The most successful female girl group around the world BLACKPINK, raised awareness on climate change in a video posted on their YouTube account on 9 December The title read “Calling All Blinks: Climate Action in Your Area!” The video, created in partnership with the British Embassy in Seoul, started with a collage of the group's performances. After that, members Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie and Rosé each spoke regarding climate change. Regarding this collaboration, the British Ambassador Simon Smith stated, “I am very happy to be with BLACKPINK and YG Entertainment. I hope all BLINKs around the world will join the journey to protect the planet”.
BLACKPINK called on all the BLINKs across the world to learn more about global climate change with them. The band talked about their concern about the impact global climate change has on the world and wished to boost awareness about the climate emergency. BLACKPINK is now using its voice to catch the attention of young people to fight climate change.
Beginning by declaring, “We do care about our planet and we want to learn more,” the members go on to explain the seriousness of the climate crisis. The members also explain that the increased frequency of heatwaves, droughts flooding, and other forms of extreme weather each year are the result of a decrease in natural habitats. "This is a global challenge," said Jennie. "Each and every one of us could make a difference, and we need to act now." Lisa also noted how natural habitats across the globe have decreased from 46% to 35% since she was born back in 1997.
They encouraged BLINKs, to take a more active role in fighting climate change and its effects on the planet. Though they admitted that they are not experts on the topic, they stressed that they are eager to learn more to help and care for the planet. Despite the disastrous effects caused by climate change, the group stressed that the upcoming conference can still help stop the destruction of the planet. At last, they mentioned an event, which is also called COP26.
COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and will be attended by countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty agreed in 1994. The 2021 meeting will be the 26th meeting, which is why it's called COP26. The COP26 event is a global United Nations summit about climate change and how countries are brainstorming action plans to tackle climate change. It was due to take place in Glasgow from 9 to 19 November with more than 200 world leaders due to attend, but when coronavirus arrived, that all changed. COP26 was moved to 1 and 12 November 2021 in the UK. But many young activists from around the world met at an online conference called Mock COP26 on the original dates.
Basically, the warming of Earth happens because the atmosphere traps heat radiating from the world and stops it from escaping into space. Certain gases within the atmosphere, known as greenhouse gases, block the heat from escaping. One of the biggest issues is carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is released naturally however humans have raised carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by quite a third by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil. Even little increases in Earth’s temperature caused by global climate change will have severe effects. The earth’s average temperature has gone up 1.4° F over the past century and is predicted to rise as much as 11.5° F over the next. This may not appear to be a lot, however, the average temperature throughout the last ice age was about 4° F lower than it is today.
Rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps (again, caused by climate change) contribute to bigger storm damage; warming ocean temperatures are related to stronger and more frequent storms; additional rainfall, significantly throughout severe weather events, leads to flooding and other damage; an increase within the incidence and severity of wildfires threatens habitats, homes, and lives; and heat waves contribute to human deaths and different consequences. With the climate crisis looming as a serious catastrophe threatening the long run of humans, observers are saying that the engagement of stars with a large following is more crucial than ever.
As well as the targets for changing to electrical cars, the govt. has pledged to scale back the UK's carbon emissions to "net-zero" - which means releasing nearly no carbon - by 2050. This means emissions from areas like transport, farming and industry will need to be avoided completely or offset by sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
It really isn’t that surprising that BLACKPINK has made a message calling for climate action. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in 2020, it’s the impact of our idols in making decisions, and the power of K-Pop fans in calling for change. With millions of K-pop fans supporting their idols and everything that they do, helped in spreading more information about social problems and encouraging people to act. Just like back in June, when BTS donated $1m USD to the Black Lives Matter movement, their fans known as ARMY, matched the boy band’s pledge, passing $817,000 in the first 24 hours.
Meanwhile, BLACKPINK continues enforcing itself as a global group through recent achievements. Their recent album THE ALBUM placed second on the Billboard 200 chart in the US and the UK’s Official Album Charts. As of Dec. 14, BLACKPINK counted over 54.5 million subscribers to their YouTube channel — the second-largest number for any musical act around the world after Justin Bieber. Their social media platform boasts a strong 32.7 million followers, they are a K-Pop group made up of people from beyond South Korea, and their opinions are listened to and respected by millions around the world.
Given their enormous influence BLACKPINK’s message carries all the more weight. Fans responded positively to the video, posting comments expressing their support and urging others to take action to save the earth. And that’s whygroups like BTS and BLACKPINK, whose loyal fans around the world follow their every move, are great and effective tools in reaching out to younger generations to take part in global campaigns.
We are all born with fundamental human rights. However these rights are in grave threat from climate change. While climate change threatens all of our lives in a way or alternative, people that experience discrimination are among those likely to be the worst affected.We are all equally worth of protection from this universal threat. Fighting climate change provides us an opportunity to place the well-being of individuals of people by guaranteeing a right to a healthy environment. This will give us a chance to boost human rights.
Many people are already working on creative, inspiring, and innovative solutions to handle climate change. From citizens to corporations to cities, there are people everywhere the world actively working on policies and campaigns, and solutions which will defend people and the planet. Indigenous peoples and minority communities have for hundreds of years developed sustainable ways of living with the environments that they call home. We are able to learn from them and, with their consent, benefit from their ability to inform our own efforts to find a different method of interacting with our planet.
So, just as Lisa said, “This is our planet. This is our future, global climate change affects us all.” Let’s save it to live in a better world.
Rumaiysa M Rahman is a 9th grader at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Dhaka