Code Green and WOW host Metaverse event at UN General Assembly
19 SEPTEMBER, NEW YORK On the eve of the UN General Assembly, digital artists from across the globe came together to rally behind the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), at a high-profile event hosted by Code Green and World of Women focused on how the new technological revolution of the Metaverse can be harnessed to spark progress for people and planet.
The Exhibition, launched at Goals House in the iconic Tavern on the Green in New York’s Central Park in front of an audience of global changemakers, UN officials and the Metaverse community, featuring artworks from the likes of Yam Karkai, Inna Modja, Drifter and Cath Simard.
The all-female panel included featured Inna Modja, CEO, Code Green, Marina Ponti, Director, UNSDG Action Campaign, Shannon Snow, COO, World of Women, Andrea Meza Murillo, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary, and was moderated by Madison Mills, Anchor, Bloomberg Quicktake.
The Panel emphasised the importance of using both tech and creativity to reach people, and the importance of creating a representative Metaverse. It is time, as Inna Modja declared, for us to implement gender equality and social agendas into technology from the very start, not retrospectively — and make it a space that represents and advocates for everyone.
During the event — panellists stressed the potential of web3 to help advance climate action, particularly in the wake of the recent Ethereum Merge to the sustainable proof-of-stake protocol which has drastically reduced energy consumption in the space by more than 99%. Andrea Meza Murillo, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary emphasised: “The Metaverse paves new pathways for visions of the future on what each of us can do to restore the land. By working together and changing our hearts and minds, we make the most of all opportunities to raise awareness of the importance of tackling urgent and interlinked challenges such as land degradation and drought, nature loss and climate change.”
The event also saw Yam Karkai, the creator behind the blue-chip NFT brand World of Women, named as an Ally of the UN SDG Action Campaign, in recognition of her work in promoting gender justice issues around the globe.
As a leading voice in the NFT art community, Karkai uses her collection of crypto art pieces and networks to empower women and promote inclusion, with the sense that everyone has the power in their hands to inspire change and promote more sustainable and just societies.
Yam said: “I am honored to be named a UN Ally of the SDG Action Campaign this year. Together, we can positively impact the future through inspiration, action and creativity.”
As her first engagement as an Ally, Yam Karkai partnered with Code Green to mobilize the NFT community to create a series of digital artworks supporting the UN SDG Action Campaign’s global campaign Flip the Script — which emphasizes how we must rethink how we do things to create the transformative change we need to see in the world.
Flip the Script is envisioned to be a critical starting point to what people imagine that they can do to bring to life green, just and peaceful societies. The artists have brought their #FlipTheScript messages to life through dynamic, creative and powerful visual artworks that will be showcased throughout the Global Week to #Act4SDGs taking place 16–25 September — and beyond.
Artworks were displayed on digital screens in New York’s Central Park, and from 22 September across more than 25 airports around the world via a partnership with VINCI Airports including London’s Gatwick Airport. It is anticipated the exhibit will then tour the globe at major political and cultural moments.
The 200+ attendee event also served as the launchpad for a powerful new web3 tool developed by Code Green called The Vampires, which allows NFT holders to offset their historical carbon emissions while receiving a Vampire artwork as proof that they have sucked carbon from their cryptowallets. The Vampires is based on an opensource Soulbound protocol — the next generation of NFTs that cannot be transferred for monetary value.
The event closed with a powerful musical performance by Inna Modja, the Malian musician, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) climate ambassador and Code Green’s CEO and CoFounder, who was joined onstage by guitarist, Haïlé Dasta and singer Crystal Petit.
