Water for Life Decade >> UN Video library >> Climate Change

UN Video library: Climate Change

2011

India's Iceman
UNTV 21st Century, 2011
Place: India
Duration: 8min52sec
Climate change is threatening the future of millions of people. But high up in the Himalayas, a man known as The Ice Man, is trying to do what nature no longer can - and give his community a chance of survival – by building artificial glaciers.

2010

Bhutan: Tsunami from the Sky
UNTV 21st Century
Place: Bhutan
Duration: 14min25sec
In Bhutan, Himalayan glaciers are melting due to climate change, with lakes forming within the glaciers. Some of these glacier lakes are in imminent danger of bursting. This documentary explores the possible impacts on local livelihoods and adaptation measures being carried out in the region.

Sink or Swim
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)
Place: Vietnam
Duration: 3min02sec
This video focuses on the disaster-prone and vulnerable country of Vietnam, and the role of mangroves in providing natural coastal protection. An overarching message is that humans must work with nature to reduce vulnerability to the effects of climate change and extreme events.

2009

At a Glance: Syrian Arab Republic
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Place: Syria
Duration: 1min57sec
In Syria, droughts are causing crop failure and reduced grazing pastures. Drought and climate change has depleted the Al Assi river in Salamieh, and communities now depend on wells for their water supply. This video shows how a new water station unit, partly funded by UNICEF, cleans the water which contains dangerous levels of sulphur, ensuring a clean, safe water supply.

Bolivia's Glacier: A vanishing future
UNTV 21st Century
Place: Bolivia
Duration: 8min11sec
In South America, many Bolivians are victims of a warming planet. High up in the Andes mountains a disaster is in the making as many of the glaciers are melting at rates surprising even the experts. At risk are tens of thousands of people who rely on the water as a source of life.

Delta Force
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Mozambique
Year: 2009
Duration: 3min35sec
This video looks at how communities are preparing themselves for increasing flooding and sea level rise caused by climate change. The Zambezi, Africa's fourth longest river is Mozambique's lifeblood. The delta is a vast area of fertile farmland. But flooding - always a regular event - is becoming more frequent. This video shows how the communities of the Zambezi are adapting.

(The) Gathering Storm - Asia: Chapter 9 Melting Glaciers
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Nepal
Duration: 3min33sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Asia, this video sees a young well-educated Sherpa take a journey back to his ancestral village in the Himalayas, to see for himself the problems his people face as a consequence of global warming.

(The) Gathering Storm - Asia: Chapter 11 Swapping Crops
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Nepal
Duration: 3min22sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Asia, this video sees farmers in Nepal being forced to give up growing traditional crops due to irregular rainfall patterns and declining yields.

(The) Gathering Storm - Asia: Chapter 13 Cambodia's Lake
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Cambodia
Duration: 3min01sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Asia, this chapter focuses on Tonle Sap lake in central Cambodia. The lake used to be a fisherman's heaven, but growing population pressures, the advent of commercial fishing, and the onset of climate change have left the fishermen who live in beautiful floating villages on the lake shore in dire straits.

(The) Gathering Storm - Asia: Chapter 14 Boat Schools
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Bangladesh
Duration: 3min02sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Asia, this video takes a closer look at Bangladesh, one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world where tens of millions of people are at risk from cyclones and floods. Schools often close because of flooding, which means that children miss out on their education. An innovative project - the floating education system - is helping communities adapt to climate change by providing schooling on boats.

(The) Gathering Storm - Asia: Chapter 15 Floating Gardens
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Bangladesh
Duration: 2min39sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Asia, this video shows how the ancient practice of floating gardens - beds of straw and water hyacinths on which crops are grown - is making a comeback in the face of increased floods in Bangladesh.

Kenya: the effect of climate change
UNTV: UN in Action
Place: Kenya
Duration: 3min15sec
People all over the world are feeling the impact of abnormal changes in climate. Long, dry seasons and unpredictable weather threaten the livelihood of many. In Magadi, southern Kenya, a small community struggles with dwindling access to water and food.

Mekong: Watch that River!
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: South-East Asia
Duration: 7min40sec
This film captures the highlights of a 2008 study, Vulnerability Assessment of Freshwater Resources to Environmental Change, carried out by researchers at the Asian Institute Technology (AIT) for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). South East Asia's largest river, the Mekong, has withstood decades of pressure from rising human numbers, growing industrial activity and more demands for water and food. But scientists now caution that climate change could upset this balance in the coming years and decades. At risk are water, food and jobs for 65 million people living in Mekong River Basin. To minimise impact, the six Mekong countries need to better plan and coordinate how they share the river's resources and their impact on its flow.

2008

Adapting to Climate Change in Bangladesh
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Place: Bangladesh
Duration: 5min22sec
Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. With nearly 200 major natural disasters since 1971, the population is struggling to cope with the impact of climate change on their food security. Impacts also include increasing floods and drought. This video shows how FAO projects are helping farmers adapt to the new challenges, with improved farming systems and new technologies, and with the innovative 'Climate Field School' project.

Climate Change: Adaptation, Agriculture, Water Shortage, etc.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
This video series convey key messages from the Human Development Report 2007/2008 on the need to adapt to the changing climate and avoid water disasters.

(The) Gathering Storm - Africa: Chapter 1 Harvesting Rain
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Kenya
Duration: 3min03sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Africa, this video looks at how a rainwater harvesting system provides villagers with clean and accessible water in Kenya.

(The) Gathering Storm - Africa: Chapter 2 Escaping Floods
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Mozambique
Duration: 2min47sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Africa, this video takes a closer look at a rural village in Mozambique where floods are becoming increasingly common.

(The) Gathering Storm - Africa: Chapter 7 Flooding Rivers
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Mozambique
Duration: 3min47sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Africa, this video illustrates how floods are destroying livelihoods for people living on the banks of the Zambezi River.

(The) Gathering Storm - Africa: Chapter 8 Drip Irrigation
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Senegal
Duration: 2min02sec
Part of a series exploring the human cost of climate change in Africa, this chapter shows how a project teaching drip irrigation techniques is helping farmers in Senegal to cope with increasing droughts.

Melting glaciers affect farmers in Peru
UNTV: UN in Action
Place: Peru
Duration: 2min17sec
Peru is one of the nations worst affected by climate change in the world. Farmers and herders depend on the seasonal water supplied by glaciers, which are vanishing at an alarming pace. According to experts, they might disappear almost completely by 2015, threatening the livelihoods of entire communities.

2007

Peru: Retreating Glaciers
World Bank
Place: Peru
Duration: 5min18sec
This video communicates the crucial importance of freshwater for Andean communities. Climate change impacts are already being felt in Pucarumi, a small community in southern Peru, as the Ausangate glacier melts and reduces the flow of the river upon which the community relies.

Easy like Water
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Bangladesh
Duration: 4min33sec
This video focuses on the implications of climate change for Bangladesh. Solar-powered boat-schools are turning the front lines of climate change into a community of learning. As the water steals the land, one man's vision is re-casting the rising rivers as channels of communication and transforming lives.

Freshwater under Threat South Asia: Crowded Land, Drying Rivers
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: South Asia
Duration: 9min02sec
Rising temperatures are fast melting glaciers in the Himalayas, the origin of major rivers flowing across the Indian subcontinent. Reduced river flow can upset water balance for millions. Meanwhile, rapidly swelling glacial lakes can trigger flash floods. This video is based on the UNEP's Vulnerability Assessment of Freshwater Resources to Environmental Change report series.

Global Outlook for Ice and Snow
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Duration: 5min11sec
This video accompanies the UNEP report 'Global Outlook for Ice and Snow' (2007), which examines the climate-change induced melting of ice and snow, and the implications for eco-systems and human well-being.

Melting Mountains in Nepal
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Place: Nepal
Duration: 2min57sec
At the Copenhagen climate negotiations, Deepak Bohara, Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation in Nepal, highlights the catastrophic impacts of melting glaciers and snow in Nepal's mountains, and talks about mitigation efforts in the country.

6 Billion Others - Climate Voices
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Duration: 6min03sec
For this film, 600 interviews were conducted in 17 countries on climate change impacts. Testimonies on were not only gathered from people whose lives are directly affected by climate change, but also in countries where the issue is far from people's concerns.