Changing the narrative
TED Countdown believes in the power of stories to educate and inspire. We’re committed to science-backed storytelling that generates a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the climate crisis and encourages meaningful action.
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230+ climate solutions-focused Talks, driving awareness and funding towards under-invested solutions
270M
270+ million video views across TED platforms, making essential ideas more visible and advancing our collective understanding of complex climate issues
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1,000+ TEDx Countdown events in 99 countries, amplifying Countdown content and sharing local stories of climate action
The Power of Art to Inform and Inspire
In October 2020, TED Countdown supported 10 large scale public arts projects in cities around the world. One of these artists was Christine Sun Kim, who unveiled a poignant public billboard on the 710 Freeway in Los Angeles, California, called The Sound of Temperature Rising. “It points to the reality of climate disaster that has become all too clear on the West Coast and the need for significant change now,” she says.
Artists for Climate Action
TED Countdown partnered with Climate Visuals and Fine Acts to publish 518 artworks published under an open Creative Commons license. The images were selected from more than 5,500 unique submissions spanning over 150 countries. Select works were also displayed at the 2022 Countdown Summit in Edinburgh and at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Accelerating action on climate solutions
TED Countdown is dedicated to curating an intelligent, high-impact set of solutions that will put us on a realistic pathway to net-zero – and catapulting them forward.
We not only work with some of the world’s greatest dreamers, thinkers and doers to bring their big ideas to a world stage, but we also work with them behind the scenes to advance specific projects that can move the needle on climate change.
Ermias Kebreab
Animal scientist Ermias Kebreab's TED Talk on an ingenious solution to reduce methane emissions from livestock by feeding seaweed to dairy cows caught the attention of a funder, who has since made a $2.6 million donation to continue this work.
Ma Jun
Ma Jun developed the China Pollution Map, China's first environmental public database, and the Blue Map, a mobile app that helps the public report environmental violations. Since then, Over 14,000 Chinese factories have been persuaded to cut pollution thanks to the app.
Monica Araya
The roadmap to ending pollution from transportation is here, says electrification advocate Monica Araya. In collaboration with Climate Leadership Initiative and the Audacious Project, TED Countdown helped raise over $300 million for the Drive Electric Campaign, an initiative bringing together 70+ organizations together to accelerate the end of the sale of the internal combustion engine.
Building a more collaborative climate movement
Solving the climate crisis requires leadership and creativity across every industry. Countdown brings together key players to share and understand diverse perspectives, facilitate crucial conversations and encourage new partnerships that can ultimately lead to a more empathic and collaborative community.
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721 cross-sector leaders attended a 3.5 day in-person Summit in Edinburgh ahead of COP26 to exchange ideas and forge new partnerships
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2 Dilemma Sessions in 2022 designed to tackle the most daunting challenges of the net-zero transition by bringing cross-sector leaders together to have difficult conversations