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STORY: NY / DON CHEADLE RIO + 20
TRT: 5.27
SOURCE: UNTV / UNICEF / UNHCR / TELEVISION MALDIVES / WORLD BANK / UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 17 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
17 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, interview
2.SOUNDBITE (English) Don Cheadle, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador:
“I am always trying to figure out how best to, in my position, really attract attention and draw focus to the issues whether it be a Twitter battle with Gisele Bundchen, or me doing something as crazy as the Captain Planet thing for Funny or Die, or being here tonight to be keynote speaker. Just really trying to educate myself as well about the issues so that I can speak about it in a way that is persuasive and draws people into the subject matter.”
FILE – UNTV – 15 DECEMBER 2006, NEW YORK CITY
3.Various shots, Cheadle and Goodwill Ambassador George Clooney meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan
FILE – UNEP – JUNE 2010, RWANDA
4.Various shots, Cheadle in Rwanda as UNEP’s Goodwill Ambassador
18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
5.SOUNDBITE (English) Don Cheadle, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador:
“This is an issue that is, you know, near and dear to me and I would hope that I it would be to everyone. You know, I am a father and I have concerns about what the world is going to be in the future. And I think that we have to change some of our practices in order to make sure we leave it better than the way we found it.”
FILE - UNICEF - 17 AUGUST 2011, WAJIR DISTRICT, KENYA
6.Pan left, dead animals in front of IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) settlement
7.Wide shot, dead animals foreground with children background
FILE - UNHCR - 7, 8, AUGUST 2011, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
8.Wide shot, children in a camp
9.Med shot, woman with emaciated child in her arms
18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Cheadle, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador:
“I think there’s been a little bit of preaching to the converted somewhat, and I think we have to be better about really trying to reach across to people who may not share the same perspective that we have on the situation and try to have a big tent policy and bring people in to this, it’s not even a debate really, but to bring people in to the discussion so that we can start to spread the message in a way that will really have a positive effect.”
FILE - UNICEF - 13 SEPTEMBER 2011, PAKISTAN
11. Travelling shot, cars driving through flooded road
12. Various shots, people walking on knee-deep water
18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Cheadle, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador:
“Think about the disenfranchised people, the poor people in, you know, less developed countries who are struggling everyday to deal with the arid conditions that they live in, drought. In the Maldives you have this, you know, rising water table. There’s ways that people come to this that really are effective and touch us when we hear their stories crafted through the careful eye of the documentarians.”
FILE - UNHCR - 26-28 MARCH 2012, NORTHERN MAURITANIA
14. Med shot, young boy licking water from pipe
15. Tilt up, crowd gathering for water
16. Wide shot, crowd gathering for water
FILE - TELEVISION MALDIVES – ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE
17.Various shots, tide flooding streets
18. Wide shot, people running away from tide
19. Various shots, tide flooding streets
18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Cheadle, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Goodwill
Ambassador:
“The focus on the green economy and sort of reframing this whole thing slightly away from, global warming and climate change which has just become a whipping post for people to refute and push back against. And sort of reframing it in a way dealing with what we are dealing everyday. People are struggling with the economy and jobs and exposing how it’s something that would help generate more jobs and it will be something that effectively is a new growth sector and something that if we shift our gross domestic product to, we’ll see a big change.”
FILE – WORLD BANK - JUNE 2010, SIDI DAOUD, TUNISIA
21. Various shots, wind farm turbines
18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Cheadle, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador:
“As it goes out in concentric circles I think it’s going to affect everyone. I mean, look, ultimately this is an issue that everyone is going to have to pay attention to, because I believe it’s going to hit home very hard for a lot of people. But we’d like to kind of get ahead of the curve and not have to wait until things are desperate and water needs are, you know, disproportionate to our ability to get it. So, hopefully the things that are brought up in Rio will spark debate, will spark discussion, and sort of get the idea rolling a little faster. And I think it will affect everyone.”
FILE – WORLD BANK - OCTOBER 2010, KIMPARANA, MALI
23. Wide shot, sign of Kimparana Solar Plant
24. Tilt down, wide of solar panels
25. Close up, panels
In the run up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, Don Cheadle, an internationally respected actor, humanitarian and environmentalist, spoke to UNifeed about using the power of celebrity to mobilize the public to embrace more sustainable lifestyles and promote the greening of the economy.
In New York this week for a two-day conference focused on developing a better global future through the power of storytelling and documentary film, Cheadle said that in his role as a Goodwill Ambassador he is always trying to figure out how best to “attract attention and draw focus to the issues” as well as trying to educate himself so that he can speak about them “in a way that is persuasive and draws people into the subject matter.”
Cheadle was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) nearly two years ago, but long before that he had been active in a variety of causes.
He has actively campaigned for the end of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and co-authored a book concerning the issue titled Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. He founded the Not on Our Watch Project with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub.
His work for UNEP has taken him to places like Rwanda, where, coinciding with World Environment Day 2010 he participated in a baby mountain gorilla naming ceremony to attract attention to this endangered species.
The actor underlined that protecting the environment is an issue that is “near and dear” to him and as the father of two daughters he has concerns about “what the world is going to be in the future.”
He stressed that “we have to change some of our practices in order to make sure we leave it better than the way we found it.”
In trying to deliver that message, he has found that “there’s been a little bit of preaching to the converted” and a better job needs to be done in “trying to reach across to people who may not share the same perspective that we have.”
The conference, Envision 2012: Stories for a Sustainable Future, focussed on the belief that storytelling and documentary film can be powerful tools in building a better future for all people.
Cheadle said that “the disenfranchised people, the poor people” in less developed countries “are struggling everyday” to deal with extreme weather conditions such as droughts or floods and “stories crafted through the careful eye of the documentarians” can help brig attention to their plight.
Now in its fourth year, the gathering connected United Nations experts and non-governmental organizations with people working in filmmaking and new media, and enabled them to work together to find new and compelling ways to create momentum for social change. The event was also aimed at helping build momentum for Rio+20, being held in Brazil in June.
The Goodwill Ambassador said the issues raised by Rio+20 affect everyone, and warrant everyone’s attention.
He noted that there needs to be a shift in the way that the environmental message is being conveyed and the focus should be reframed “away from global warming and climate change which has just become a whipping post for people to refute and push back against.”
He pointed out that “people are struggling with the economy and jobs” and an effort needs to be made at exposing how a green economy could be “something that would help generate more jobs.”
Cheadle said that “ultimately this is an issue that everyone is going to have to pay attention to” because “it’s going to hit home very hard for a lot of people.”
He called for decision-makers to “get ahead of the curve and not have to wait until things are desperate” and added that “hopefully the things that are brought up in Rio will spark debate, will spark discussion, and sort of get the idea rolling a little faster.”
To take individual action where he can, Cheadle owns a solar home; uses filtered versus bottled water and drives a hybrid automobile.
