At the 2015 Climate Conference - COP21 - in Paris, the Caribbean released a theme song that calls on the world to recognise and respect the legitimate claims of small islands in the face of climate change. With lyrics written by Kendel Hippolyte and music composed and produced by Ronald Boo Hinkson, this song stresses the need for greater climate justice and for a shared commitment to combat climate change. This project has brought together several of the Caribbean's greatest and most conscious artists, as part of a regional campaign spearheaded by Panos Caribbean in collaboration with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, the Caribbean Development Bank and other regional partners. Artists performing on the song: Banky Banx, BelO, Kendel Hippolyte, E.sy Kennenga, Jessy Leonce, Ace Loctar, Shayne Ross, David Rudder, Aaron Silk, Taj Weekes, and Deridee Williams.

As part of the #1point5tostayalive Campaign that supports Caribbean and other vulnerable countries in the fight against climate change, Panos Caribbean has produced this theme song, with lyrics by Saint Lucian poet and dramatist Kendel Hippolyte and music by musician and humanitarian Taj Weekes. The song features the voices of Linda “Chocolate” Berthier, Bushman, Kenyatta Hill, Kendel Hippolyte, Zara McFarlane, Sidney Mills, Jafe Faulino, Razia Said, Aaron Silk and Taj Weekes Executive Producer: Panos Caribbean Producer: Taj Weekes Distribution: Jatta/VP Records © Kendel Hippolyte ℗ Taj Weekes Thanks to Toni Economides for recording Zara McFarlane, who appears courtesy of Brownswood Recordings Panos’ royalties will contribute to a Caribbean Artists for Climate Justice Fund www.1point5.info

1.5 Stay Alive is part music video and part factual. In it, popular Caribbean musicians express their experiences with hurricanes, tropical storms and rising seas by composing and performing songs about climate change, and their visions of how to confront it. Intertwined throughout the film are insights by scientists and local climate experts expressing how a temperature rise of just 1.5 degrees could lead to irreversible damage to ecosystems. The film visits Belize, Costa Rica, Trinidad + Tobago, Haiti, Honduras, Miami and Louisiana. These regions are examples of how rising climate temperatures affect hurricanes, tropical storms and rising seas in their area. Need the film for a screening? contact us here http://bit.ly/2ihp9Ux

History will most likely – and hopefully – remember this 20 September 2019 as the day when the fight for climate justice finally took centre stage, when thanks to courageous and visionary young people it was no longer possible to ignore the fact that climate change is an existential threat that must be taken very seriously. On this occasion, and while hundreds of thousands of people – mainly students, but joined by their parents, by trade unionists, media workers, people from all walks of life – marched through the streets of places as far apart as Sydney, Nairobi, Delhi or London, Saint Lucian poet, dramatist and activist Kendel Hippolyte once again issued his call for artists throughout the world to add their voice to the cry for climate justice. "We cannot - CANNOT - look at our children and grandchildren and say we did nothing or we did not know what to do. Whatever artistic gift we have - and whatever rewards it brings or we hope it will bring - will not mean a thing if all we hand over to our descendants as we leave is a planet which is their funeral pyre even while they are alive,” says Hippolyte in his call. This call is part of a campaign launched in 2015 at the initiative of Panos Caribbean to raise awareness about the threats posed by climate change and to support the position of Caribbean countries calling for urgent action so as to ensure that average global temperatures do not rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above what they were two centuries ago. The campaign works closely with musicians and other artists, and Kendel Hippolyte explains why it is important for artists to become involved in the fight for climate justice: “it is important,” he says, “because artists can make you feel, and when you feel something, that’s when you want to act”. In this video, Kendel Hippolyte expresses his hopes and his belief in the role artists and young people can play to save our planet.