan Morrell took the opportunity yesterday to announce a major global event set for July 2007.
Global Cool is a new and different campaign to help raise popular awareness of how each of us can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions:
Global Cool is BIG. Global Cool is here to stir anyone who cares about the planet to do their bit to save the planet they care about. And last time we counted, that was around six and a half billion people or so. More powerful than governments, more vocal than corporations, we are our own best shot at it: The People versus Global Warming.
With its simple Be Cool actions, Global Cool will help… Everyone knows that they ought to save the planet; Global Cool will help people want to. Global Cool includes a growing gang of the biggest names in entertainment (names - let’s drop a few: Scissor Sisters, Orlando Bloom, The Killers, Flea, Kate Bosworth, Sienna Miller, Leonardo DiCaprio) and with their shows, their programmes, their Cooltube uploads and playful SMS reminders they will sing to you, tell you stories and tease you until you care.
Yesterday (December 6th) this was picked up by the Ed Crooks in the FT (p. 8 ):
To hit its 1bn tonne reduction target, the campaign needs to get the 1bn consumers in the developed world to cut their CO2 emissions by an average of one tonne a year. Average emissions in the UK, for example, are currently 15 tonnes per person per year. Mr. Morrell said that if all 1bn people took part, the cuts could be made “with no lifestyle changes”: for example by switching off appliances and mobile phone chargers and switching to more fuel-efficient cars.
The initiative was actually beta launched this summer in Japan at Fuji Rock, check out the trailer. One of the key platforms that will be used to get the message out as widely as possible will be a series of concerts around the globe.
There are some great people involved alongside Dan in this adventure. Gavin is the brains behind the website and if you want to take a peek behind the curtains, bookmark his blog. And with “some of the biggest brains in environmental science including Steve Howard of the Climate Group and Dr Richard Tipper” advising, people like James Cameron (co-founder of Climate Change Capital) on the board, while Leonardo diCaprio adding visibility:
“Global Cool will help wake up the world about the important issue of Global Warming.”
…this is an initiative that combines brains and beauty. And that’s why I decided to get involved a year ago and backed Dan when he was raising the initial seed capital to get his idea off the ground. What I liked best about his idea was that it was positive. Democratic. Connected. And I think - I hope - it will resonate accross generations, across cultures, across borders. Plus I just might get to meet a movie star one day. 
Be cool. Sign up today. And tell all your friends. And your kids (you might just impress them for once!)
C’mon you know that’s cool.
