Sky News Launches Climate Change Advert Competition

Britain's Sky News has launched a unique competition for budding environmentalists to have their idea for an ad tackling climate change made into a reality, and screened on Sky News from 02 December, leading upto the Climate Conference in Copenhagen later that month.  The competition has been launched as the countdown to the UN’s crucial Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December gets underway. Despite ad campaigns from organisations ranging from Greenpeace through to the Government, using approaches from scare tactics to more positive encouraging messages on relieving CO2 emissions, Sky News believes that the general public in the UK still isn’t properly engaged in the global warming debate.

Sky’s Environment Correspondent, Catherine Jacob, who launched the competition on Sky News this week explained: ‘Here at Sky News we want people’s best ideas. There are just months to go now until the crucial climate meeting in Copenhagen where the world’s leaders’ could sign up to a new climate treaty, and we fear that the public are not fully on board. To try to change that, we want to harness the creative ideas of those people out there who are already engaged in this vital debate, and in turn, hope that they inspire others to care enough to act.

“We have made it as easy as possible for people to get their ideas to us. You don’t have to work in advertising or marketing. You don’t have to know how to film or edit material for TV. All you have to have is a great idea and if you win, the creative team at Sky will work with you to make it become a reality.”

The competition has been endorsed by the UK’s Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, who recorded a taped message for Sky News viewers encouraging them to send in their ideas, while on a recent trip to South America. In his message, taped in the middle of a dried out Amazonian riverbed, Mr. Miliband says: “I’m here in the Amazon with Mayou and Marcello, and I’ve talked to them about climate change and the impact that the cutting down of the forest is having on their way of life and their livelihood. I hope Sky viewers will help me, help them, to find the ways in which we can battle climate change. So, come up with your ideas, we have to tackle the problem, we have to help them – join us and give Sky your ideas.” 

Sky News is asking for people to enter ideas for their advert to inspire people to reduce their C02 emissions via a video of no more than two minutes, which can be recorded on cameras or mobile phones, or simply by writing it down as a script on a single page. People can enter their video ideas through a simple upload tool on www.skynews.com/climatecompetition or by sending an email to and using ‘ClimateAd’ as the subject heading.

The entries will be judged by a panel headed by Ed Miliband and the winner will get to work with the creative team at Sky to develop their idea into an advert for the channel.

The competition closes on October 23 and the winner will be announced by early November, with Sky News starting to air the finished ad from 02 December.  The winner will also be given the opportunity to visit the Sky News studios in West London, where they will receive a tour of the centre and will be able to meet and greet some of the on and off screen staff.

Sky News will be covering the climate conference extensively between 02 – 18 December.

Sky News’ Africa Correspondent Emma Hurd will be undertaking an Antarctic Expedition with a team monitoring the continuing melting of the polar ice cap and its potentially devastating effect on water levels, habitats and wildlife. Sky News’ Holly Williams will also be in Copenhagen for the duration of the conference bringing Sky News viewers news of all the debates, discussions and key decisions of World Leaders on how to tackle climate change, first.

During the Climate Change Conference Sky News Correspondents around the world will also report from across the globe on how climate change could affect some of the world's poorest communities.