Climate Curious

“It’s impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet,” says climate and health campaigner Shweta Narayan, on the latest episode of Climate Curious by TEDxLondon. Shweta introduces a new perspective: by viewing climate change through the lens of the Hippocratic Oath — an ancient set of ethical standards sworn by physicians (and no, it has nothing to do with hippos!)— every person has a role to play in the climate fight. Tune in with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst live from TED Countdown to learn about why how we must focus on “first doing no harm” before anything else, how we cannot put a cost on our ability to simply breathe clean air, and how her four dogs are her secret weapon to avoiding eco-burnout.

Gassy cows no more – Ermias Kebreab, animal scientist and TED speaker shares how feeding cows seaweed reduces their methane filled burps on the latest episode of the Climate Curious podcast by TEDxLondon. Tune in with Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst live from TED Countdown to learn why stopping eating meat and dairy is not an option for most people in the world, how approaching food with a different sort of sustainability mindset is key, and why we already have the solutions we need – it’s right there, in that slimy smelly stuff wrapped around our ankles at the beach – seaweed! As this visionary Burger King puts it, “it’s a win, win, win situation.” Even Ben says he’s “feeling really, really, really encouraged.” Kerching! We’ve hit the climate jackpot this week.

If you want to look after the planet, first of all, you need to look after yourself. We catch up with anti-fossil fuel environmental campaigner, Tzeporah Berman, on how to take care of your mental health, when it feels like the world is literally crumbling!

Enjoyed this quickie? Listen to our full-length chat with Tzeporah on why fossil fuels are the weapons of mass destruction – everyone has them, but nobody needs them: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/climate-curious-why-fossil-fuels-are-the-new-weapons-of-mass-destruction/

Youthwashing is the latest corporate eco marketing strategy. But young climate activists aren't falling for it, says environmental educator Isaias Hernandez, aka @QueerBrownVegan on the latest episode of the Climate Curious podcast by TEDxLondon. In a bid to try and clean up their image, multinational businesses (usually with a vested interest in fossil fuels), feature WAY too many young faces in their ads… and we’re over it. In this chat with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst, learn what institutionalised racism feels like in the climate movement (from someone on the inside), why we need to push for multigenerational wisdom as opposed to piling the pressure on young people to save the world, and how foraging for mushrooms is the perfect eco self-care activity to try today. Tune in to learn why climate has a #youthwashing problem.

Learn more: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/climate-curious-why-climate-has-a-youthwashing-problem/

Check out Isaias’ page, @queerbrownvegan: https://queerbrownvegan.com/

Youthwashing is the latest corporate eco marketing strategy. But young climate activists aren't falling for it, says environmental educator Isaias Hernandez, aka @QueerBrownVegan on the latest episode of the Climate Curious podcast by TEDxLondon. In a bid to try and clean up their image, multinational businesses (usually with a vested interest in fossil fuels), feature WAY too many young faces in their ads… and we’re over it. In this chat with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst, learn what institutionalised racism feels like in the climate movement (from someone on the inside), why we need to push for multigenerational wisdom as opposed to piling the pressure on young people to save the world, and how foraging for mushrooms is the perfect eco self-care activity to try today. Tune in to learn why climate has a #youthwashing problem.

Check out Isaias’ page, @QueerBrownVegan: https://queerbrownvegan.com/

Cities — if they are designed to be sustainable, equitable and joyous — are the best hope for humanity, says architect, author and TED speaker, Vishaan Chakrabarti, on the latest episode of TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious. This self-confessed city-lover aka ‘Professor Skyscraper’ is putting the joy back into our cities by designing communities that are cheaper to live in, easier to get around, and offer more collective, inter-generational and diverse living. Vishaan shares his vision for changing the narrative when it comes to ‘green cities’ – think less urban parks and more clean electrical grids and goldilocks homes – not too big, not too small – just right! Tune in with Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst live from TED Countdown to learn why cities, as Vishaan puts it, are a bit like acupuncture; “a small move can make a really big difference.”

Read more: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/climate-curious-how-cities-are-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-green/

Everyone’s talking about COP26, but what is it? We sit down with Rt Hon. David Lammy MP, to get a 5-minute explainer on what this curious ‘COP’ is, which according to Lammy, is actually quite like a “festival” – count us in!

Tune in to discover what really goes on at the ‘Conference of The Parties’, and why so much hinges on the 26th meeting this year in Glasgow. ​​

Enjoyed this quickie? Listen to our full-length chat with David Lammy MP from Season 1 on why climate justice can’t happen without racial justice: https://tedxlondon.com/news/climate-curious-why-climate-justice-cant-happen-without-racial-justice/

In what world would stockpiling something so deadly it threatens the future of human survival on planet Earth, make sense? Yep, that’s right, THIS planet! We're currently on track to produce 120% more oil, coal and gas (aka fossil fuels) in the next decade than the world can ever burn. So why are we still stockpiling it? In this jaw-dropping episode of Climate Curious by TEDxLondon, environmental campaigner, Tzeporah Berman, reveals the shocking grip the fossil fuel industry has on our governments, economies, societies… and even our minds, and what we can do to fight back. Tune in with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst live from TED Countdown to learn about how we can think and act more like citizens and less like consumers, why fossil fuel polluters want us to feel guilty about our lifestyle choices, how ‘groupthink’ made us all focus on emissions instead of production, and as Tzeporah puts it, why “we don’t need better light bulbs, we need better laws.”

Read more: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/climate-curious-why-fossil-fuels-are-the-new-weapons-of-mass-destruction/

Watch Tzeporah’s TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/tzeporah_berman_the_global_treaty_to_phase_out_fossil_fuels

Sign the Fossil Fuel Non-ProliferationTreaty: https://fossilfueltreaty.org/

We're back! Launching October 27, co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst give a sneak peek of the climate goodies we'll be sharing in Season 3 of TEDxLondon's Climate Curious, recorded live from TED's Countdown event in Edinburgh.

From protesting on the front lines against the apartheid in South Africa to sitting in the boardrooms of global climate change and human rights organisations, Kumi Naidoo is a lifelong activist with a tonne of experience in how to make people in power sit up and take notice. The only way? Through music, dance, culture – ‘artivism’, says Kumi, in this week’s Climate Quickie.

“When I started as a 15 year old, I had an intuitive sense of injustice. [...] What I learned in the first sort of 10 years of my activism was probably the most instructive. I wish I had hung on to some of the core lessons even stronger than I did. But I got contaminated a little bit along the way, by the idea of doing things where you had big logos and marketing and communications,” says Kumi.

If you enjoyed this quickie, why not listen to Kumi’s full 2-part episode on the #ClimateCuriousPod – How culture can help us win the climate war: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/climatecuriouskumi