Namibians of all stripes are playing the United Nation’s Mission 1.5 Climate Game and bagging prizes. The game is rolled out world-wide by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to collect citizen data on climate action and to raise awareness on global warming. The game can be played on www.mission1point5.org
In Namibia, “Mission 1.5″ is rolled out by UNDP Country Offices and other partners using gaming technology to connect citizens and their policymakers, while also being the world’s biggest survey on climate change,” says UNDP Resident Representative Alka Bhatia. “The campaign educates people about climate policy and provides a platform for them to vote on the solutions they want to see. Mission 1.5 aims to build societal ownership to support this process and achieve political momentum.”
The game, launched under the UNDP Climate Promise, aims for countries to increase their ambitions to ensure the global temperature increase is maintained/kept below 1.5 degree Celsius, the level at which global warming is still manageable.
Through UNDP Namibia, the Climate Promise project provides financial and technical assistance to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) to allow the country to increase its ambitions in its national climate pledges.
In order for the Namibian citizens to take their stand and make their voice heard on climate change, they are encouraged to play and cast their vote in the Mission 1.5 online game and participate in the competition that is running on the UNDP’s Instagram page and the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism’s Facebook page. There are weekly prizes to be won between 16 November and 11 December 2020. Prizes include Volkano Mini Mamba Bluetooth speakers, Volkano Phoenix Bluetooth Headphones and Canon Pixma MG2540S Printers.
The results of the Mission 1.5 game will be used by governments to deepen their understanding of citizen preferences on climate action, as well as support their ambitious goals to combat climate change.