The United Nations and Talent from 'The Angry Birds Movie 2' join forces on the ActNow Campaign to urge citizen action on climate change

NEW YORK, July 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Angry Birds and the green piggies have joined forces with the United Nations in support of its ActNow climate campaign, a global call for citizen action on climate change. Back with the UN and the UN Foundation after 2016's successful #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet partnership, the birds are joined this time around by their longtime enemies (turned "frenemies") the pigs and are looking to spread awareness about individual actions we can all take to combat climate change. 

As part of the campaign, a public service announcement is launching today starring the Angry Birds, the green piggies and the English-speaking voice cast behind the film The Angry Birds Movie 2. Together, they are encouraging citizens to discover and track simple everyday actions that can make a difference by using the UN's innovative new online climate action tool, the ActNow Bot.

"Climate change is already impacting our world today regardless of where we live," said Maher Nasser, Director, Outreach Division, UN Department of Global Communications. "It is through climate action – built on cooperation and collaboration within and across communities – that we can confront the climate crisis. We see many people around the world sounding the alarm and demanding action by world leaders. We are grateful to the Angry Birds for adding their voice again to the call for each of us to lead by example and demonstrate that every action counts."

Harnessing advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the ActNow Bot is a fully interactive chat bot located on the UN's website (un.org/ActNow) that connects with users and suggests everyday actions that can be taken to preserve the environment. Every action completed is counted to encourage others to join the campaign as well as to send a message to leaders in government and business that citizens want climate action and are willing to take it. The collective actions will be presented during the United Nations Secretary-General's Climate Summit in New York in September 2019.

The Angry Birds and pigs themselves will be on hand for the first ever takeover of the ActNow Bot website from July 23-30, encouraging users with individualized suggestions – like traveling more sustainably, saving energy or eating less meat – in a campaign to highlight the impact that collective action can have at this critical moment in our planet's history.

The new frenemies, the birds and the pigs, will come together at the United Nations to celebrate the launch of the campaign on Wednesday, July 10th at 2:30pm at the UN's SDG Media Zone. The campaign launch will be livestreamed on webtv.un.org where the PSA will be premiered.

"We are really proud that the United Nations and the Angry Birds continue to work on climate issues together through the #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet campaign," said The Angry Birds Movie 2 producer John Cohen. "Even our beloved birds and pigs are putting their differences aside and coming together for this great cause. We all need to come together to help create a more sustainable world and I'm so happy that the Angry Birds will have a chance to help spread this universal message."

Presented by Sony Pictures Animation and Rovio Entertainment, The Angry Birds Movie 2 starts its global rollout in August 2019.  

FOR CAMPAIGN ASSETS (INCLUDING PSA): https://bit.ly/2S0V3aK 

ABOUT THE ACTNOW CAMPAIGN

ActNow is the United Nations' global call to individual action on climate change. The campaign is a critical part of the UN's coordinated effort to raise awareness, ambition, and action for climate change and accelerate implementation of the Paris Agreement. Primarily an online and social media campaign, ActNow uses advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to spur behaviour change. The ActNow Bot recommends daily actions to reduce our carbon footprints – like traveling more sustainably, saving energy or eating less meat. For more information, visit www.un.org/en/actnow.

ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War  and is committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. It is currently made up of 193 Member States, and in 2015 they unanimously adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information, visit www.un.org.

ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION

The United Nations Foundation acts as a strategic partner to help the United Nations mobilize the ideas, people, and resources it needs to deliver and to grow a diverse and durable constituency for collective action. We focus on issues at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals, build initiatives across sectors to solve problems at scale, and engage citizens who seek action. Founded in 1998 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner, the UN Foundation works with philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual partners. Learn more at: www.unfoundation.org.

ABOUT THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2

The flightless Angry Birds and the scheming green piggies take their beef to the next level in The Angry Birds Movie 2! When a new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck's sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) and team up with pigs Leonard (Bill Hader), his assistant Courtney (Awkwafina), and techpig Garry (Sterling K. Brown) to forge an unsteady truce and form an unlikely superteam to save their homes.

The film is directed by Thurop Van Orman with a screenplay by Peter Ackerman and Eyel Podell & Jonathon E. Stewart. It is produced by John Cohen, and stars Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage, Pete Davidson, Zach Woods, Dove Cameron, Lil Rel Howery, Nicki Minaj, Beck Bennett and Brooklynn Prince.

ABOUT ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT

Rovio Entertainment Corporation is a global, games-first entertainment company that creates, develops and publishes mobile games which have been downloaded over 4.5 billion times. The company is best known for the global Angry Birds brand, which started as a popular mobile game in 2009, and has since evolved from games to various entertainment and consumer products in brand licensing. Today the company offers multiple mobile games, animations and has produced The Angry Birds Movie, which opened number one in theaters in 50 countries, and the sequel to which is set for theatrical release in 2019. Rovio is headquartered in Finland and the Company's shares are listed on the main list of the NASDAQ Helsinki stock exchange with the trading code ROVIO. (www.rovio.com)

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Sony Pictures Animation produces a variety of animated entertainment for audiences around the world. The visually groundbreaking and critically acclaimed "Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse" is the studio's latest release, and the winner of the 2019 Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. The division is also behind hit film series such as "The Smurfs," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and "Hotel Transylvania." Next for Sony Pictures Animation are "The Angry Birds Movie 2," the original feature comedy "The Mitchells vs. The Machines" produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and the studio's first-ever animated musical "Vivo," featuring original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Sony Pictures Animation, which was founded in 2002, is a division of the Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group for Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based Sony Corporation.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. SPE's Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html.

SOURCE Sony Pictures Entertainment