"Climate has reached a global crisis point": PIK Director Joins TED Countdown

The TED Countdown kicked off on October 10 with a Global Launch event, which featured contributions from 50 speakers including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Pope Francis. In the first session on 'Urgency' hosted by the actors/activists Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle, PIK Director Johan Rockström presented a plan for putting the planet back on the path of sustainability.

“Our children are looking with disbelief at our inability to deviate away from potentially catastrophic risks”, Rockström began his talk backed by vivid animations. “For the first time, we are forced to consider the real risk of destabilizing the entire planet.” He then proposed two central ideas, namely to build “a save corridor for humanity to allow us all to become stewards of the entire planet and to provide a good future for all people.” Secondly, he called for a “new economic logic based on well-being” instead of short-term profit.

Over the next 12 months the Countdown initiative will continue to explore evidence-based ideas to tackle climate change across five sectors: energy, transport, materials, food, and nature. Finally, in October 2021 at a global summit in Edinburgh, Scotland 1,200 leaders from all over the world will come together to draft a blueprint for a net-zero future.