Rainn Wilson name change: has The Office star changed his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson?

Hollywood star Rainn Wilson has changed his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson. The actor made the announcement via Twitter on Wednesday (9 November) in the same week as COP27 is held in Egypt.

Wilson, best known for his role as Dwight Schrute in the US version of The Office, said: “I’m hoping this name change brings attention to this growing… er, melting issue. We need world leaders at COP27 to take notice and take action.”

Here’s all you need to know about Rainn Wilson’s name change and what he said about climate change.

Why did Rainn Wilson change his name? 

Wilson changed his name via Arctic Risk Name Generator, a website that encourages people to become an ‘Arctic name changer’. He changed his name to protest climate change.

Of his name change, he said: "With the help of my scientist friends at Arctic Basecamp, I’ve changed my name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson. This is not a joke, I’m as serious as the melting Arctic, which amplifies global risks including extreme weather events around the globe.

“I’m hoping this name change brings attention to this growing… er, melting issue. We need world leaders at COP27 to take notice and take action. The Arctic is melting at millions of litres per second, yet this problem can’t seem to make a name for itself, so it’s up to us to make a name for it.

“Go to ArcticRiskName.org and create a name that will bring attention to this problem. Then – and this is the important part – change your social media profile or display name to match your new ArcticRisk name.

"And if enough of us do this, then maybe COP27 will be where our world leaders sit up and notice Arctic risks and introduce a solution.”

However, it is unclear if Wilson decides to change his name on government documents.

Wilson said he is petitioning regular people and celebrities alike to change their names to help promote climate change awareness. He said Cardi B could change her name to "Cardi the arctic B melting" and Jack Black to "Jack Black carbon is killing us." He also offered up "Amy Poehler bears are endangered."

What are the key issues being addressed at COP27? 

As COP27 is underway, warnings from UN experts said efforts to limit temperature rises to 1.5C and avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change was “barely within reach”. One of the main objectives will be maintaining the pledge to limit global warming to below 2C and keeping the 1.5C target.

Other key areas include addressing extreme weather events such as flooding or forest fires, to enhance “global agenda for action on adaptation”, climate finance and support and collaboration to turn what was discussed at Glasgow COP26 into action.

What other forms of climate change protests have there been? 

Most notably, Just Stop Oil, an environmental activist group founded after Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, has done a series of stunts to gain attention towards climate change.

In the past few months, they have thrown soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, thrown cake at King Charles III’s waxwork and caused the closure of the M25 with their demonstrations.

Their aim is to get the government to halt new licences for the exploration of oil and other fossil fuels in the UK, and calls to have renewable energy investment and for better building insulation to avoid energy waste.