logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2020
8m 40s

The case for stubborn optimism on climat...

TED
About this episode

"This decade is a moment of choice unlike any we have ever lived," says Christiana Figueres, the architect of the historic 2015 Paris Agreement. The daughter of Costa Rica's beloved President José Figueres Ferrer, she shares how her father's unwillingness to lose the country he loved taught her how stubborn optimism can catalyze action and change. With an unshakeable determination to fight for the generations that will come after us, Figueres describes what stubborn optimism is (and isn't) -- and urges everyone to envision and work for the future they want for humanity.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Sunday Pick: The Data Center Next Door with Dr. Jacoby Wilson | from TED Tech
Imagine if one day, your quiet neighborhood came alive with a steady hum… and it never went away? All throughout the United States, data centers are popping up next door and in your backyards. These buildings guzzle millions of water, cause noise pollution, and are raising homeow ... Show More
28m 44s
Jun 13
The human cell is wildly complex. Can AI decode it? | Silvana Konermann
Silvana Konermann and the team at Arc Institute are trying to crack one of science's most difficult problems: why complex diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer remain so stubbornly unsolvable, even as research advances. Her solution is a universal “virtual cell” — an AI model trai ... Show More
19m 31s
Jun 12
Talks on Love Playlist (1/5): Your relationship expectations could be holding you back | Stephanie R. Yates-Anyabwile
What if the secret to a happy relationship isn’t following the rules, but rewriting them? In this refreshing talk, couples therapist Stephanie R. Yates-Anyabwile explores why letting go of traditional societal expectations of romantic relationships — like sharing the same routine ... Show More
10m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2020
TED Climate: The case for stubborn optimism on climate | Christiana Figueres
"This decade is a moment of choice unlike any we have ever lived," says Christiana Figueres, the architect of the historic 2015 Paris Agreement. The daughter of Costa Rica's beloved President José Figueres Ferrer, she shares how her father's unwillingness to lose the country he l ... Show More
8m 40s
Apr 2021
The Stubborn Optimist's Guide Revisited — with Christiana Figueres (Rerun)
[This episode originally aired May 21, 2020] Internationally-recognized global leader on climate change Christiana Figueres argues that the battle against global threats like climate change begins in our own heads. She became the United Nations’ top climate official, after she ha ... Show More
59m 56s
May 2021
Optimismo testarudo para enfrentar la crisis climática | Christiana Figueres
Como humanidad tenemos que tomar una decisión histórica: cómo enfrentar la crisis climática. Christiana Figueres es diplomática costarricense y fue artífice del histórico Acuerdo de París de 2015. En su charla en el lanzamiento global de TED Countdown, Christiana comparte cómo ap ... Show More
10m 25s
Nov 2023
Christiana Figueres — Ecological Hope, and Spiritual Evolution
The ecological crisis we are standing before is at once civilizational and personal — intimately close to each of us in the places we love and inhabit, and unfolding at a species level. And as much as anyone alive on the planet now, Christiana Figueres has felt the overwhelm of t ... Show More
1h 19m
Dec 2019
Christiana Figueres on how we can solve the climate crisis
In 2015, Christiana Figueres brokered the historic Paris Agreement to combat climate change. She gives an inside look at the negotiations that led to a commitment from 195 countries to work toward a low carbon future and discusses her current work on COUNTDOWN, an ambitious new i ... Show More
1h 6m
Jan 2024
Christiana Figueres and Ellen MacArthur: Closing the loop to fight climate change
<p>In this first episode of our Circling Back season, Christiana Figueres and Ellen MacArthur bring us an inspiring conversation about the role of circular thinking in addressing the causes of climate change and in finding its solutions. Join us as we explore the role of the circ ... Show More
25m 34s
Aug 2023
History of Ideas: Simone Weil
This week’s episode in our series on the great essays and great essayists is about Simone Weil’s ‘Human Personality’ (1943). Written shortly before her death aged just 34, it is an uncompromising repudiation of the building blocks of modern life: democracy, rights, personal ident ... Show More
55m 13s
Dec 2023
History of Ideas 6: Simone Weil
Episode 6 in our series on the great essays is about Simone Weil’s ‘Human Personality’ (1943). Written shortly before her death aged just 34, it is an uncompromising repudiation of the building blocks of modern life: democracy, rights, personal identity, scientific progress – all ... Show More
53m 21s
Nov 2014
Episode #042 ... Optimism
On this episode, we explore the benefits and drawbacks of optimism. First, we examine the various motivations for pessimism, and hear what Winston Churchill, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Marcus Aurelius have to say about optimism. Next, we think about the vastly different implication ... Show More
28m 23s