by Britta Schmitz
UNITED NATIONS, 24 December 2016 – The initiative Comics Uniting Nations released a new comic book on climate action this December. Climate action refers to goal number thirteen of the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). The new comic is called Santa’s Green Christmas and presents the issue of climate change in an approachable Christmas story.
“I’m highly excited about this contribution to the Comics Uniting Nations series. It superbly balances the messaging with the humor. It’s smart and beautifully illustrated. It’s thoughtful and funny. We think it will be a huge hit with the target audiences,” said Sean Southey, Co-founder of Comics Uniting Nations.
Through the sort of humour presented in this comic, Santa’s Green Christmas addresses children and adults alike. Santa Claus notices the presence of climate change when his lead reindeer Dancer nearly breaks through the thin Arctic ice-cap during a training for Christmas Eve. Santa Claus learns from polar bears how they have to travel further each year to find solid ice and snow. When Santa Claus finds out how severe the situation really is, he decides to leverage clean energy sources to tackle climate change.
Santa Claus is a figure that children in various parts of the world can relate to. Michael Strauss co-created the comic with Felix Dodds, the images were created by artist John Charles. The comic creators craved from their own childhood memories when writing the story on climate change.
“I first met Father Christmas at the age of three in a clothing store in the U.K. in Derby and I became Chair of Father Christmas Youth. I then organized a stakeholder consultation around gift-giving practices in my freshman year at University of Surrey. I hope to have Santa lead a workshop around the nexus among water, food and energy,” said writer and UN Consultant Felix Dodds.
“I was inspired to write about Santa from my own childhood Christmas memories. He was always a positive, reassuring figure, who seemed to provide hope even in troubling times. He seemed like just the right hero to guide us through this crisis.”
The story is set on the North Pole. The Arctic is the ideal setting for a climate comic. The Poles are highly threatened by climate change and its consequences are very visible.
“Santa Claus may be the ultimate benevolent father figure in Western cultures – or grandfather figure. And he has been for a dozen generations. He warmly encourages and rewards good behavior and gently but firmly admonishes bad. And with a herd of high-flying reindeer and a home in the Arctic north, he’s about as grounded in nature and close to the front lines of climate impacts as anyone,” said Michael Strauss, Executive Director of Earth Media.
The Comics Uniting Nations initiative, co-founded by UNICEF and the NGOs PCI Media Impact and Reading with Pictures, was launched in 2015 and creates comics on each of the seventeen Global Goals to raise awareness around UN-related issues.
The different tones of the comics created by the initiative are meant to reach people of all age groups, while focusing on young children and adolescents. Teachers around the world can use this wonderful resource to complement their school lessons.
All comics by Comics Uniting Nations are available for download under the following link: http://www.comicsunitingnations.org/comics/
Source: EuropaNewswire. Photo: PCI Media Impact – Comics Uniting Nations