three TED talks about climate change
Listening to and watching TED (technology, education, design) talks is a great way to listen to a diverse range of topics and learn about the world. I would like to share three TED talks that are centered around the topic of climate change. These three talks were inspiring, interesting, and insightful.
Note: Spoiler alert! I provide a synopsis and some extra reading I did as a result of watching the TED talk.
Inspiring: A small country with big ideas to get rid of fossil fuels
One country and one inspiring story. Climate advocate, Monica Araya shares how Costa Rica is leading by example of how a developing country has made considerable progress towards eliminating fossil fuels.
She begins by speaking about how in 1948, after major civil wars, Costa Ricans decided to eliminate their army. The spending on the army was redirected to social services resulting in improved welfare for its citizens. Such dramatic action to remove or replace existing services or policies (similar to Australian Prime Minister John Howard abolishing guns in 2003) shows that transformative action can happen and, with the right support, is possible.
Costa Rica then began investing in renewables in the 1950s and in the decades to follow, creating monumental environmental policies to protect their natural resources. Flash forward to 2019, Costa Rica uses 100% renewable energy for electricity.
Beyond its ambitious renewable energy use, Costa Rica is the only country in the world to have reversed deforestation through its Payments for Environmental Services (PES) program — a program which pays citizens $64/hectare to protect and reforest the forest and is financed by higher taxes on fossil fuels.
Costa Rica’s success in reforestation and renewable energy use is made even more remarkable by the fact that Costa Rica is not a developed country. Costa Rica is a developing country that has some of the world’s best environmental policies. In 2019 (the time of the TED talk) Costa Rica’s GDP per capita was $10,000 (USD). This is very small — Australia’s GDP per capita in 2019 was ~$57,000.
Anyway, despite its successes, Costa Rica, and like many other countries in the world, oil is still predominantly used for public transport. Monica’s hope is that Costa Ricans come together and ensure that a transition from fossil fuels is supported on the transportation level. After her talk, I believe if anyone can do it, Costa Rica can!
Interesting: How climate change could make our food less nutritious
As a foodie myself, this talk was very interesting. I had come across articles that discussed the impact climate change is having on food systems, but virtually nothing on the diminishing nutritional value of food as a result of climate change, specifically, increased CO2 emissions. Epidemiologist Kristie Ebi presents an easy-to-follow talk on how specific nutrients are impacted in plants as a result of CO2 saturation. CO2 saturation refers to when the plant is receiving so much CO2 which increases the production of sugars and starches in the plant causes a decline in minerals, vitamins, and nutrition. The implications of reductions in important minerals, vitamins, and nutritionally value directly undermine Goal 2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger. In a report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020, it was estimated that in 2019, 2 billion people did not have access to safe, nutritional food, and Kristie’s findings emphasise the importance of reduced emissions on achieving this goal.
For example, Kristie shares a forecast of the nutritional reductions of protein, iron, zinc, vitamin B1, B2, B3, and B5 (or folate) as a result of forecasted CO2 emissions. A 30% reduction in folate could have dramatic consequences for pregnant women, as folate supports the healthy development of the child and reduces birth defects. And while a 5% reduction in zinc may not seem like a large percentage, many people, mainly those already facing poverty could be pushed over the edge. It’s unfortunate that like most basic needs that are generally available or accessible for developing countries (I recognise that poverty exists and is on the rise in some developed countries), it’s not the case with developing countries. Again, the impact of increased emissions and CO2 falls more heavily on those nations struggling to meet basic needs.
Kristie concludes with some thought-provoking statements “ Finally one last interesting point she makes is that no business group or entity is funding this research (the research on the impact of CO2 emissions on the nutritional value of food). This is baffling given that our population is set to grow by 2 billion people by 2050 resulting in increased demand for healthy, nutritious food! I hope in the coming years funding will exist in this important area.
Insightful: A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow
Growth is a wonderful healthy source of life… but nothing in nature grows forever — Raworth (~14:03).
So, I may have watched this TED talk a few times. Kate Raworth, is an economist who, using research from Rockstrom et al, conceptualised ‘Doughnut economics’ — a new type of economics that challenges the limitless growth model we have all come to accept.
She begins her talk by discussing a few analogies to get us thinking about ‘growth’. The concepts of growth, progress, and movement is innately human. For example, think of a baby. They start by crawling, then walking then by speaking and the list goes on until the little baby we were talking about is a contributing member to society and the economy. This forwards and upwards, progress has informed the ‘desired’ shape of economic progress. Because what could be better than continually growing and ‘improving’?
Well, she argues, we need to reminagine the shape of progress. Our measure for economic progress or growth, is often synonymous with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the desire to keep growing it year on year. Invented in the 1930’s, GDP is defined as the monetary value of goods and services in an economy. Politicians all over the world strive for GDP growth, to as Raworth jokingly states, to stay in the G20.
However, stiving for continual growth is problematic as it’s impossible in a world of limited resources. Natural resources (oil, gas, coal, metals) are limited. So, to challenge our current model of growth, Raworth discusses the doughnut — a new model where the economy is nested within society and bound by ecological ceilings.
Based on research from Rockström et al, we are already overshooting four of the nine plantary boundaries: climate change, land conversion, nitrogen & phosphorous loading, and biodiversity loss. According to the Doughnut model, this means that we cannot afford to keep ‘growing’ at the expense of these ecological ceilings as our society will begin to suffer.
The solution? Regenerative and distributive design and social innovation. Regenerative design, similar to circular design, encourages the use and reuse of products versus the consume and discard models that are pervasive today. For example, in 2020, Amsterdam launched the Amsterdam City Doughnut project and are planning on redesigning the city so that it is regenerative and distributive, but nested within ecological limits. This medium post shares a full explainer of regenerative cities and includes interviews with Raworth herself.
“Boundaries unleash our potential”. (~min 14:56). I love this quote by Raworth. We know the boundaries we are pushing so let’s get creative on how we can solve them. Like in the inspiring TED talk on Cuba’s progress, we can dismantle old ways of doing things and work in harmony with the environment.
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I hope these TED talks have inspired you to think differently about these topics and given you something to listen to this lockdown.
Thanks for reading! 🙏
