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Nine Earths takes audiences on an audiovisual journey through locations around the world, highlighting individual voices and stories.
"In the 21st century we need to think as a global species."
Mark Maslin
Professor of Earth System Science,
University College London
Instead of presenting overwhelming scientific data and stereotypical imagery of climate emergency, Nine Earths takes a closer look at daily routines of people and draws attention to the accelerating consumption - the driving cause of climate change.
Using visual ethnography, imagery, sound, and candid interviews, Nine Earths presents people's perceptions of consumption and reveals lifestyle choices that, often unwittingly, impact our planet.
Originally commissioned by the British Council to mark COP26, the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, Nine Earths has been created collaboratively with organisations and individuals around the world.
Ecological Footprint
By depicting the everyday actions of individuals, the aim of Nine Earths is to view our collective lives in terms of consumption and climate change, and this includes how industries and institutions shape our choices and our environments.
It is imperative that our work in support of the climate conversation does not create a heavy carbon footprint of its own. Working collaboratively and digitally, we have carefully designed Nine Earths to ensure that our carbon footprint is very low, limiting our consumption of materials and energy and refraining from extensive travel.
The term 'carbon footprint' was developed by British Petroleum for an ad campaign that ran for two years from 2004. According to climate scientist Michael E. Mann, it represents a way of shifting the burden of reducing waste and emissions onto consumers, while companies like BP - as well as governments - remain the largest contributors to climate change. According to Tomislav Medak, around 100 companies are responsible for most global emissions, but global capital flows and concerns about energy security have made it impossible to tax them.*
Further information about eco footprint:
https://data.footprintnetwork.org
https://www.footprintcalculator.org
* Medak, T. (2022) Disrupting technologies: Can the planetary technosphere be steered politically toward a post-capitalist metabolism? PhD thesis, Coventry University.