Greenpeace creates a fake real estate agency that profits from climate change

Cristina Blanaru Creativity

Right at the start of the COP23 Summit held in Bonn (Germany), Greenpeace France launched a whimsical operation to raise awareness from the public about climate change and reiterate its call to act to limit global warming. The campaign mimics the identity of a start-up loaded with ruthless intentions. The aim of the operation is also to counter the cynicism of large manufacturers and the hypocrisy of some countries that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement signed during the COP21 Summit.

The operation, called Orizon, features a fake real estate agency that delves into “predictive real estate”. The concept of predictive real estate is straight-forward: simulate the rise of sea levels caused by global warming to identify the houses that will be located on beach-fronts in a number of decades.

The interactive website of this fake real estate agency lets visitors select a geographic area in France or Belgium. The user enters its preferences: area, surface, budget. The algorithm of the website will then pull genuine ads according to the criteria of homes that will be located on seafronts by 2100 and indicates the amount of the expected capital gain.

The estimates of the website, developed by the Artefact agency, are based on the RCP8.5 scenario from the 2014 report of the GIEC that forecasts a rise in temperature of 5 degrees Celsius and a rise of sea levels of 1 meter in average by 2100. This RCP8.5 scenario is the most pessimistic from the GIEC reports, but is still a credible outcome if we take into account the current levels of emissions. The map used to illustrate the rise of sea levels comes from data from NASA.

The COP23 Summit took places in a period of massive climate imbalance, marked by several deadly hurricanes, water droughts and floods. Greenpeace urges the leaders gathered in Bonn to make significant progress on actual implementations rules for the Paris Agreement and advanced preparation for global warming consequences.

Laurence Veyne, Communication Director of Greenpeace France says:

The Paris Agreement helped offer a response to the dangers of global warming. Unfortunately, we are witnessing a lack of interest in this topic from the general public. However, there is a real urgency. With this operation, Greenpeace France aims to condemn the inability to change and the lack of ambition of countries, while also warning people about the cynicism of large corporations that continue to invest in fossil energy and show no progress in evolving their industries. By showing in a realistic picture the impact of the rise of sea levels, we want to raise awareness that more needs to be done, especially in France, to develop renewable energy and start a transition into a climate friendly agriculture.

Credits:

Name of the campaign : Orizon

Advertiser : Greenpeace

  • Brand managers : Laurence Veyne, Clément Schmitt

Agency :  Artefact

  • Agency managers : François Brogi, Mehdi Lakhdar, Lucie Marchais
  • Strategic planner : Jean Allary
  • Creative director : Romain Pergeaux
  • Art director : Fabien Hujeux
  • Copywriter : Romain Pergeaux
  • Producer : Samir Semaoune
  • Data engineer : Charles Darmon
  • Data scientist : Samuel Houri

Production company : De Gaulle

  • Producer : Edouard Bonnet
  • Director : Jonny Guedj

Website development : Neuvième Page