KLIMAATALARM 2021: RING THE ALARM FOR CLIMATE

We recognise that sustainability is an essential cornerstone of how we progress as a society.

For too long, we’ve seen environmental policy get less attention than we can afford when it comes to election time.

This year, de Klimaatcrisis Coalitie (Climate Crisis Coalition) wanted to raise awareness of this ahead of the Dutch general election.

WATCH THE KLIMAATALARM 2021 FILM

With voting open from 15-17 March, the Klimaatmars (Climate March) 2021 was held on Sunday 14th. A network of 44 Covid-safe demonstrations around the country, and a synchronous online protest, brought together people nationwide to ring the alarm for the climate crisis at 15:00.

The demonstration is a collaboration between Milieudefensie, the FNV, Greenpeace, De Goede Zaak, Extinction Rebellion, Code Rood, Fridays For Future, Fossielvrij NL, Oxfam Novib, De Woonbond and Grootouders voor het Klimaat (Grandparents for the Climate).

What did ringing the alarm sound like?

To comply with Covid regulations around groups of people, organisers thought out of the box. The sound of kitchen timers, bike bells, whistles and church bells overcome social distancing, enabling demonstrators to highlight the cause to anyone in earshot.

We were approached to make the film to countdown to the alarm at 15:00.

Maaike Boumans (she/her), a spoken word artist, put into words what many of us feel about the changing climate and the urgency with which governments must act with a piece titled ‘Aan welke kant van de geschiedenis wil jij staan?’ (‘What side of history are you on?’).

Her reading of the poem is the voiceover for the four minute film we made capturing the emotion of activists, environmentalists and everyday people who want to see immediate change for the sake of the planet.