Yann Arthus-Bertrand captures fragile Earth in wide-angle

63,989 views ・ 2009-06-03

TED


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00:13
I have a big impact on the planet
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to travel here by plane.
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I emitted, in the atmosphere, nine tons of CO2;
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that is the weight of two elephants.
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I came here to speak about ecology,
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and I emitted as much CO2
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as a Frenchman in one year.
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So what do I have to do?
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I have to kill a Frenchman when I come back at home?
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(Laughter)
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I have to do my carbon offset in another way,
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like I do every time.
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(Laughter)
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In fact my work is to show
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our impact on our planet.
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I'm going to show you some examples
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of the last pictures I've done
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in the last year.
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Alberta sand oil, a lot of pollution.
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You know the problem;
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we don't want to believe what we know.
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In Alberta people work nonstop,
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24 hours by seven
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to extract as much oil
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as they can.
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We know about the end of oil.
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Oil sand is not a long-term solution.
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But we use three times more oil
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than we find every year.
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We don't want to believe what we know.
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Deny.
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Coral reef in New Caledonia.
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100 percent of the coral
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may be wiped out before 2050
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because of global warming.
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And you know how coral are very sensitive to temperature,
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and are very important for the biodiversity of the sea.
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North Pole. I've done this picture last summer.
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It was impossible to do this picture 15 years ago.
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Now there is a new way open between Atlantic and Pacific.
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The thickness of the Arctic
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decreased more than 40 percent
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since 1960.
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There is a new face of Kilimanjaro without ice.
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Sad picture.
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It lost 80 percent of its ice.
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According to scientists,
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in 100 years
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all the mountain glacier will be gone.
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Glaciers are very important for the life on earth.
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Like Al Gore told you,
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two billion people live on the water
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from the glacier of Himalaya.
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Return of fish men.
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One fifth of human kind
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depend on fish to live.
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Today now 70 percent
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of the fish stock are over-exploited.
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According to FAO,
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if we don't change our system of fishing
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the main sea resources will be gone in 2050.
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We don't want to believe what we know.
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The beautiful picture, by [unclear] in Africa.
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One human of six
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have not enough to eat in the world.
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One billion people have not enough to eat.
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In Africa, corn is one of the main foods in many places.
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Here in America,
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90 percent of the corn cultivated
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is used to feed animals or to do oil.
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Palm tree plantation in Borneo.
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Every year we lose 50 thousand square miles in deforestation.
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Refugee camp in Darfur.
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Today we have 20 million refugees in the world.
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According to the U.N.,
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we speak about 250 million refugees
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in 2050.
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I always show my pictures in the street.
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We have done already 100 exhibitions in the cities.
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But how to understand the world
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without the voice of people?
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Landscape was not enough.
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It was obvious to me to do another work.
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I launched a project named Six Billion Others.
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I sent around the world six cameramen
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asking the same question,
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the same crucial question,
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about life.
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We have done five thousand interviews.
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05:16
I'm going to show you this.
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Man: The most beautiful thing that has happened to me in life?
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It's when my dad told me, "Here, I give you this girl as your fiance."
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Woman: Love? Love is nice if you can have it.
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05:38
Second Man: Romeo and Juliet, Sassi and Panno, Dodi and Diana, Heer and Ranjha,
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this is love! Third Man: My greatest fear is ...
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Woman: You're asking me a hard question.
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Fourth Man: I live happily because what else should I do?
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Fifth Man: The first thing I remember ... (Sixth Man: That's how I learned, by my mother,)
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Fifth Man: ... from my childhood, (Sixth Man: that you should respect humans.)
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Fifth Man: we were having fun, biking. (Sixth Man: I will never forget those words.)
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Seventh Man: We invented stories, we flew around the world, while remaining in our attic.
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Eighth Man: I had a big laugh today.
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Ninth Man: You see, family is ... it's awful.
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10th Man: In the word life, you have the life.
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11th Man: Who am I? Isn't that the biggest question?
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12th Man: If I was to go back to Iraq
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and speak to the people,
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I'd have to bow down and kiss their feet.
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Just as that woman tried to kiss my feet
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when we were taking her sons.
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I feel ashamed.
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06:36
And I feel humbled
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by their strength.
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And I will forever feel a need
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to make reparations to Iraq.
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Second Woman: Dad, Mom, I grew up.
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You shouldn't worry about me. Dad doesn't need to go to work.
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My family ... What can I say?
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At the moment, my family is very poor,
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my life here in Shenzhen is just about showing myself that I can earn more
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and to let my parents stay and have something to live on.
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I don't want them to spend their whole lives in poverty.
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If someday I can achieve something, I would like to say thank you daddy and mommy.
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Thank you.
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Thank you for having fed me and raised me,
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and for making my life of today. Thank you.
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13th Man: After seven years now of being in a wheelchair,
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I've done more in life being in a chair
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than out of a chair.
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I still surf. I sail the world. I freedive.
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After many people said I couldn't do that.
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And I think that comes from connecting with nature,
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connecting with the energy of life,
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because we're all disabled in some way on the planet --
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spiritually, mentally or physically.
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I got the easy part.
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14th Man: Let's say that you and me like each other.
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You come from elsewhere.
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You don't know me. I don't know you.
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We talk without lying.
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If I do like you, I give you one cow and many other things
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and we become friends.
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How can we make it all by ourselves?
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09:02
(Applause)
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YAB: You can also go to the website,
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answer -- respond to the questions also.
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Forty crucial questions.
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Now I am going to speak to you about my movie.
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09:20
For the last three years,
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I was shooting the earth for the movie.
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The name of the movie is "Home" --
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"Maison."
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It is about the state of the planet.
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It's a fantastic story of life on the earth.
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I'm very proud to show you the teaser.
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Video: This Earth is four and a half billion years old.
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These plants, several hundred million years old.
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And we humans have been walking upright
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for only 200 thousand years.
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We've managed to adapt,
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and have conquered the whole planet.
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For generations, we've been raising our children,
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not unlike millions of other species living beside us.
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For the past 30 years
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I've been closely watching the earth and its dwellers
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from high up in the sky.
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Our life is tied to the well-being of our planet.
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We depend on water,
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forests,
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deserts,
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oceans.
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Fishing,
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breeding,
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farming
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are still the world's foremost human occupations.
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And what binds us together
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is far greater than what divides us.
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We all share the same need for the earth's gifts --
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the same wish to rise above ourselves,
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and become better.
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And yet we carry on raising walls
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to keep us apart.
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Today our greatest battle
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is to protect the natural offerings of our planet.
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In less than 50 years
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we've altered it more thoroughly
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than in the entire history of mankind.
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Half of the world's forests have vanished.
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Water resources are running low.
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Intensive farming is depleting soils.
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Our energy sources are not sustainable.
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The climate is changing.
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We are endangering ourselves.
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We're only trying to improve our lives.
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But the wealth gaps are growing wider.
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We haven't yet understood
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that we're going at a much faster pace
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than the planet can sustain.
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We know that solutions are available today.
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We all have the power to change this trend
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for the better.
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So what are we waiting for?
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13:05
(Applause)
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13:13
YAB: Luc Besson is the producer of the movie.
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But it is not a normal movie.
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The film is going to be distributed free.
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This film has no copyright.
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On the five of June,
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the environment day,
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everybody can download the movie on Internet.
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The film is given for free
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to the distributor for TV and theater
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to show it the fifth of June.
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There is no business on this movie.
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It is also available for school,
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cities, NGOs and you.
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14:01
We have to believe what we know.
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Let me tell you something.
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It's too late to be pessimistic --
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really too late.
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We have all a part of the solutions.
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To finish,
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I would like to welcome
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the 4,700th baby
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born since the beginning of this talk.
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Merci beaucoup. I love you.
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14:40
(Applause)
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