GoodPlanet – dedicated to sustainability
The goals of GoodPlanet, founded in 2005 by renowned photographer and director Yann Arthus-Bertrand, are to educate the public and raise awareness of the need to protect the environment.
The GoodPlanet Foundation promotes a lifestyle which respects the Earth and its inhabitants. It sets out realistic and optimistic solutions and encourages each individual to act for the planet, based on a series of programmes that are constantly being developed and strengthened, in an attempt to "place ecology at the heart of people’s thinking".
In May of 2011, OMEGA introduced its partnership with GoodPlanet, an organisation with a global reputation for its unflinching dedication to the promotion of sustainable development.
OMEGA and GoodPlanet are establishing an initiative that will raise public awareness of the beauty of the oceans and the need to preserve them. Together they are producing books and and educational materials designed to share their commitment and encourage all of us to protect the oceans.
"This project will give us the chance to remind people of the beauty of the oceans and to address ways to be better stewards of these amazing natural resources." OMEGA president Stephen Urquhart
OMEGA President Stephen Urquhart explains that the partnership is a logical one for his brand, saying, "Our legacy includes not only the very first water-resistant watch but close partnerships with some of the most important names in ocean exploration and ecology. This project with GoodPlanet will give us the chance to remind people of the beauty of the oceans and to address ways to be better stewards of these amazing natural resources which are critical for our common future."
Since its founding, GoodPlanet's activities have revolved around three objectives:
Educating the public about the environment and environmental issues with GoodPlanet.Info, a website in French and English providing information on sustainable development. GoodPlanet has also distributed 300,000 books in France and abroad, helping readers gain a better understanding of major environmental issues.
Educating for sustainable development:
- GoodPlanet posters are given away each year to all schools in France and Belgium. Over 10 million students and teachers have benefitted from this set of 20 educational posters over the last six years.
- La Maison du Changement, ("House of Change"): an eco-project based on sustainable development for children aged 8-15.
Raising awareness through images:
- 7 Billion Others: the fruit of six years of filming in 84 countries, this project features over 6,000 testimonies from men and women from all corners of the globe. Nearly four million people in France and worldwide have watched some 40 environment-based films in a large travelling exhibition.
- Des Forêts et des Hommes ("Forests and Humanity") offers the public an opportunity to discover 70 of the most beautiful pictures of forests around the world taken by 40 of the greatest photographers. Designed as part of the Year of Forests, the exhibition has already toured ten cities throughout France and abroad (Paris, Moscow, etc.).
Acting for the world and humanity
- For 6 years, Action Carbone has enabled companies, institutions and individuals to calculate, reduce and offset their CO2 emissions and support projects in the fight against climate change. Through this programme, the Foundation supports 20 energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable waste management projects that will benefit 92,000 people. Reforestation projects have also helped to protect 500,000 hectares of forest in countries of the South.
- GoodPlanet Solidaire offers to support companies in managing projects in the fields of international solidarity and the environment. With "En route pour l’école" (“Off to school"), GoodPlanet Solidaire is implementing an aid programme for education throughout the world. The programme involves six interdependent projects, with 1,600 direct beneficiaries and 4,800 indirect beneficiaries.
GoodPlanet founder and President Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been widely recognised for his ecological activism and his many honours include being named United Nations Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador (UNEP).
