The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday introduced a ferocious, life-like dinosaur to the United Nation’s biodiversity conference, tagged COP15, to urge more climate action from global leaders.
Frankie the Dino was welcomed by fellow climate activists, world leaders and civil society, while governments from around the world are coming together to agree on a new set of goals to guide global action through 2030 to halt and reverse nature loss.
Over the weekend, Frankie the Dino made a special appearance on the streets of Montreal, joining the March for Biodiversity and Human Rights along with the 80+ organizations in #CollectivCOP15.
Frankie also appeared on stage at the United Nations Association in Canada’s One Earth – One Choice Environment Festival in Montreal, a youth and environment festival.
According to a press release from the UNDP, Frankie the Dino is the hero of a climate change campaign “Don’t Choose Extinction” launched by the United Nations Development Programme, one year ago in 2021.
The campaign’s hero film features a computer-generated Utharaptor bursting into the iconic General Assembly Hall, telling an audience of shocked and slightly terrified diplomats and dignitaries that “it is time humans stopped making excuses and started making changes” to address climate change. The film instantly became a cultural phenomenon and a rallying cry for climate action. The campaign film has been viewed by more than 2 billion people across the world to date.
While at COP15 Frankie the Dino said, “We are facing a dual climate and nature crisis. Climate change and biodiversity loss are two profound threats facing humanity. And they are intricately connected. Nature has declined more extensively over the past 50 years than any other time in human history, while global warming patterns continue to accelerate. So rather than paying for your extinction, let’s save nature and help save humanity.”
