TED Countdown

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Nemonte Nenquimo

The forest is our teacher. It's time to respect it.

For thousands of years, the Amazon rainforest has provided food, water and spiritual connection for its Indigenous inhabitants and the world. But the endless extraction of its natural resources companies and others is destroying the lives of those who live there, says Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo, and threatening the overall stability of Earth's biosphere. In this powerful talk, she reminds us of the destruction that continues to happen to the world's largest tropical rainforest -- and demands respect for Mother Nature. "The forest is our teacher," she says. (Filmed in Ecuador by director Tom Laffay and associate producer Emily Wright, in collaboration with Amazon Frontlines. In Spanish with subtitles.)

Jim Hagemann Snabe

Dreams and details for a decarbonized future

As chairman of the world's largest maritime shipping company, Jim Hagemann Snabe thinks a lot about how goods get where they need to go and the impact their journey has on the planet. Leading the effort to decarbonize shipping by 2050, he shares a plan to convert green electricity into green liquid fuel to power vessels in a process called "power-to-X" -- and urges global leaders to join the voyage towards an innovative, sustainable and fast-approaching future.

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A man speaking
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A lady Speaking
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More from the TED Countdown library

Discover over 120 Talks about climate change impacts and solutions.

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  • TEDx Countdown Events

    TEDx Countdown is a grassroots initiative that supports locally-curated climate events. Host communities have the opportunity to share Countdown content and showcase their own innovative climate solutions with the world through the TED stage.

  • Countdown Summit

    The 2021 Countdown Summit brought together 700+ leaders in Edinburgh, Scotland, to share a blueprint for a net-zero future ahead of COP26. The next Countdown Summit will take place in July 2023 – more info coming soon.

  • Dilemma Series

    We live in a polarized world – can we make progress despite our differences? In this thought-provoking event series, we bring together credible people who disagree on a critical climate issue to explore the roots of the dilemma, understand diverse perspectives and coalesce around intelligent solutions.

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Jute is one of the best alternatives to plastic products. Due to heavy rains over the Bay of Bengal, many rural areas of West Bengal received sufficient water resources to support jute farming, which has grown drastically.

Jute is one of the best alternatives to plastic products. Due to heavy rains over the Bay of Bengal, many rural areas of West Bengal received sufficient water resources to support jute farming, which has grown drastically.

Dipayan Bose
Climate Visuals Countdown
Monitoring photobioreactors in the micro-algae production facility in Hellisheidi.

Monitoring photobioreactors in the micro-algae production facility in Hellisheidi.

Simone Tramonte
Climate Visuals Countdown
A young girl walks along a ruined, flooded road in Isle de Jean, Louisiana.

A young girl walks along a ruined, flooded road in Isle de Jean, Louisiana.

Stacy Kranitz
Climate Visuals Countdown
In the Fulani village of Hore Mondji, located in southern Mauritania on the banks of the Senegal River, a women's cooperative uses solar energy to operate the borehole that supplies water to the market garden

In the Fulani village of Hore Mondji, located in southern Mauritania on the banks of the Senegal River, a women's cooperative uses solar energy to operate the borehole that supplies water to the market garden

Raphael Pouget
Climate Visuals Countdown

TED COUNTDOWN + CLIMATE VISUALS

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Climate Visuals and TED Countdown released a library of 100 open source photographs, making impactful and effective climate imagery freely accessible to organizations around the world. The images were selected from +5,500 unique submissions spanning +150 countries.

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