Snapchat + Great Barrier Reef Foundation launch campaign to protect world’s largest reef system

The world’s largest living coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef, is under threat from climate change with marine heatwaves triggering three mass coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef in just five years, reducing shallow-water coral reefs by as much as 50%.

In a bid to protect and restore the Great Barrier Reef, Snapchat has joined forces with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to launch a global call to action that will raise awareness, drive action and help the Foundation achieve its goal of planting a million corals this summer.

Launched today, the campaign will harness the power of Snapchat’s camera, encouraging millions of users globally to share a first-of-its-kind environmental pledge in Augmented Reality (AR) via a unique Water Segmentation Lens. The Lens demonstrates the impact of climate change on the Reef, and how Aussies can act to help protect it. Snapchatters around the world will also be invited to take a pledge via an AR Face + World Lens, as well as the Water Segmentation Lens, on December 2.

On swiping up the Lens, Snapchatters can help plant a coral by filling in their details and joining the Reef community. Here they will learn more about the impacts of climate change and discover ways to help the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s reef restoration efforts. This will take the Foundation one step closer to turbo-charging coral restoration so they can reach their 2030 vision of planting 10 million heat-tolerant corals on the Reef

The activation will be amplified globally with a Face + World Lens through the power of the Snap Map, giving 306 million daily Snapchatters the opportunity to experience the Lens and share their pledge in AR.

Says Anna Marsden, managing director, Great Barrier Reef Foundation: “We know that everyone cares about our Great Barrier Reef so, together with Snapchat, we’re driving awareness and action to help protect it. Climate change is the greatest threat to our Reef and this is the critical decade in which to act with urgency. However, emissions reduction alone is no longer enough to guarantee the survival of the Reef, so we’re working to help the Reef resist, adapt to and recover from the warmer temperatures that have already been caused by climate change.”

Says Kathryn Carter, general manager for APAC, Snap: “Young Australians care passionately about combating climate change, and will also experience its worst impacts in the future if we fail to act now. Given our significant reach with this younger generation, we have been conscious of supporting action on climate change, both through our science-based global Climate Action Plan and local partnerships. Our partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation is our commitment in that direction. By using the power of Snapchat’s camera and AR capabilities we want to drive awareness about the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef.”

Snap is committed to helping educate Gen Z audiences about the climate crisis and actions they can take through AR experiences and in this case – the launch of a first-of-its-kind water segmentation Lens.

Last year Snap announced its first-ever climate strategy, with commitments to carbon neutrality, science-based reduction targets, and 100% renewable electricity. In October 2021, Snap announced a further commitment to make Snap net carbon negative by 2030. This commitment was made because the latest science has made clear that more needs to be done to avoid climate change’s worst impacts. Snap sees a deep responsibility to take action at a pace and scale that can make a difference. Among other things, that includes committing to Net Zero (and beyond) and encouraging others to do the same.

As part of this larger strategy, Snap regularly does research with the Gen Z community to better understand the issues they care about and want to see represented on the platform, and climate change and the environment are among the issues that rank highest. On average over 200 million Snapchatters engage with AR on our platform every day.