| Recorded at | October 10, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Event | Countdown |
| Duration (min:sec) | 06:42 |
| Video Type | TED Stage Talk |
| Words per minute | 160.68 slow |
| Readability (FK) | 44.64 difficult |
| Speaker | Al Gore, Gloria Kasang Bulus, Nana Firman, Ximena Loría and Tim Guinee |
Official TED page for this talk
Synopsis
With the Climate Reality Project, Al Gore is helping mold future leaders to build the movement for climate survival and social justice from the ground up. He introduces us to four of the Project's graduates, each of whom confronts climate change on their own terms: Ximena Loría, founder of Misión 2 Grados, an NGO influencing public policy in Central America; Nana Firman, "daughter of the rainforest" and advocate for climate justice among Indigenous peoples; Gloria Kasang Bulus, a Nigerian activist for women and education; and Tim Guinee, a first responder and climate change fighter in upstate New York. Together, they're gathering local actors into a global, grassroots movement that aims to turn the climate fight around.
| 1 | 00:00 | Al Gore: Hello everyone, I'm Al Gore, | ||
| 2 | 00:01 | founder and chairman of the Climate Reality Project. | ||
| 3 | 00:05 | This extraordinary moment of great challenge and great loss | ||
| 4 | 00:09 | is obviously also a moment of great awakening | ||
| 5 | 00:12 | and a great opportunity. | ||
| 6 | 00:15 | The global pandemic, | ||
| 7 | 00:16 | structural and institutional racism, with its horrific violence, | ||
| 8 | 00:20 | the worsening impacts of the climate crisis -- | ||
| 9 | 00:23 | all of these have accelerated the emergence | ||
| 10 | 00:25 | of a new and widespread collective understanding | ||
| 11 | 00:29 | of our connection to the natural world, | ||
| 12 | 00:32 | the consequences of ignoring science | ||
| 13 | 00:34 | and our sacred obligation to build a just society for all. | ||
| 14 | 00:40 | The Climate Reality Project trains thousands of climate leaders | ||
| 15 | 00:43 | around the world, in all 195 nations, | ||
| 16 | 00:47 | to advocate for a future humanity deserves. | ||
| 17 | 00:50 | You're about to hear from four very different people | ||
| 18 | 00:53 | who've gone through this week-long training | ||
| 19 | 00:55 | and hear how they've been inspired to act. | ||
| 20 | 00:59 | I want to let them speak for themselves, beginning with Ximena Loría. | ||
| 21 | 01:04 | Ximena is working in Central America | ||
| 22 | 01:07 | to influence public policy and develop young leaders. | ||
| 23 | 01:11 | She has given presentations on climate to thousands of people | ||
| 24 | 01:14 | and has now created her own NGO. | ||
| 25 | 01:18 | Ximena Loría: My name is Ximena Loría. | ||
| 26 | 01:20 | I'm from Costa Rica, | ||
| 27 | 01:21 | and I attended the 2016 training in Houston, Texas. | ||
| 28 | 01:25 | After the training, my life changed completely. | ||
| 29 | 01:28 | I founded an NGO called Misión 2 Grados. | ||
| 30 | 01:31 | My job has been focused on four main important topics: | ||
| 31 | 01:36 | people's sensitization on climate change, | ||
| 32 | 01:38 | supporting the B Corp movement, | ||
| 33 | 01:40 | incidence in public policy | ||
| 34 | 01:42 | and development of young leaders in environmental matters. | ||
| 35 | 01:45 | I'm proud of having more than 150 presentations | ||
| 36 | 01:48 | on the climate crisis and solutions, | ||
| 37 | 01:51 | reaching personally more than 7,500 people. | ||
| 38 | 01:56 | And I am also proud of being part of the Costa Rica delegation to COP25 | ||
| 39 | 02:00 | in Spain last December. | ||
| 40 | 02:05 | AG: Nana Firman, born in Indonesia, | ||
| 41 | 02:08 | is a climate advocate extraordinaire | ||
| 42 | 02:11 | and calls herself a daughter of the rain forest. | ||
| 43 | 02:14 | Nana is the Muslim Coordinator for GreenFaith | ||
| 44 | 02:17 | and cofounder of the Global Muslim Climate Network. | ||
| 45 | 02:21 | Nana Firman: My name is Nana Firman, and I am a Climate Reality Leader. | ||
| 46 | 02:25 | In my life journey, | ||
| 47 | 02:27 | I realized that our behavior and consumption habits | ||
| 48 | 02:30 | have contributed in environmental degradation | ||
| 49 | 02:33 | and have resulted in global warming. | ||
| 50 | 02:36 | However, I believe that people grow spiritually | ||
| 51 | 02:40 | through a strong relationship with the earth. | ||
| 52 | 02:44 | Being born in the rain forest region of Sumatra, | ||
| 53 | 02:47 | I believe in the power of our forests | ||
| 54 | 02:50 | as the natural solution to our climate crisis | ||
| 55 | 02:54 | by giving indigenous peoples and traditional communities | ||
| 56 | 02:58 | more rights to protect and manage the forests where they live. | ||
| 57 | 03:03 | Now, more than ever, | ||
| 58 | 03:05 | it is time for us to put climate justice | ||
| 59 | 03:09 | at the forefront and center of our struggles. | ||
| 60 | 03:15 | AG: In the Kaduna region of Northern Nigeria, | ||
| 61 | 03:18 | they call Gloria Kasang Bulus the queen of the climate crisis. | ||
| 62 | 03:23 | Gloria has also founded a Kaduna-based NGO | ||
| 63 | 03:27 | that is focused on education, empowerment and climate. | ||
| 64 | 03:32 | Gloria Kasang Bulus: My name is Gloria Kasang Bulus. | ||
| 65 | 03:34 | I came across the Climate Reality training and I applied for it in 2017, | ||
| 66 | 03:38 | and that helped me to be able to build my capacity afterwards. | ||
| 67 | 03:44 | And then it [sprung] up my passion in climate action. | ||
| 68 | 03:48 | I'm really very proud of some of my achievements. | ||
| 69 | 03:51 | And one of my achievements is reaching out to children. | ||
| 70 | 03:55 | Another achievement I'm proud of is bringing the media together | ||
| 71 | 03:58 | to talk about climate change, | ||
| 72 | 04:01 | to have quarterly discussions of climate change. | ||
| 73 | 04:03 | Some works that I have done around climate change, | ||
| 74 | 04:06 | they really, really make me proud of being a Climate Reality Leader | ||
| 75 | 04:11 | and a climate activist. | ||
| 76 | 04:14 | AG: Tim Guinee is a firefighter in New York | ||
| 77 | 04:17 | and is also the chairperson of the Climate Reality Project's | ||
| 78 | 04:21 | Hudson Valley, Catskills chapter. | ||
| 79 | 04:24 | He and his chapter have secured commitments | ||
| 80 | 04:27 | from over 100 businesses, schools and cities | ||
| 81 | 04:30 | to adopt 100 percent renewable energy. | ||
| 82 | 04:33 | Tim Guinee: My name's Tim Guinee. | ||
| 83 | 04:35 | I'm a proud member of the Climate Reality Project. | ||
| 84 | 04:38 | On September 10, 2001, | ||
| 85 | 04:41 | that night I went on a ride-along with my friend Captain Paddy Brown, | ||
| 86 | 04:45 | who was the most decorated firefighter | ||
| 87 | 04:47 | in the history of New York City firefighting, | ||
| 88 | 04:49 | and the incredible crew of Truck 3. | ||
| 89 | 04:53 | And around 6:30, 7 in the morning, I went home, | ||
| 90 | 04:56 | and a little while later, | ||
| 91 | 04:58 | they got the call and responded to the World Trade Center. | ||
| 92 | 05:04 | And they went up the stairs, | ||
| 93 | 05:06 | and none of them ever came back. | ||
| 94 | 05:08 | Now, I don't know if they had known what was going to happen | ||
| 95 | 05:11 | whether they would have done it or not. | ||
| 96 | 05:13 | That's all speculative. | ||
| 97 | 05:14 | But what I do know is they stepped forward | ||
| 98 | 05:18 | into their destiny. | ||
| 99 | 05:22 | I think the climate crisis | ||
| 100 | 05:25 | has some things in common with that moment. | ||
| 101 | 05:28 | None of us would have asked for the climate crisis | ||
| 102 | 05:31 | to have been put on our doorstep, but it is; it's here. | ||
| 103 | 05:34 | This is our historical reality. | ||
| 104 | 05:37 | And we have a choice to make. | ||
| 105 | 05:40 | Our destiny is to decide | ||
| 106 | 05:41 | whether we're going to respond to the climate crisis | ||
| 107 | 05:45 | or whether we're going to pretend that it's not happening, | ||
| 108 | 05:48 | deny it. | ||
| 109 | 05:49 | I think this is our moment of destiny, | ||
| 110 | 05:52 | and I hope you'll decide to take part, | ||
| 111 | 05:56 | to fight against the climate crisis, | ||
| 112 | 05:59 | because we need you. | ||
| 113 | 06:02 | AG: Four people, four stories of success and change. | ||
| 114 | 06:08 | Immediately after this Countdown event, | ||
| 115 | 06:10 | "24 Hours of Reality" will begin around the world | ||
| 116 | 06:14 | at 4pm Eastern Standard Time in the US, | ||
| 117 | 06:18 | featuring thousands of presentations from climate leaders | ||
| 118 | 06:21 | just like the ones you've just seen. | ||
| 119 | 06:24 | Use your voice, | ||
| 120 | 06:26 | find your power, | ||
| 121 | 06:28 | find your passion. | ||
| 122 | 06:30 | Don't let this extraordinary moment pass. | ||
| 123 | 06:33 | Together, we can ensure that this will mark the beginning | ||
| 124 | 06:38 | of a healthy, just and sustainable future for all. |