Second Sea launches

As world leaders prepared to gather at COP27, we joined forces with Adrian Lahoud, Dean of the School of Architecture at the RCA, and Sudanese diplomat Lumumba Di-Aping to provoke public conversation and meaningful policy action among the nations most responsible for the climate damage that will be caused by rising seas.

Together with Dr Lahoud and Made by ON, we created Second Sea: an interactive platform that projects the price of damage that rising sea levels, caused by emissions-driven climate change, will cause to the world’s coastal cities. Individuals select a coastal city, climate scenario and future date to determine likely sea level rise and its financial cost. The digital ‘bill’ could then be sent to representatives of high-emitting nations at COP27, or broadcast to friends and followers. Visitors from more than 120 countries created more than 6,000 bills for damages.

The powerful stories told by the data – of soon to be inundated cities and long term economic consequences – are Second Sea’s central focus, served by restrained typography, and effortless functionality that speeds visitors towards their realisation of what’s at stake. Conceived by us, and created by Made By ON, a rising tide of ultramarine blue insidiously rises, recedes or submerges the content, evoking a sense of uncertainty and risk.

Accompanied by a social media campaign, we developed an arresting poster campaign which indicates future sea level rises on city streets to reveal the stakes of inaction.

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