NEW YORK & STOCKHOLM — March 10. World governments are spending $11 million dollars on subsidizing fossil fuels – every single minute. That’s just under $6 trillion a year, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund, IMF. The governments spending these staggering amounts of public funds are the same governments that have made commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement to decarbonize their economies and collectively achieve a net-zero emission world by 2050. How can this be? Who benefits from these subsidies? And what effect do they have on our societies, today and tomorrow?
In the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, the United Nations Development Program, UNDP, launched the #DontChooseExtinction campaign, featuring Frankie the dinosaur. It is UNDP's most successful campaign ever and has reached 1,5 billion on social media. It also helped bring fossil fuel subsidies up on the agenda during the climate conference. Dino Talks is a whole new broadcast series co-created by UNDP and We Don’t Have Time, and supported by the circular tech company Prime Computer. In ten episodes, Dino Talks will bring in experts to help dig deeper into the fossil fuel subsidies and how they accelerate everything from extreme weather events to deadly health problems, while also slowing down innovation and sustainable development.
Boaz Paldi is the United Nations Development Programme's Global Partnership & Campaigns Manager, and a key force behind the #DontChooseExtinction campaign. He says:
”With the 'Don’t Choose Extinction' campaign we sparked a global conversation around the issue of fossil fuel subsidies. The partnership with We Don’t Have Time was pivotal in reaching citizens across the globe. Dino Talks is the natural evolution of the excellent partnership and will allow our audience a deep dive into this very critical issue.”
Ingmar Rentzhog, founder and CEO of We Don’t Have Time:
”The fossil-fuel subsidies have managed to stay under the radar for decades. Last year’s amazing UNDP campaign was a wake-up call, and we are extremely proud to extend our partnership with UNDP by taking the next step in spreading awareness about this destructive spending of public funds. We aim high and expect to reach millions of viewers globally.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Wkg_f02Zk
ABOUT THE BROADCASTS
The first three episodes of Dino Talks will be co-hosted by Boaz Paldi and Nick Nuttall, one of the world’s leading experts in environmental communication. A former Director of Communications and Spokesperson for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Nick Nuttall has led the communications team at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and was the UN spokesperson for the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. He is now Director of Global Communications at We Don’t Have Time.
Episode 1: Why do we still subsidize fossil fuels?
March 14, 15:00 CET.
Guests: George Gray Molina (Bolivia), Head of Strategic Engagement and Chief Economist at UNDP, who has helped coordinate a several landmark reports on fossil fuel subsidies. Ploy Achakulwisut (US), scientist with the Stockholm Environment Institute. She served as a SustainUS youth delegate to the 2014 UN climate negotiations and was included in Grist magazine’s top 50 fixers in 2019.
Episode 2: Deeper dive into damage caused by fossil fuel subsidies
April 4, 15:00 CET
Guests: Michael Taylor (New Zealand), Senior energy analyst at the International Renewable Energy Agency. Ivo Mulder (Netherlands), Head of the Climate Finance Unit at the UN Environment Programme, and lead author on the State of Finance for Nature.
Episode 3: Why are governments struggling to change?
May 2, 15:00 CET
Guests: Lourdes Sanchez, (Spain), Senior Policy Advisor and Lead, Indonesia, at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Nathalie Girouard (Canada), Head of the Division for Environmental Performance and Information at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD.
HOW TO WATCH:
Dino Talks will be broadcast on WeDontHaveTime.org
Register here to watch the shows and receive updates on upcoming episodes.
FOR MORE INFORMATION and requests regarding interviews with featured experts:
Nick Nuttall, Strategic Communications Director, We Don’t Have Time
+49 160 211 11 02
Boaz Paldi, Global Engagement & Partnership Manager, UNDP
ABOUT
UNDP, United Nations lead agency on international development, works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate power and reduce inequality. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Its work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peacebuilding, and climate and disaster resilience. We Don’t Have Time is the world’s largest review platform for climate solutions. Headquartered in Stockholm, and with offices in Washington DC and Nairobi, We Don’t Have Time has a monthly social media reach of over 70 million. Among its 200+ partners are UNDP, Ericsson, Volvo, Logitech, Vodafone, Nordic Co-Operation, Scania, and BT. Download the app or sign up on WeDontHaveTime.org A special thanks to our tech partner Prime Computer. Prime Computer is a young, fast-growing, climate-neutral and international award-winning tech company offering sustainable hardware and services. The company produces cutting-edge green IT devices in a closed-loop, accelerates the circular economy and thus contributes to a greener planet. Read more. 
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Laudable initiative really. Over dependence on fossil fuel not only drive global warming, but also greed, corruption and bad governance. Everything about fossil fuel almost always spell doom.
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Excited! It's an honour to be the official tech partner & sponsor of this important broadcast series! 👋 💙 Your #TeamPC
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Dependence on fossil fuels is making it harder to do the right thing about repressive Anti-democratic countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and others. Petroleum states go hand in hand with regressive dictatorships! “Strong-man” dictatorships are sign of a weak society (people power is repressed).
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Looking so much forward to this I'm very excited that we are holding these talks. So important as the message needs to be spread for more Active Climate Actions against continue fossil fuel drilling and usage.
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Really looking forward to the first episode!
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WONDERFUL! This is a very imortant subject. Fantastic news!
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Very good. Looking forward to learn more
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This can be a very important series, thank you to @UNDP for starting the initiative!
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A very important message in these dark days. A big thanks to Prime Computer as well for enabling this important series
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Thank you Johannes! We are really looking forward to this series!
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I am looking forward to all these episodes!