Marine Litter: Getting the Message Across
Presenting:
“Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey”
Monika Thiele, Programme Officer
United Nations Environment Programme
Regional Office for North America
Washington, DC
November 7, 2012
Presentation Overview
 “Two
Minutes on Oceans with Jim
Toomey” --what’s it all about?
 How did the project come about?
 How do we creatively engage our
audiences?
 Next?
What is UNEP?

UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership and
encourage partnership in caring for the
environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling
nations and peoples to improve their quality of life
without compromising that of future generations.
How?



Monitor the state of the world environment
Support development of solutions to global
environmental challenges through International
agreements, Voluntary initiatives, & partnerships
Provide expertise to implement solutions
“Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey”
Video Series: What’s it all about?
educational videos –two minutes each
 Goal 1 is raise awareness of the importance of
oceans and the coastal environment.
 Goal 2 is to use animation and humor to explain
complex ocean issues in clear and simple language
Audience: General public and youth in North
America
Six
How did the Videos Come About?
Creative Process

Unique partnership between UNEP RONA and
Jim Toomey
 Inspired by a 100-second clip on oceans that Mr.
Jim Toomey produced in tribute to the 100th
Birthday of famed Oceanographer, JacquesYves Cousteau
Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey: Marine Litter
Social Media Integration
•Goal: Make the video free &
accessible to the general public.
•Web Launch: Circulated Press
Release & Partnership Letter
•Applied social media tools such
as twitter hash tags
(#toomeyUNEPoceans) and
Facebook “Likes” helped to
promote videos online
Distribution Statistics
•
These videos have received over 7,200
(combined) views on YouTube to date
•
•
•
•
4,560 views for the Blue Carbon Video (since
June)
2,694 views for the Marine Litter Video (since
Sept)
970 views took place on UNEP Webpage
and 327 on Facebook
Of these 70 views redirected from UNEP
webpage and 192 views from Facebook
Power of Partnerships
 RONA
invited Thought Leaders, NGOs
and Agencies to join UNEP in Outreach
Efforts

“Like” the Toomey FB Page, “Re-tweet” etc.
 Utilize
professional networks and
contacts with personal requests- more
effective than mass blast email.
 Exponentially increases breadth of
reach-US and beyond
Example: Video Shared On Online Portals
Launch at Special Events!
•
World Oceans Day Launch (DC)
w/ Smithsonian Institute &
Coastal America
• International Coastal Cleanup
(DC) w/ Ocean Conservancy
Partner Organization Events

IUCN World Conservation Congress: Side
Event on Blue Carbon (JeJu, Korea)
 Rio+20: Earth Summit Side Event: UNEP &
Eye on Earth (doubled our “YouTube views”)
 World Oceans Expo: UNEP Oceans
Pavilion (Yeosu, Korea)
 Blue Ocean Film Festival (Monterey, CA)
Use of Promotional Tools
Created Poster Board
Flyer for Photo Opps
Produced Flyers for
Handout at Networking
Events (On Recycled
Paper)
Designed & Produced TShirts to wear for International
Coastal Cleanup
DVDs to HandoutProduction in progress
Upcoming: Marine Litter Workshop
(December 3, 2012)
Follow up to 5th International Marine Debris Conference
(5IMDC), to further education & outreach goals
 Working with Private Sector, NGOs & Government to
promote upstream solutions to downstream problem of
marine debris in North America
 Contribute to the efforts of the Global Partnership on
Marine Litter, launched in June of 2012 at the UN
Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or
Rio+20).

Thank You!!
Monika Thiele, Programme Officer
United Nations Environment Programme
Regional Office for North America (RONA)
900 17th St. NW Suite 506
Washington, DC 20006 USA
Tel.: (+1 202) 974-1309
[email protected]
www.rona.unep.org