Manila, Philippines — Liter of Light, a Filipino-born global grassroots solar lighting movement, has partnered with SM Mall of Asia for its latest initiative to raise awareness for climate action during the global climate change conference, COP26.
Building on the success of its award-winning “Light It Forward” campaign, Liter of Light’s latest initiative – called “Messages for the Planet” – highlights how people, especially young people, are leading the call for change in climate policies, even in the midst of a global pandemic.
By inviting youth, climate leaders, and environmental luminaries from all over the world to share a Twitter-sized message, the organization selects the most impactful messages and designs large-scale billboards using its hand-built solar lights, creating a new platform to amplify the voices calling for climate action.
The organization is building large-scale solar installations at Mall of Asia to coincide with the dates of the global climate change conference, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland which takes place from October 31 – November 12.
“Now is a critical time to amplify our voices for change, especially since many youth and people from the Global South are not represented at COP26,” said Illac Diaz, Founder and Executive Director of Liter of Light. “Through our partnership with SM Mall of Asia, we have the opportunity to bring these messages to the venues where policymakers are making decisions on the future of our planet, and to show the power of multiple sectors coming together to take action.”
Liter of Light’s latest initiative has garnered international attention and recognition. On November 4, the organization won the Green Tech Awards in the clean energy category. With past awards going to Sir David Attenborough and conservationist Jane Goodall, the Green Tech Awards celebrates the greatest innovations for the planet and is one of the most prestigious recognitions in the sustainability sector.
The installations are part of a series of pop-up artworks that Liter of Light is building in November to raise awareness and urgency for climate action. It recently completed large-scale solar art installations in St. Andrews, Scotland with youth environmental leaders and student representatives to COP26.
About “Human Power: Messages for the Planet”
Building on the success of our award-winning Light It Forward campaign (www.lightitforward.ph), Liter of Light is launching its newest project: Human- Powered Messages for the Planet. Similar to Twitter, the organization calls on youth from across the world to submit messages of hope for the future, which it makes into solar-powered billboards at key locations throughout various cities to raise awareness for climate action.
Liter of Light uses village parks, helicopter pads, or public spaces all around key cities as a human-made billboard to share these Messages of Hope that are part of the communities where we all live. Each installation measures around 75 meters in length and visible 500 meters in the sky.
Because of existing health and safety protocols, all of the messages of hope are built with ONLY 3-10 adult artists creating the installation using our hand-built solar lights.
The installations can then be viewed online through videos taken by drone, with viewers encouraged to interact with the installation from the safety of home, sharing on social media how they contributed to the artwork.
With new messages unveiled each week, Liter of Light is making a strong statement to raise awareness for climate action by giving young people an opportunity to contribute to real solutions and have a tangible impact, even at a time when public art has disappeared and people are confined to their homes.
The Philippines’ geography is one of the main factors for being most at risk from the effects of the climate crisis. The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons every year, with the intensity of these storms increasing exponentially in recent years, making it one of the most countries most vulnerable to climate change. Many youth are nervous about the future, with billions of pesos in economic losses, and over thousands of lives already lost due to the effects of climate change. With the global pandemic, however, opportunities for youth to express their views on climate change have been severely limited.
After each of these milestone installations, Liter of Light will donate the lights built for these installations to energy-poor villages served by its country chapters in compliance with any epidemiological, health, and safety protocols in place.
To learn more about Liter of Light, visit:
www.lightitforward.ph
