Countdown is a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action.
Get involved
Inspired by Johan Rockström and Sir David Attenborough's documentary, Breaking Boundaries and Count Us In have launched a new platform to help you take meaningful steps on climate change.
Enjoy talks and performances from the Countdown stage – including 10.10.20 Global Launch + 2021 Summit – learn more about this important issue.
Enjoy this 2-hour event laying out a realistic pathway to a net-zero future, with celebrity guests and performances.
The Countdown goal: To build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 in the race to a zero-carbon world – a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone.
Every organization, company, city and nation and citizens everywhere are invited to collaborate with Countdown and take action on climate. It is a movement open to everyone – and everyone has a vital role to play.
Become part of the community of changemakers committed to creating a better future.
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Show your passion for this issue by sharing Countdown* with your friends and people in your networks.
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The plan
Countdown seeks to answer five fundamental, interconnected questions that help inform a blueprint for a cleaner future.
We are bringing together scientists, activists, entrepreneurs, urban planners, farmers, CEOs, investors, artists, government officials, and others to find the most effective, evidence-based ideas out there. Our goal is to identify the bold solutions that can be activated when people break out of their silos and rise to the challenge.
How rapidly can we switch to 100% clean power?
How can we upgrade the way we move people and things?
How can we re-imagine and re-make the stuff around us?
How can we spark a worldwide shift to healthier food systems?
How do we better protect and re-green the earth?
Countdown in 2020 and beyond
On October 10, 2020, we hosted a virtual event to hear from leading thinkers and doers about what a healthy, abundant, zero-emission future can look like; stirring examples of real progress underway; and powerful reasons why this post-crisis moment is the time to act. Hundreds of events took place simultaneously around the world. Check out all the talks and performances.
Building on the ideas shared on 10.10.2020, we pushed forward fresh commitments and action on specific initiatives in the lead-up to the Countdown Summit and to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021.
We shared a blueprint for a beautiful net-zero future at a central Summit of 1,000 leaders in Edinburgh, Scotland, further amplified by hundreds of TEDx Countdown events around the world and a global livestream. These events combined talks, case studies and workshops — and celebrated new commitments made, efforts in progress, and the people who are driving them. Watch the talks now.
The team
Countdown is a collaboration powered by TED and Future Stewards. We are working with a core group of strategic partners including Ashoka, Boston Consulting Group, B Lab Global, Client Earth, Climate Action Tracker, Climate Champions Team, Climate Leadership Initiative, The Climate Pledge, The Climate Reality Project, Climate Visuals, Club of Rome, Community Arts Network, Count Us In, C40 Cities, Earthshot Prize, The Energy and Resources Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, Emergent, Exponential Roadmap, Fine Acts, Generation Investment Management, Global Commons Alliance, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, Global Optimism, Kite Insights, Leaders' Quest, Potential Energy Coalition, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , Prelude Ventures, Race to Zero, Rocky Mountain Institute, RHR International, Speed & Scale, Skift Business Climate Leaders, Skoll Foundation, The Solutions Project, SYSTEMIQ, Tsinghua University Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties UK 2021 (COP 26), YouTube and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Our network is growing and open to new partners. Meet all of our partners