In order to boost support for an effective universal climate change agreement in Paris in December, activist ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s dished up a new brand of ice cream at the UN climate negotiations in Bonn, dubbed "Save our Swirled".

Through the company's global advocacy initiative with the same name, Ben & Jerry’s is mobilizing citizens around the world to demand climate action, with a message that can't be ignored: “If it's melted, it's ruined.” Because ice caps, like ice cream, are best kept frozen.

Ben & Jerry’s is calling on international leaders to work towards 100% clean energy by 2050. The company is leading by example, planning to get to 100% clean energy at all of its sites in the United States by 2020.  

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, who happily sampled the ice cream, said:

We have invited Ben & Jerry's to not only put yet another flavour into the negotiations but as a very good example of a company that is not traditionally part of the climate change discussions but who has out of their own sense of responsibility said, 'We can use our product as a vehicle for raising the awareness of the millions of people who enjoy ice cream around the world'.

Ben & Jerry’s European Director Jochanan Senf spoke about the importance of the company’s global climate change movement before personally handing out free scoops of the Fairtrade ice cream flavor to delegates attending the Bonn conference. Already available in the United States, it was the first time the Save our Swirled flavor was served in Europe.

The company set up an ‘activist farmyard’ inside the conference venue, complete with hay bales, green grass and a giant tub of their latest awareness-raising flavour.

The collaboration with Ben & Jerry's is part of the United Nations Climate Change secretariat's efforts to shine a light on companies and other non-state actors taking positive action on climate change. Action by governments, cities, businesses and other key players is crucial to both success in Paris and in the longer term if the world is to transition to a low-carbon, resilient future.

Image at the top of the article: UNFCCC head Christiana Figueres, Ben & Jerry’s European Director Jochanan Senf and UNFCCC spokesperson Nick Nuttall