On Kokota, a small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania, the villagers live pretty much the way they did 100 years ago. But the island faced an existential crisis from climate change, overfishing, deforestation and water scarcity, which threatened the lives and livelihoods of inhabitants. In the hills of Paramin, farmers faced an existential threat of their own; indiscriminate cutting of the hillside for roads and farmland that led to severe landslides that also threatened homes and livelihoods.

These two stories are the focus of two short documentary films, Kokota – Islet of Hope and ‘Metiver in Paramin’. But while the devastating impact of human activity on the environment was a common thread of both, it was not the films’ main focus. Instead, both effectively highlighted the way in which community effort and simple actions could be used to overcome years of neglect and destruction.

It was for this reason that a virtual Watch Party was organized by the European Union in cooperation with IAMovement, The Cropper Foundation and the United Nations. As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, it is important to focus on sustainable recovery in the global push towards mitigating the climate crisis and global warming …