Christian Aid piggybacks Paris 2024 for climate push

Christian Aid is aiming to tap into Olympic fever to urge people to “Join the race against the climate crisis” in a new campaign for the UK charity that fights global poverty.

Created by independent agency Impero, the campaign is led by a TV spot film that opens with shots of athletes competing as a sports commentator-style voiceover tells the audience “What you are about to see could well change history” before the tone and focus shifts.

In the scenes that follow, sports events are juxtaposed with images of climate change’s devastating impact, as the voiceover talks of things “heating up” and being “on fire” then warns how “Climate change is breaking new records each year”.

According to independent research, 20% of Olympic nations face extinction from sea level rise and extreme weather by 2030. And, whilst the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5C above pre-industrial averages refers to the long-term, the exceeding of this target over the past 12 months indicates that this goal will be missed soon unless urgent action is taken.

The spot ends with a call to action to sign up to Christian Aid’s campaign to beat the climate crisis.

The TV ad will be live for the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, running until August 11. The campaign also includes pre-roll videos across Olympics content on Sky Sports VOD, on climate content on Sky News VOD, and as in-feed videos on X.

There will also be a Sky homepage takeover for 24 hours over the men’s 100m final (on Sunday 4) and again for 24 hours over the women’s 200m final (Tuesday 6).

The ‘Join the Race’ campaign aims to reach a three million-strong mid-life audience of 30-to 50-year-olds and drive awareness of climate injustice and how people can help support positive change.

Christian Aid director of fundraising and supporter engagement Nick Georgiadis said: “The last time representatives from every nation descended on Paris was the UN climate summit in 2015 where the Paris Agreement was signed. It’s terrible that nine years later that agreement is under serious threat with both carbon emissions and global temperatures continuing to rise causing ever more dramatic and record-breaking climate events.

“With all eyes on Paris for the 2024 Olympics games, we hope our campaign can raise awareness of the dangers we face and inspire the collective action the world now needs.”