Media Release Courtesy Panos Caribbean — Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Renowned Saint Lucian-American visual artist Jonathan Gladding has released a powerful new painting to convey the urgency of the climate crisis ahead of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland in November. Gladding’s new work continues the ‘1.5 To Stay Alive’ campaign, launched in July 2015 at the initiative of regional organisation Panos Caribbean, which advocates for keeping the global temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Speaking about his inspiration, Gladding said: “I was inspired by the increasing number of catastrophes already bearing down on us on all fronts. The Australian bushfires and the Brazilian Amazon rainforest wildfires of 2020 were especially shocking and heart-breaking, and this year we have seen terrible fires in California, Greece and other parts of Europe. So the girl in the painting represents earth and humanity in peril — slowly being submerged by rising sea levels, while at the same time surrounded by the wildfires of a burning planet. Her — our — only hope is that we do all we can to keep the increase in average global temperature to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” Dr. James Fletcher of Saint Lucia, a key figure in the 2015 Paris Agreement negotiations, said: “This recent painting lets us know that our situation is grim — our sea levels are continuing to rise, while on land we are burning up. However, amidst the dark clouds of forest fires and severe hurricanes, there is still a promise of blue skies, brighter days, if we take urgent action.” OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules noted that “the contrast between the two iconic images speaks viscerally to the grave deterioration of the climatic condition of the Earth and the exponentially greater dangers that urgently confront us.”