Countdown

TED Talks by Countdown speakers

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Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief, and head of TED Chris Anderson debut Countdown at the TED World Theater on December 4, 2019. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)

The launch of Countdown, a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, is just a few weeks away. Initiated by TED and Future Stewards, Countdown is a global initiative that aims to mobilize millions to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Speakers will outline what a healthy, abundant, zero-emission future can look like — and how we can build a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone. Tune in to the free, five-hour virtual event on Saturday, October 10, 2020 from 11am – 5pm ET on TED’s YouTube channel. View the full program and speaker lineup here.

Many Countdown speakers have already shared ideas with TED. Below is a list of their talks to get you thinking in the leadup to the event:

Al Gore, climate advocate

Angel Hsu, climate and data scientist

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Christiana Figueres, stubborn optimist

Elif Shafak, novelist, political scientist

His Holiness Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome

Johan Rockström, climate impact scholar

John Doerr, engineer, investor

Liz Ogbu, designer, urbanist, spatial justice activist

Monica Araya, electrification advocate

Nigel Topping, UK’s High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26

Olafur Eliasson, artist

Rose M. Mutiso, energy researcher

Stephen Wilkes, photographer

Tom Crowther, ecosystem ecology professor

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown

Varun Sivaram, clean-energy executive

View the full list of talks in this playlist on YouTube.