UN’s environmental television products to be showcased at industry conference

The United Nations audiovisual family will offer ‘green’ stories and projects to major international broadcasters as they join MIPTV (Marché international des programmes de television), the leading international television programming marketplace, next week in Cannes, France.

“We invite TV broadcasters to discover the wealth of material and media services which exists within the United Nations system that they can use to produce a variety of formats from the small screen to mobile devices,” said Caroline Petit of the UN Department of Public Information (DPI), who will be attending MIPTV along with representatives of several other UN agencies.

Through its award-winning series “UN in Action,” UN Television has produced short documentaries on numerous environmental subjects, including stories on the future of the Aral Sea, the prevention of natural disasters in Kazakhstan, and cleaning up radioactive waste in Serbia.

“21st Century,” a newly launched 26-minute monthly magazine, combines narrative storytelling and news reporting from around the world, while DPI also furnishes stories from field missions through its UNifeed satellite transmission.

Among the UN system’s many new green projects to be featured is “So You Think You Know About... Climate Change,” a documentary series produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the award-winning United Kingdom-based back2back productions in association with BBC World.

“Bling: A Planet Rock” is a 90-minute documentary produced by VH1 Rock Docs, Article 19 Films and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Featuring hip-hop artists from the United States and Sierra Leone, it spotlights millions of diamond diggers to help disadvantaged communities and promote conscious consumerism, encouraging the purchase of ‘clean’ diamonds through the power and influence of popular music.

Also providing products will be the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Bank and the Millennium Campaign.