A new partnership between TED and Future Stewards, with guidance from Christiana Figueres — the architect behind the Paris climate agreement — and dozens of other partners, is seeking to overcome the impasse blocking progress on climate change.
Countdown is bringing together some of the brightest minds in climate science, engineering, policymaking, and beyond to think of ways to bring global greenhouse gas emissions to zero and achieve truly sustainable economies.
Over the course of 2020, Countdown partners, including Global Citizen, will mobilize people around the world to support the cause by advocating for climate action in their communities, workplaces, and friend groups. The effort will culminate in a globally broadcasted TED Talk event dubbed Countdown Summit in Bergen, Norway, on Oct. 10, 2020, accompanied by thousands of local TED events worldwide.
“To turn the tide on climate will require an unprecedented response at all levels of society, including courageous political leadership, transformative business vision, philanthropic audacity and wide-scale citizen engagement,” said Chris Anderson, head of TED, in a press release. “We face a climate crisis that threatens us all, and while TED has never before taken on a specific issue, we concluded that it’s no longer enough just to spread ideas.”
The Countdown coalition will focus on five key questions.
- How rapidly can we move to 100% clean energy?
- How can we re-engineer the stuff that surrounds us?
- How do we transform the ways we move?
- How can we spark a worldwide shift to healthier food systems?
- How extensively can we re-green the earth?
Our earth is heating at an alarming rate. Instead of despairing, let’s act. We’re bringing the world’s politicians, CEOs, activists, influencers and more together to find a way to cut greenhouse emissions to zero, and we need your help. #JoinTheCountdownhttps://t.co/CA6HJQI5Ampic.twitter.com/SiPogUg04J
— TEDCountdown (@TEDCountdown) December 4, 2019
These questions have already been extensively researched and investigated at scientific institutions, government agencies, and within the private sector. What Countdown aims to do, however, is broadcast solutions and generate an unstoppable momentum toward achieving them.
“Addressing climate change and taking immediate collective action is not only imperative, it is beneficial to everyone,” said Figueres, who is also the founding partner of Future Stewards and Global Optimism, and co-author of the forthcoming book The Future We Choose, in the press release. “Never has a topic been more timely, more urgent, and more important for all of us.”
You can find out more about Countdown and how you can get involved here.