The documentary movie 2 Degrees took six years of Ange Palmer's life to make with co- producer, Australian resident, Jeff Canin, as they travelled and filmed in 15 countries, covering the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 alongside community and individuals' responses to this threat to the planet.
The film stresses the changes to the oceans with acidification and the need to move away from fossil fuels, coal and gas, to renewables.
"Our emphasis is on climate justice with the wealthy world having an historical debt to pay," she says. "We captured the stories of how people who contribute the least to climate change, are being affected the most."
The struggle of the community of Port Augusta in South Australia to change from coal to solar thermal, driven by passionate local activist, Joy Baluch, was very telling. Her energy and passion around moving their community, using people power, towards renewables, and her death in 2013 while fighting for this change, inspired Palmer.
"While making the movie I was totally immersed in climate change and with the whole process of the logistical and financial challenges, " she says. "In the Congo I was extremely distressed by the level of poverty and I can get dragged in to the doom and gloom of climate change."
"I found I need positivity and joy in the message and I need to acknowledge that we all have a part to play," Palmer says. "People are realising that we can all do the best we can in our personal and work lives without trying to change others , but it will rub off on other people when they see our joy in what we are doing."
Palmer is touring with the documentary nationally at present, with a launch in Sydney in two weeks before it goes out to global audiences.
"Go with your passions and act on them," she says." Remember there is not one solution to climate change and we are all part of the solution."
