Connexion
The Audacious Project, the collaborative funding platform within TED, is thrilled to announce its newest cohort of grantee innovators. This new cohort extends the vital on-the-ground work of Audacious grantees on key global issues, including reducing the flow of plastics to rivers and oceans, improving reproductive care, preventing homelessness and investing in low-income and first-generation college students.
Since 2018, The Audacious Project has invited visionary social entrepreneurs to propose their boldest ideas to solve the world’s greatest challenges, and collaborated with them to transform their ambitions into achievable and audacious, multi-year plans.
Audacious has reached new heights — with more than $1 billion committed by the Audacious community at the end of 2025 to provide the flexible, long-term funding to launch and scale these bold ideas.
Audacious has also launched a reinvestment pilot program, providing a secondary funding round to previous grantees that demonstrated significant results after their initial five years of funding. The Audacious donor community has committed nearly $50 million in total follow-on funding to three selected organizations to scale their work and sustain their impact. This pilot demonstrates a commitment to flexible, long-term funding — and to the value of providing a longer runway for organizations creating transformational change.
The 2025 Audacious cohort includes:
The Audacious Project reinvestment organizations include:
“This year’s cohort represents what happens when humanity’s toughest problems are met with courage. It is also a declaration of what they imagine is still entirely possible. Whether they are charting paths to plastic‑free oceans, unlocking access to life-saving health services for women and girls globally or harnessing AI to prevent disease, the breadth and depth of these interventions is awe-inducing,” said Anna Verghese, executive director of The Audacious Project. “We’re humbled yet again by what the Audacious community makes possible.”
“Daring ideas matter most when they become achievable,” said Chris Anderson, founder of The Audacious Project and TED chairman. “These grantees prove what’s possible when we come together to dream big, take risks and build a more hopeful future.”
Through its unique model, The Audacious Project brings together dedicated philanthropists to give in community with one another, allowing funders to connect with groundbreaking projects that aim to solve humanity’s biggest challenges.
“The world’s problems are huge — they require audacious thinking and people willing to work together to solve them. I feel a real responsibility to give back and to support some of these immense issues through philanthropy. The Audacious Project helps me do that by connecting me with organizations that have big, bold plans and the vision to actually pull them off,” said Reed Hastings, founder and chairman of the board of Netflix and CEO of Powder. “What makes it unique is how it brings together diverse partners with serious, flexible capital to back the most visionary leaders out there. It’s an honor to be part of this community driving real systemic change.”
“Audacious brings together a community of grantees and funders who are optimistic, hopeful and believe that change is possible. As funders, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of philanthropic dollars, and to back grantee-led solutions to the problems that communities are facing. Amazing leaders deserve to be supported — and it’s our job to support them as future leaders of the world,” said Tegan Acton, founder and principal of Wildcard Giving.
Over the past eight years, the Audacious donor community has committed $4.6 billion in support of 70 bold projects spanning health, climate and community-led innovation, each one grounded in real-world work and designed to turn urgency into action. Audacious grantees have subsequently leveraged an additional $3 billion from other funders, catalyzing $7.6 billion in total funding. These figures point to the distinct power of collaborative philanthropy, when bold ideas and possibility are matched with a committed community that acts with purpose.
Audacious grantees have transformed educational systems worldwide, enrolling millions of girls in school, and have helped millions of people lift themselves out of ultra-poverty. They have driven medical breakthroughs — developing the world’s first computer-generated protein medicine, revolutionizing COVID-19 response systems and repurposing medicines to cure rare diseases. From developing the first whale language model to transforming how we track methane emissions, year after year, these projects redefine what is achievable in our world.
What these leaders imagine is possible. And we feel so lucky, together, to see a better future with them.
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What does it actually take to run a sustainable business?
Hear from trail-blazing business leaders on how they’re transforming their industries by committing to a net zero future. In the Green: The Business of Climate Action is a TED series presented by TED Countdown and The Climate Pledge where leaders share hard-won wisdom from companies addressing humanity’s most urgent mission: fighting climate change.
When it launched back in February, In the Green explored decarbonizing buildings, reducing the environmental impact of electronics and what nature can teach us about sustainable business. Back with new experts, the three latest episodes of the series explore industry-transforming solutions that tackle the wastefulness of standard freight truck logistics, the partnerships global businesses need to run on 100-percent renewable energy and a lightweight transportation alternative to cars.
Can we reduce the emissions of millions of freight trucks?
What are the steps to running a global business on 100-percent renewable energy?
What does it take to get more people to drive less?
InTheGreenArt
The Audacious Project is TED’s collaborative funding initiative to put ideas for social change into action. Today, we launched eight new talks from this year’s cohort, featuring some of the world’s boldest changemakers and their ideas to solve humanity’s most pressing challenges. Collectively this group has secured more than $900 million in funding from the Audacious Project, matching their transformative ideas with catalytic resources. Learn more at AudaciousProject.org, and watch the talks at TED.com/AudaciousProject.
A safe pathway to resettlement for migrants and refugees
Becca Heller, International Refugee Assistance Project
Why Indigenous forest guardianship is crucial to climate action
Nonette Royo, Tenure Facility
How ancient Arctic carbon threatens everyone on the planet
Sue Natali, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Mental health care that disrupts cycles of violence
Celina De Sola, Glasswing International
An election redesign to restore trust in US democracy
Tiana Epps-Johnson, Center for Tech and Civic Life
A transparent, easy way for smallholder farmers to save
Anushka Ratnayake, myAgro
A bold plan for transforming access to the US social safety net
Amanda Renteria, Code for America
The most powerful untapped resource in health care
Edith Elliott and Shahed Alam, Noora Health
The billion-dollar campaign to electrify transport
Monica Araya, ClimateWorks: Drive Electric
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Audacious Project executive director Anna Verghese and head of TED Chris Anderson onstage at TED2019 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The 2021-22 cohort features nine audacious responses to some of the world’s biggest challenges. (Photo: Dian Lofton / TED)
Communities around the globe are grappling with division and uncertainty. Lasting and transformative change on the world’s most pressing challenges will require us to work together and find common ground. At The Audacious Project, we aspire to be a lever for courageous collaboration, supporting those who are reimagining and rebuilding our systems to better meet the demands of this moment.
This past year, the Audacious community has come together to catalyze more than $900 million for nine bold projects. Sourced from our global network, and supported by our team over the past 12 months, these projects hope to create clear pathways to a better future.
The 2021-22 Audacious Project grantees are:
These projects reflect continued collaboration between a group of global partners, philanthropic organizations and determined individuals who believe in the power of pooling significant, long-term resources in service of impact. Our hope is that this inspires others to engage in the work too.
This new cohort joins an existing Audacious portfolio of 29 projects, with over $3.1 billion of philanthropic dollars catalyzed since 2015. Four cycles into this program, the Audacious projects together reveal a powerful truth: the problems we face are not intractable, and the status quo is not inevitable.
We look forward to sharing these new projects with you next week at TED2022 during the Audacious session co-hosted by Academy Award nominee and Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Award winner Ava DuVernay, and we very much hope you’ll join us in supporting and amplifying their work far and wide.
With gratitude and determined hope,
Anna Verghese, executive director of The Audacious Project
Chris Anderson, head of TED
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Take action on climate change. Tune in on Saturday, October 30, 2021 at 12pm ET for the TED Countdown Global Livestream: an empowering virtual event laying out a credible and realistic pathway to a net-zero future. Presented in collaboration with YouTube Originals and COP26.
Watch on TED’s YouTube channel on October 30 @ 12pm ET »
Hosted live from the TED World Theater in New York City by two-time TED speaker and Radiolab host Latif Nasser, this free virtual event combines new TED Talks, live performances, short films, expert conversations and more, vividly explaining the climate crisis, focusing on solutions and calling for leaders and citizens everywhere to step up.
Here’s the full lineup:
A Pathway Opens – presented by Mark Ruffalo, featuring:
Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General
Gabriel Kra, Climate tech investor
Clover Hogan, Climate activist and researcher on eco-anxiety
Johan Rockström, Climate impact scholar
John Doerr, Engineer, investor & Ryan Panchadsaram, Systems innovator
Reducing – presented by Forest Whitaker, featuring:
Tzeporah Berman, Environmental campaigner
Ilissa Ocko, Atmospheric scientist
Ermias Kebreab, Animal scientist
Chibeze Ezekiel, Climate inclusion activist
Protecting – presented by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, featuring:
Enric Sala, Marine ecologist
Susan Ruffo, Ocean expert
Shweta Narayan, Climate and health campaigner
Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, Clean air advocate
Ma Jun, Environmentalist, writer, scholar
Transforming – presented by Joaquin Phoenix & Rooney Mara, featuring:
Solomon Goldstein-Rose, Climate author
Solitaire Townsend, Sustainability solution seeker
Jim Hagemann-Snabe, Chairman, Maersk and Siemens
Nili Gilbert, Investment decarbonization expert
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Architect and author
Derek Sarno, Chef
One Planet – presented by Regina Hall, featuring:
Melati Wijsen, Activist, social entrepreneur
Sophia Kianni, Climate knowledge translator
Farwiza Farhan, Forest conservationist
Nemonte Nenquimo, Indigenous leader
Sister True Dedication, Zen Buddhist nun
Other features include:
Countdown is a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal is to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 in the race to a zero-carbon world — a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone. Every person, organization, company, city and nation is invited to collaborate with Countdown and take action on climate. It is a movement open to everyone — and everyone has a vital role to play.
Learn more about #TEDCountdown:
Website: https://countdown.ted.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TEDCountdown
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedcountdown
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED
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Maria Gallucci comes ferrying good news: there’s a way to clean up the shipping industry that’s green, economically lean and can be made with planet-friendly machines. She speaks at TEDMonterey: The Case for Optimism on August 2, 2021. (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
The scale of the climate crisis is so daunting that it can be easy to get dragged down into pessimism. But at Session 4, six speakers — call them unexpected heroes of the future — told a different story of how we might beat this thing. They speak on an exciting range of phenomena and possibilities that could make a huge difference in our effort to draw down gigatons of CO2 and regain a livable environment.
The event: TEDMonterey: Session 4, hosted by TED’s Chris Anderson on Monday, August 2, 2021
Speakers: Ma Jun, Carlos M. Duarte, Maria Gallucci, Susan Graham, Jamie C. Beard
Special guest: Nigel Topping, the UK’s High-Level Climate Action Champion for COP26, chats with Chris Anderson about the prospects of increased climate ambition ahead of the UN climate conference this November and gives an update on Race to Zero, a global campaign to mobilize leadership on this crucial issue.
Seagrass is an unsung hero in the fight against climate change, says Carlos M. Duarte. He talks about his work mapping seagrass locations across the world’s oceans with the help of turtles and tiger sharks at TEDMonterey: The Case for Optimism on August 2, 2021(Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
Carlos M. Duarte, marine scientist
Big idea: Seagrass is an unsung hero in the fight against climate change. But disease, dredging and the deterioration of our oceans’ water quality threaten to wipe out this vital species — unless we take immediate action to protect it.
How? You’ve likely seen seagrass — it grows along the shore of every continent except Antarctica — but did you recognize this humble plant as a champion of carbon sequestration? According to Carlos M. Duarte, seagrass is responsible for drawing down one-third of the carbon that accumulates in the seafloor each year! Seagrass also filters plastic from our oceans and, during hurricanes and tropical storms, its massive roots and rhizomes reinforce the seafloor and act as the first line of defense for our coastlines. The bad news: a disease in the Atlantic killed off vast colonies of seagrass in the 1930s and, since then, water pollution, dredging, trawling and anchor damages have worsened this plant’s plight. But Duarte and the team at Beneath the Waves are working to save our seagrass. They are mapping seagrass locations across the world’s oceans (using turtles and tiger sharks!), promoting policies to improve water quality, restoring damaged seagrass meadows and planting new ones. With enough action, Duarte believes we can protect plant heroes like seagrass and rebuild marine life by 2050.
Maria Gallucci, journalist
Big idea: The maritime shipping industry must become climate-friendly — but have no fear, green ammonia is here.
How? Every day, tens of thousands of cargo ships criss-cross the ocean carrying the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the cars we drive. At the same time, they spew fumes and black smoke from heavily polluting fossil fuels into the atmosphere. But Maria Galluci comes ferrying good news: there’s a way to clean up the industry, beyond reverting to pre-industrial sailing ships, that’s green, economically lean and can be made with planet-friendly machines. Green ammonia could be a game-changing way to turn the tides for the shipping industry, as it’s not carbon-based; rather, it’s made up of nitrogen and hydrogen (the molecules that make up air and water). Galluci lays out how this alternative fuel could become an industry-standard reality — from environment-friendly manufacturing processes combined with plunging renewable energy costs to combustion engines and fuel cells. So, what will it take to get an ammonia-powered shipping industry mainstream? She says a rough parallel can be found in the rise of electric cars. Hopefully, one day soon, the incoming freighters will not bring the smell of diesel and carbon emissions, but the scent of a fresh sea breeze.
Susan Graham, environmentalist, entrepreneur
Big idea: We can use drone technology and ecology-trained AI to restore degraded land and revive complex, biodiverse ecosystems.
How? Land restoration is more than planting trees, says Susan Graham. If we want to revive the more than two billion hectares of degraded land on the planet, we need to embrace complex solutions. According to Graham, drones and AI can help us restore areas damaged by industrial activities, natural disasters and invasive species by planting the right mix of native vegetation. In Australia, for instance, Graham and her team are helping restore the forest ina territory depleted and degraded by coal mining. Plus, this technology can work at enormous scales — meaning we can use it to revive the beauty and complexity of native ecosystems both in a single forest and across the planet.
Is it possible to eat a hamburger without killing a cow? Isha Datar explores the exhilarating future of cellular agriculture at TEDMonterey: The Case for Optimism on August 2, 2021 (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
Isha Datar, cellular agriculture ecosystem builder
Big idea: Cellular agriculture makes it possible to eat meat without the negative consequences of industrial farming and processing.
How? What if you could eat chicken nuggets without ever killing a chicken? Or a hamburger without killing a cow? It’s possible through cellular agriculture, says Isha Datar, and this new means of meat production will transform our food systems. Here’s how it works: scientists take a biopsy from a living animal (like a chicken), extract the cells and then put them in a liquid medium that provides everything these cells need to grow. Instead of cramped cages stuffed with genetically modified hens, large bioreactors will produce boneless, skinless white meat without byproducts like feathers, beaks and bones. But this process isn’t just better for the birds; it’s better for all of us. Early estimates suggest cultured meat would require 99 percent less land, produce 78 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and use 82 percent less water than industrial meat farming and production. And meat is only the beginning! We could use this technology to grow vanilla without clear-cutting the rainforest or produce silk without silkworms. As Datar says, this isn’t a new product — this is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a second chance at agriculture.
Climate Action Tracker, a tracking initiative holding governments accountable for their Paris Agreement commitments
Big idea: The actions governments take in 2021 to reduce emissions will determine if the world is on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, so the time to act is now. Is there a way to hold them accountable for the goals set at the 2015 Paris Agreements?
An answer: In 2015, countries participating in the Paris Agreements agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and bring carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. Climate Action Tracker is a platform designed not only to keep track of our progress towards reaching the Paris benchmarks, but also to pinpoint exactly who isn’t shouldering their fair share of the burden. The platform gives us a status update on what’s working, and what isn’t.
Ma Jun, environmentalist, scholar
Big idea: By making pollution information public in China, citizens can hold global brands accountable for pollution control.
How? Transparency is the key to speeding environmental change at scale in China, says Ma Jun. He’s the creator of Blue Map, an app that tracks pollution violations and color codes factories based on their records of environmental contamination: green and blue are good; red and yellow are bad. This data makes it possible, at a glance, for citizens to monitor corporate violations and micro-report these offenses to government agencies. To help China achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, Ma and his team have also developed the Blue Map for Carbon Zero, which color codes cities and provinces based on carbon emissions. And he plans to expand the Blue Map project to include plastic, waste and even biodiversity to motivate more companies and more people to reduce their environmental impact and leave a healthier world for all of us.
Jamie C. Beard explains how recent innovations in drill technology, such as the ability to drill in curves, have made geothermal energy enticingly feasible. She speaks at TEDMonterey: The Case for Optimism on August 2, 2021 (Photo: Bret Hartman / TED)
Jamie C. Beard, technologist, climate activist
Big idea: Geothermal energy could provide us with a clean way to power the globe.
How? What if oil and gas companies could equip us with the infrastructure needed to clean our power grids? Jamie C. Beard advocates for geothermal energy, which requires drilling deep into the earth to access the planet’s natural heat, and explains how recent innovations in drill technology, such as the ability to drill in curves, have made this alternative energy feasible. But to bring geothermal energy to scale, we need to drill all over the world — and drill a lot. Fortunately, the oil and gas industry already has the technology, infrastructure and training to bring geothermal energy online fast. In fact, she says, many geothermal startups are founded by oil and gas veterans. The industry known for its dirty pollution could easily become a pioneer in curbing climate change. “We flip the switch, and we have green drilling,” she says. “This is simply a pivot — from hydrocarbons to heat.”
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Countdown is a global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. Watch the talks, interviews and performances from the Countdown Global Launch at ted.com/countdown.
Actor, author and director Don Cheadle cohosts session 1 of the Countdown Global Launch on October 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Today, 10.10.2020, is the climate’s day of destiny: the Countdown Global Launch, a call to action on climate change and the first-ever free TED conference.
Launching Countdown means asking ourselves the big questions: What’s the state of the climate today? How are we going to achieve a net-zero future? How do we center climate justice in our work? We heard from experts, policymakers and activists in this opening session, cohosted by actor and director Don Cheadle and actor and climate change advocate Mark Ruffalo, who reflected on their own love for the environment, as people who grew up in the midwestern United States.
The opening remarks were followed by an introduction from head of TED Chris Anderson and head of Future Stewards Lindsay Levin, who teamed up to create Countdown a year ago. They laid out what we’re hoping to achieve at the Countdown Global Launch: taking a deep look at what it will take to tackle climate change, specifically by harnessing creativity and innovation to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and get to net-zero by 2050.
Actor, director and climate change advocate Mark Ruffalo cohosts session 1 of the Countdown Global Launch on October 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
The talks in brief:
Johan Rockström, climate impact scholar
Big idea: Earth’s climate has reached a global crisis point. We have 10 years to avoid irreparably destabilizing the planet.
How? In his TED Talk from 2010, Johan Rockström outlined nine planetary boundaries that keep earth’s ecosystems in a state of stability, allowing humanity to prosper. At that time, evidence showed that just one planetary boundary was at risk of being breached: Arctic sea ice. A decade later, Rockström warns us that nine out of the 15 big biophysical systems that regulate climate — from the permafrost of Siberia to the great forests of the North to the Amazon rainforest — are approaching tipping points, which would create a “hot-house Earth” largely uninhabitable for humanity. “These systems are all linked like dominoes: you cross one tipping point, you lurch closer to others,” Rockström says. So what are we to do? Over the next 10 years, we need to get serious about stabilizing the planet. Rockström proposes a model of “planetary stewardship” rooted in science-based targets for all global commons (i.e., the ecosystems that support the planet’s stability) and an economy based on well-being, which would decarbonize big systems like energy, industry, transport and buildings. “This is our mission,” he says. “To protect our children’s future.”
“Cities are starting to flip the script on climate change, proving to be part of the solution and not just the problem,” says climate and data scientist Angel Hsu. She speaks at the Countdown Global Launch on October 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Angel Hsu, climate and data scientist
Big idea: Tackling climate change must start in cities, and many around the world are already implementing ambitious plans.
How? Cities are at the highest risk of the damaging effects of climate change: all-time temperature highs, sweltering humidity, rising sea levels, suffocating air pollution. The irony is that cities are also the biggest offenders in causing this shift in climate, says Angel Hsu. Cities pump out 70 percent of the world’s total carbon emissions and gobble up between 60 to 80 percent of global energy resources. The good news, Hsu says, is that cities are quickly becoming leaders in the fight against climate change by forging new, low-emission pathways. Already, 10,000 cities have pledged to undertake sweeping climate initiatives. Now Hsu asks: What impact could we make if 20,000 cities made these same efforts? At the same time, she points out that cities must fairly and equitably implement these initiatives across all populations, especially for those most at risk. For example, expanded bike paths in Latin America will connect more people to jobs, schools and parks, while in Africa, green power grids have the ability to electrify nearly 73 million power-deficient households. Cities may be causing climate change, but they also have the power to mitigate it while raising the quality of life for their populations.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Big idea: The race to a zero emission world is under way. If we don’t act now, this coming century may be one of humanity’s last.
How? As the world continues to struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, António Guterres urges us to use this moment to rebuild with ambitious climate action in mind. Momentum is increasing, he says, as companies, cities and countries commit to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. He outlines six actions that governments can take to keep ramping up their climate ambitions: invest in green jobs, drop polluting industries, end fossil fuel subsidies, put a price on carbon, take climate risks into account in all financial and policy considerations and work together in solidarity — leaving no one behind. During next year’s Countdown Summit (October 12-15, 2021, Edinburgh, Scotland), Guterres expects to share an actionable blueprint for a net-zero future and celebrate the progress that’s already been made. “We can only win the race to zero together,” he says. “So I urge you all to get on board. The countdown has begun.”
Climate Action Tracker, an interactive online map that monitors the climate commitments of countries worldwide
Big idea: With the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, 197 countries agreed to set emission targets that would limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by capping greenhouse emissions at “net zero” — or absorbing as much carbon as they emit — by 2050. So far, only two countries (Gambia and Morocco) are hitting their targets, while the biggest emitters are falling flat, or ignoring their goals entirely. How can we hold these countries accountable?
How? Enter the Climate Action Tracker, an interactive tool that allows citizens to track the climate commitments and actions of the 36 countries that emit 86 percent of global greenhouse gases. Emissions are still rising, according to the Tracker, and there’s more bad news: the US has withdrawn from the Paris Agreements, and while China’s goals alone could drop global warming by .3 degrees, their actions are troubling, as they continue to invest in new coal plants while touting green energy. The good news: the Tracker reveals that many cities and businesses within some of the biggest economies are committed to green electricity and emission-free transportation and construction.
“The exploitation of our planet’s natural resources has always been tied to the exploitation of people of color,” says member of the UK Parliament David Lammy. He speaks at the Countdown Global Launch on October 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
David Lammy, Member of Parliament, UK
Big idea: There cannot be true climate justice without addressing racial, social and intergenerational issues. The global community must invite Black voices to lead in repairing our systems, society and planet.
Why? Black people and people of color are most at risk of climate change due to cheap housing, polluted neighborhoods and other systemic inequities. So where are all the Black climate activists? According to David Lammy, the first Black MP to hold the Justice post in British Parliament, racial justice and climate justice have been viewed as distinct problems, with equality advocates seeing environmentalism as elitist while white climate activists rarely enlist the support of Black voices. Lammy sees the climate emergency as the direct result of generations of violent abuse, disregard and theft of minority communities. “The climate crisis is colonialism’s natural conclusion,” he says. To repair the Earth, we must solve the racial, social and economic injustices that plague communities of color. Lammy calls for environmental groups, international organizations, the press and everyone in between to support Black leaders on climate, including awarding scholarships for people of color, enacting stronger international laws to support vulnerable communities and even moving company headquarters to the urban areas most affected by the climate emergency.
“From my father, I learned stubborn optimism, the mindset that is necessary to transform the reality we’re given into the reality we want,” says climate advocate Christiana Figueres. She speaks at the Countdown Global Launch on October 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Christiana Figueres, stubborn optimist
Big idea: To face a problem as big as climate change, the world needs to adopt a new mindset: stubborn optimism.
How? Christiana Figueres, the climate leader who helped broker the historic Paris Agreement in 2015, learned stubborn optimism from her father, José Figueres Ferrer. He refused to give up on his country, Costa Rica, when it was thrown into political crisis in 1948. Instead, he took action, set out to restore democracy and bring peace to his homeland and was elected as the country’s president three times. Today, in the face of an extreme climate crisis that threatens the globe, Figueres champions her father’s special brand of optimism. “Our optimism cannot be a sunny day attitude,” she says. “It has to be gritty, determined, relentless. It is a choice we have to make every single day. Every barrier must be an indication to try a different way. ” With a remarkable fighting spirit and an unwillingness to accept defeat, she urges everyone to envision the future they want for humanity — and work to make it reality.
Prince Royce performs four fan favorites at the Countdown Global Launch on October 10, 2020. (Photo courtesy of TED)
Bronx-raised Latin music superstar Prince Royce also adds his voice to the call for action on climate. “Climate change is the defining issue of our time,” he says. “History is defined by moments when people rise up and cause change. The decisions we make as individuals add to this collective forward motion.” Backed by his band (donning face masks), he performs fan favorites “Luna Negra,” “Carita de Inocente,” “Corazón Sin Cara” and “Darte un Beso.”
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One of anthropologist Margaret Mead’s most famous quotes instructs us: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” We might amend Mead’s observation to honor a group of thoughtful, committed teenagers across the world who are standing up for their lives (and their future lives) in extraordinarily powerful and moving ways.
Valentine’s Day marked the one-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida. In the aftermath of that tragic shooting that claimed 17 lives, surviving students rejected their representatives’ “thoughts and prayers” and organized a nationwide school walkout on March 14, 2018. Ten days later, the March for Our Lives drew over a million people from around the country to Washington to rally for safe schools and gun control. And the Parkland students have continued throughout the year to travel this country and the world, advocating for stricter gun regulations.
In Sweden, a teenage girl named Greta Thunberg observed the actions of the Parkland students and took an action of her own: deciding to skip school every Friday in order to lobby the Swedish government into action on climate change.
Since Greta began her solo protest, it’s estimated that more than 70,000 students around Europe and the world have joined her protest each week, in over 270 towns and cities. Pictures of Greta and other young activists have made their way around on social media (Greta has nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram), inspiring other teens to join her in protest.
Strikes have been organized all over Europe, the United States, India and Australia over the past five months. The movement is notable in that it is being led by teenage girls. Katrien Van der Heyden of Brussels, whose 17-year-old daughter, Anuna de Wever, organizes marches there, observed to BuzzFeed: “’It’s the very first time in Belgium that a [mass movement was] started by two women and not about feminist rights.’ When the protests drew tens of thousands, Van der Heyden said, she was stunned to see as many boys as girls in the crowds, “and yet no one ever challenged the leadership of the female organizers.”
Seventeen-year-old Jamie Margolin, the founder and executive director of Zero Hour, a group organizing the US protests for the International Day of Action planned for March 15, told BuzzFeed that climate activism has given young women a chance to be heard.
“’There aren’t very many spaces that I can be in charge of, and what I’m going to say is going to be heard,’ Margolin said. Her group is led largely by young women of color, which she said should come as no surprise, because people who are already vulnerable are going to be disproportionately hit by climate change.”
Recently, TED posted Greta’s TEDxStockholm talk which she gave in November. Her talk has been up three weeks and has already been viewed over 1.2 million times. In it, she explained why she decided to skip school and protest, saying:
“I school striked for the climate. Some people say that I should be in school instead. Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist so that I can ‘solve the climate crisis.’ But the climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change.”
At the end of her talk, Greta says she’s not going to end on a positive, hopeful note, like most TED talks.
“Yes, we do need hope, of course we do. But the one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.”
— Greta Thunberg
As I observe Greta and Jamie and all the other girls taking up leadership and the young boys who are marching and protesting with them, no longer waiting for some adult with a plan or for corporations or governments to take actions, but creating their own actions, I feel more hope than I have felt in a long time that we — all of us at every age — will also take up actions to address the climate crisis before it’s too late.
My daughter in law, Laura Turner Seydel, signs off every email with the Native American proverb: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. The world’s children are reminding us that we have a big debt to repay and an earth to repair and restore. Time’s up on our loan of the earth.
Inspired,
— Pat
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