Hack the Agenda

Client: Christian Aid

The debate around the need for a global fund to compensate for “loss and damage” (caused by climate change in the global South) has been ongoing since 1992. Whilst the developed world has recognised the issue, they have not agreed to compensation. At COP26, Loss and Damage wasn’t even on the official agenda.

We needed to educate the public about Loss and Damage, make it an unignorable agenda point for COP27, and pressure the government to support the setting up of the fund. But, asking politely to get on the agenda doesn’t get you anywhere. So we launched “Hack the Agenda”, a reactive social campaign to hijack trending conversations daily, and steer them towards this important topic. We pointed out hypocrisy, scandal, and greenwashing – posting it straight back into social media – explaining the need for wealthy countries to compensate the global South, and encouraging people to sign our petition. And, to get to the heart of UK politics, we recruited someone with first-hand experience of the climate crisis and a strong following, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate. We helped her “hack” the UK Prime Minister, using deepfake to put her voice and message into the mouth of Liz Truss. Our activation garnered over 10 million impressions, and more importantly COP27 reached a breakthrough agreement on a new Loss and Damage Fund for vulnerable countries, with €340m pledged.