SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Just around Earth Day (April 22), and just before the implementation of new rules that require companies to care for their associates’ mental health (May 25), the Global Compact Country Network Brazil, a United Nations initiative, is launching Earth’s Burnout to warn about the dire consequences of climate change and encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices.
According to a 2024 study by ecologist William Ripple, 25 of the planet’s so-called vital signs have reached record levels of deterioration. Now, just imagine if the Earth were a human being. Surely the data, scientific research, and extreme weather events happening across the world would be enough to show, just like a medical report, that the planet is ill and needs to rest. Drawing on eight symptoms of burnout – stress, insomnia, arrhythmia, weakened immunity, hair loss, high blood pressure, reflux and fibromyalgia – the initiative draws parallels between exhaustion in humans and the critical state of the planet, using illustrations of medical exams and culminating in a request for “medical leave.”
Developed alongside leading Brazilian specialists Carlos Nobre, a globally renowned climatologist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Paulo Saldiva, the head of the University of São Paulo Medical School’s Pathology department, this document stands as a symbolic recognition of the fact that the Earth is sick. The illustrations provide a creative comparison between the sickened planet’s “medical exams” and comparable exams of healthy humans, underscoring just how urgent it is to mount a global response to this crisis.
“Just as overwork leads to burnout in humans, the planet is experiencing an equally intense form of environmental burnout, caused by human action,” Carlos said. “Extreme climate change provides clear signs of this ongoing collapse. Restoring balance is an urgent task – for us, and for planet Earth.”
“The Earth is like a living organism, where the countries are the organs and their residents are its cells,” Paulo added. “When you compare burnout symptoms to environmental imbalances, the analogy is both simple and distressing, since the overuse of natural resources is all too similar to the systemic collapse of a person experiencing burnout. A human body’s compromised vital signs can be restored with medical help and plenty of rest, and the planet is no different. By stopping our reckless use of natural resources, we can give the planet the rest it needs.”
The movement is designed to get the attention of the business world and encourage private firms to sign on to the Global Compact Country Network Brazil, in which companies commit to corporate sustainability and to following the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By signing the Earth’s medical leave request, companies can formalize that commitment and begin to support concrete action against global warming.
The world is asking for a rest
Beyond calling attention to these problems, the campaign highlights ongoing initiatives and “treatments” for the Earth in line with the Global Compact: the Net-Zero Standard, the Amazon Impact Movement, +Water, Circular Connection, Mind in Focus, and Towards 2030. They all include projects, proposals, and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases; alignment of climate goals with science; investments in nature-based solutions; incentives for socio-bioeconomy, biome conservation and restoration; and moves to strengthen environmental policies, promote public policy to support a circular economy, and shore up sustainable food systems.
“Having specialists diagnose Earth’s critical condition is a creative way to move people,” Guilherme Xavier, interim executive director of the Global Compact Country Network Brazil argued. “And we here at the Global Compact, which was designed to dialogue with the corporate world, hope that this campaign deepens companies’ engagement with the formulation and implementation of sustainable development strategies so that we can act collectively while there’s still time to do so. Without action by the industries developing and advancing the planet, we’ll have no way to save the patient – which is ultimately humanity itself.”
The B2B project also included invitations, in the form of media kits, sent out to private Brazilian companies in a number of sectors. The kits included eight of Earth’s medical exams and a request for medical leave, which executives were invited to sign symbolically, committing to giving the Earth a break and formally entering the Global Compact Country Network Brazil.
Developed with AlmapBBDO, this initiative is the latest collaboration between the Global Compact and the agency, which in 2023 released the “EART4” campaign, which transformed the planet into a publicly traded company. Its symbolic IPO on the B3 alerted the private sector that the Earth is the only company of its kind on the market and that its results have been terrible – but that there’s a way to turn them around.
The project includes an interactive website; for more information, go to https://burnoutdaterra.com/ . The Global Compact reinforces the need for immediate, collective action to mitigate the climate crisis and to ensure a more sustainable future. Companies interested in signing on can learn more at https://www.pactoglobal.org.br/como-aderir/.
CREDITS
Agency: AlmapBBDO
President and CEO: Filipe Bartholomeu
Campaign: Earth’s Burnout
Client: Global Compact Country Network Brazil
Product: Institutional
CCO: Pernil
Executive Creative Directors: Eduardo Lima, Fernando Duarte, Henrique del Lama, Pedro Corbett and Rodrigo Adam
Head de Design & Craft: Eric Benitez
Creative Director: Eduardo Vares
Creatives: Alexandre Freire, Fernando Saú, Pedro Afonso, Rafael Reis, and Victor Laars
Client Services: Camila Massari, Fabíola Loureiro, and Cairo Lorenzo Ribas
CDMO: Rafaela Alves
Media: Luana Guerra Gallizzi, Daniele Dechiqui, Laura Paganini , Lucas Fanti Del Vage, and Victor Cavalcante
AV Production: Diego Villas Boas, Marcia Granja
Editor: Cadu Silva
Motion Designer: Lucassou
Art Buyers: Tereza Setti and Ana Cecilia da Costa
Graphic Production: Jose Roberto Bezerra, Rose Cleide Soares Ribeiro, and Marcos De Souza
Revision: Eliana Aparecida Pavan
Special Projects: Julia Newman, Larissa Sarkis, Júlia Cunha, and Pedro Benassi
PR: PR ALMAP, Giusti, and Global Compact PR
Approval: Flávia Martins, Ana Urquiza, Brenër Pompêo, Rubens Filho, Flavia Vianna, and Danielly Freire
Exams and Research: Dr. Carlos Nobre, Dr. Paulo Saldiva, and Sidney Marcelino Leite
Audio Production: Cabaret
Musical Production: Cyro Neto
Composer: Guilherme Azem
Mix: Gab Scatolin
Post-Production: Cyro Neto
Liaisons: Ingrid Lopes, Fernanda Crespo, Bruna Rocha, and Bárbara Russiano
Coordinators: Chandra Lima, Mavi Capelasso, Leonardo Vieira, and Débora Mello
Black Madre
Creative Director: André Maciel
Executive Director: Tina Castro
Executive Account Manager: Camila Holzmann
Head of Planning: Le Alves
Planning: Beatriz Perrote and Tommy Martins
Head of Production: Laryssa Andrade
Producer: Karla Milkem
Head of Art: Icaro Yuji
Illustrators: Pedro Gabriel and Leandro Dexter
Animators: Ramona Krüger and Fernando Snake
