Wanted: Videos to Inspire Climate Change Action

The National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) is inviting students and members of the public to submit short videos aimed at inspiring climate change action in this year’s National Climate Change Competition.

Singapore, 24 March 2014 - In a survey conducted last year to gauge public perception on climate change, interest and awareness on climate change and its impact was found to be high among Singaporeans. About 7 in 10 were concerned about climate change and 6 in 10 were of the view that climate change would affect them personally. However, less than half of the respondents felt that individuals were responsible for taking action on climate change Details at Annex A.

Contrary to such public perception, there is much that an individual can do in addressing and adapting to climate change. This is what NCCS hopes to convey in the 2014 National Climate Change Competition being launched today.

The theme for this year’s competition, #change4future, highlights the need for Singaporeans to take action to address climate change and learn to deal with the changing climate that affects us and the environment we live in.

“Scientists have affirmed that human activities are one of the main causes of climate change, and this could lead to extreme weather events, such as more frequent and intense rainfall, heat waves and cold spells becoming more frequent. We hope that the competition will help raise awareness on such issues and produce inspiring videos that will help spread the message on the need to change our habits which affect the environment”, said Mr Yuen Sai Kuan, Director of 3P Network Division from NCCS.

Students and members of the public can register to take part in the competition under the following categories at www.nccs.gov.sg by 22 Apr 2014.

(i) Schools Category

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools & Junior Colleges
• Institutes of Higher Learning

(ii) Open Category

This will be the first time that the annual competition is open to members of the public. In addition, two ‘Viewers’ Choice’ awards will be given to the most popular videos from the Schools and Open categories. This will be decided via a public voting exercise conducted on NCCS’ Climate Change SG Facebook page.

Participants can stand to win up to $5000 in cash prizes. Selected videos submitted to the competition may also be adapted for screening in cinemas. Details of the competition are at Annex B.

The results of the competition will be announced in an award ceremony held in November 2014.