Rushes to stop Arctic oil

WWF Norway - press release

WWF takes you on a speed-run of the Arctic,
before it’s too late.

WWF Norway is in a hurry. Together with Oslo agency Smeh, they have launched a campaign that sends tourists on a guided speed-run of the Arctic. In a series of films directed by Sara Haag for Fantefilm, a stressed guide races both climate change and the imminent threat of Norwegian oil exploration.

The Arctic is one of the world's most vulnerable ecosystems, and it is warming faster than almost anywhere else on the planet. The EU, Norway's largest customer for oil and gas, has said that Arctic oil and gas should stay in the ground. Yet, the Norwegian government want to explore for oil and gas right here.

"We had to make a campaign that shows the incredible nature of the Arctic, the animals that live there and what we are about to lose. At the same time, we knew we had to use slightly different tools to get people's attention. So when Smeh presented this idea, it felt like exactly the right way to go," says Julie Offerdal, Head of Communications at WWF Norway

No time to loose
The films take viewers on a hurried tour of the Arctic, where everything moves so fast that nobody really takes anything in. The main character, a stressed Arctic guide, is worried that the nature is disappearing and rushes tourists past polar bear, reindeers and whales. He needs to max out his business before the politicians set even more destruction in motion.

“Searching for new oil in a place that is already warming faster than almost anywhere on the planet is absurd. So, we felt it was right to tell the story in an absurd way too. The guide is fiction, but every fact behind his hurry is real,” says the creative team at Smeh.

Launch
The campaign launches this week, as Norway's state budget negotiations begin and several environmental organisations and political parties bring demands to halt oil exploration into the talks. It also lands days before COP31, the international climate conference, opens.

The campaign was created by Oslo agency Smeh by creatives Frederik Feiler, Sebastian Graf Stenberg and Mira Liv Helland Mortensen, and project manager Vilje Mohn. It was produced on location in Svalbard by Fantefilm with Sara Haag directing and produced by Hugo Føsker and Tyra Grøndsund. Thanks also go to the rest of the crew, who showed up for the cause.