PANTONE Debuts Vivacious Color Inspired By ‘World’s Oldest Pigment’

The PANTONE Color Institute is painting a picture of the rapid loss of biodiversity by releasing a new tone inspired by the world’s oldest pigment.

In partnership with tea company TEALEAVES, the shade, named the ‘PANTONE Color of Biodiversity’, is based on a healthy pink naturally formed out of marine sedimentary rocks dating back 1.1 billion years.

The rocks were discovered in the Taoudeni Basin in Mauritania, West Africa. The hue is a result of micro-fossils of chlorophyll, discovered by Dr Nur Gueneli, that came from ancient species that once lived in our oceans.

“We thought turning to the Sahara, a location considered as one of the most ancient places on earth, as our inspiration could help highlight what was found on the earth before it was inhabited," says Laurie Pressman, Vice President of PANTONE Color Institute.

The vibrant shade of pink underpins our ecosystem and the life that thrives within it. However, at the rate mankind is accelerating change, we are set to lose a vast amount of our natural world.

A staggering three-quarters of our world has been altered by humans, putting about a million different species at risk of extinction, reports the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

The PANTONE Color of Biodiversity was produced in support of the United Nations Biodiversity and World Biodiversity Forums, as well as the 30x30 project that pledges to protect 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.

If we continue to lose biodiversity at this rate, 80% of the progress made by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals will be lost.

PANTONE’s newest tone joins its other previous iterations of hues that were created in support of a cause, such as the Lacoste ‘Forevergreen’ swatch in support of preserving the Everglades, and the ‘Glowing, Glowing, Gone’ created with The Ocean Agency to highlight the loss of coral reefs.

[via PANTONE]