Planetary Health Film Lab

01/04/2024

JUDGE ANNOUNCEMENT
Looking forward to serving as a judge of the QS Impact Awards this year with my esteemed colleague Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair at York University Toronto, Canada.

12/10/2023

BREAKING NEWS
The last bit of business of every COP conference is to announce the location of the next COP. In the rotating presidency of the conference, it is now Europe's turn to host and yesterday it was announced that COP29 will take place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Not your typical European capital city. In fact, this decision represents that for the third year in a row, the annual UN climate summit will take place in an autocratic, fossil-fuel producing nation. This announcement is no doubt going to upset climate activists. The country of 10 million people on the border of eastern Europe and western Asia relies economically on oil and gas production for nearly half of Azerbaijan’s GDP and more than 92.5% of its export revenue last year. In other words, almost everything they produce for export is fossil fuel. So why have it here? Because it was the only European nation that would receive a unanimous vote from the UN since Russia was set to block the nomination of any other country in Europe that supported Ukraine in their ongoing war with them. Since the vote has to be unanimous, Russia did not object to Azerbaijan who supports their war efforts, so the choice became obvious, if not popular. Supporters of Azerbaijan’s successful bid point to its current construction of the nation's first solar power plant and its recent agreement to build an underwater cable beneath the Black Sea that would provide wind energy to the European countries of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. These projects are expected to be completed by the time the next COP rolls around and they will need to be if Azerbaijan is expected to save face as a host of a United Nations climate change summit.

12/08/2023

DAY 9 - COP28 - Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Today, COP28 was held outside of Expo City in the amazing Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (more commonly known as the DMCC). This specxtacular skyscraper is a conference organizer's dream with lavish facilities from meeting rooms to bathrooms. Even the gourmet coffee was complimentary, and I rerally appreciated that after spending $18 on half a cup at Expo City. The Youth Climate Report hosted a special session on Global Youth Voices for Climate Justice featuring the six films we made through the Planetary Health Film Lab in Belize this year. Joining me were Christina Coc and Pablo Miss from Belize. The films can be seen at this link: https://youtu.be/PqhSpfiFTvE?si=6x6Gdh33jbjTjWew

12/05/2023

DAY 6 - COP28 - DUBAI
Today I was excited to meet the Belize delegation who helped us with this year's Planetary Health Film Lab. The members of the John Cho Society have come to Dubai for the premiere of the six films we made with their Indigenous youth last summer. I also had the privilege of visiting the world's tallest building, the Bruj Khalifa in Dubai. I went to the very top, Floor 154, soaring close to 2,000 feet for a spectacular view of the city and the sunset. Jim Stinson

12/03/2023

FILMS FROM BELIZE
Join me Dec. 7 at 3:00 pm (Dubai time) for a special presentation of the six films made by Indigenous youth in Belize as part of this year’s Planetary Health Film Lab. The screening will take place at the UNFCCC’s Future Mobility Hub.

An inclusive space dedicated to elevating topics around the intersection of sustainability, mobility, and the future of our society

12/03/2023

OCEAN PAVILION PANEL
If you’re at COP28, please join me for a panel discussion on the impact of climate change on the neurodivergent Dec. 8 at 11:30 am in Side Event Room 2 hosted by EcoSpectrum and the Ocean Pavilion. https://www.oceanprotect.org/2023/11/27/top-ocean-asks-for-cop28-and-ocean-communications-highlights

As the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) sets sail in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023, the OneOcean Flotilla is gearing up to amplify the urgent call for ocean protection to be at the forefront of climate solutions. Building on the momentum from COP27, the Flotilla...

10/12/2023

SHOWCASE OF BELIZE FILMS
This year, the Planetary Health Film Lab (PHFL) worked with Indigenous youth in Belize to document climate impacts in their communities. On 18 October 2023, YCR Executive Director Mark Terry will present the six short films made in Belize to be showcased at COP28.
Register: https://www.yorku.ca/dighr/events/planetary-health-film-lab-2023-belize-edition-debrief/?utm_content=bufferb87ae&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3u0h_O6yQkZQlHiQ5VGopcEnW2HQuXKJMOgSFF9P99rDEN4p17aPuHkaI

Now in its fourth year, the Dahdaleh Institute's Planetary Health Film Lab (PHFL) will examine this year's research in Central America, specifically in Belize. The project worked with Indigenous youth and their communities training them to tell stories of climate impacts in their communities using f...

09/13/2023

FILMS FROM BELIZE
The 2023 edition of the Planetary Health Film Lab has wrapped in Belize and we are proud to present the six films made by Indigenous youth from Maya communities. The films are made in the native Maya languages of Q’eqchi’ and/or Mopan with English subtitles. All six films have been added to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's Youth Climate Report GIS database and will premiere at the UN's climate summit, COP28, in Dubai in December of this year. Congratulations to all the filmmakers who participated this year!

Compilation of all six films made in Belize by Indigenous youth for the 2023 edition of the Planetary Health Film Lab in the native Maya languages of Q’eqchi...

07/14/2023

BELIZE WORKSHOP 2023
The Planetary Health Film Lab is taking place in Belize this year and our 11 participants are busy shooting their films in anticipation of our workshop July 21 to 23 in Belize. Below is a picture of this year's group and some of them in action collecting their B-Roll.