Clover Hogan: What to do when climate change feels unstoppable | TED

Transcriber:

Translator: Mario Cal Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

I grew up in Australia's Tropical North Queensland,

Eu crieime en Australia, no norte tropical de Queensland.

fishing frogs from the toilet

Cazaba ras no retrete.

and dodging snakes that hung from the ceiling.

Esquivaba as serpes que se descolgaban do teito.

Wetting down old sea turtles stranded at low tide outside our house.

Molláballes a coiraza ás tartarugas que quedaban varadas diante da casa.

I spent more time outside than in,

Pasaba máis tempo fóra ca dentro,

delighting in the wonders of nature.

gozando das marabillas da natureza.

By age 11, I wasn't allowed to watch horror films,

Cando tiña 11 anos, non me permitían ver películas de terror,

so I turned to documentaries instead.

así que me afeccionei aos documentais.

"The Cove," "Food, Inc," "An Inconvenient Truth."

“The Cove”, “Food, Inc.” “Unha verdade incómoda”

The first time I experienced heartbreak

A primeira vez que se me partiu o corazón

was when I sat glued to my computer screen,

estaba pegada á pantalla do ordenador,

staring at mass dolphin hunts that turned the shoreline red.

vendo as cazas masivas de golfiños que tinguían de vermello a costa,

Staring as million-year-old forests were bulldozed to produce Big Macs,

vendo arrasar bosques milenarios para producir Big Macs,

staring as Al Gore projected graphs

vendo os gráficos que proxectaba Al Gore

that showed how quickly we were devouring the Earth.

para mostrar a velocidade coa que estabamos a devorar a Terra.

And how good we were at pretending otherwise.

E o ben que se nos daba disimular.

The second time I experienced heartbreak was in November of 2019,

A segunda vez que se me partiu o corazón foi en novembro de 2019,

as I watched my country go up in flames.

vendo como ardía o meu país,

As one billion animals were incinerated by the inferno.

vendo mil millóns de animais calcinados naquel inferno,

As friends tried to rescue their homes,

vendo amigos tentar salvar as súas casas

poised on tin roofs,

subidos aos tellados de lata,

armed with hoses until the smoke and embers clung to their clothes.

armados de mangueiras, ata que o fume e as faíscas se lles pegaban á roupa.

I felt despair.

Sentín desesperación.

Grief.

Pena.

Frustration.

Frustración.

Fury.

Furia.

And staring at that wall of fire

Mirando aquel muro de lume

higher and more ferocious than any I'd seen before,

alto e feroz como nunca antes vira,

I felt helpless,

sentinme indefensa,

small,

pequena,

powerless to stop the flames,

impotente diante daquelas lapas,

powerless to protect the place I love.

incapaz de protexer o lugar que amo.

Australia's black summer was soon followed by the firestorm in California

Tras aquel verán negro australiano viñeron a tormenta de lume de California

as their summer rolled around,

cando chegou o seu verán,

as well as flooding in Jakarta that displaced 100,000 people.

100.000 desprazados en Iacarta a causa das inundacións,

More violent hurricanes along the east coast of America

furacáns máis violentos na costa leste dos EEUU

and biblical plagues of locusts that threaten the food supply

e pragas bíblicas de lagostas que ameazan o sustento

for millions of people in East Africa.

de millóns de persoas no leste de África.

Young people today have not created this reality.

Os mozos de hoxe non creamos esta realidade.

We've inherited it.

Herdámola.

Yet we're told where the last generation

Din que somos a derradeira xeración

with a chance to save the fate of humanity.

con posibilidades de salvar a humanidade.

Is it any wonder that there is an epidemic of mental health problems?

A quen lle sorprende que haxa unha epidemia de problemas mentais?

Eco-anxiety is on the rise

Aumenta a ansiedade ecolóxica

and young people seem to be some of the worst affected.

e semella que a quen máis lle afecta é á xente nova.

Research from 2019 showed that in the UK,

Segundo algún estudo de 2019, no Reino Unido

70 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds were feeling eco-anxious,

o 70 por cento dos mozos de entre 18 e 24 sufría ecoansiedade,

feeling helpless, grief, panic, insomnia,

sentíase indefenso, triste, padecía ataques de pánico ou insomnio,

even guilt around climate change.

mesmo sentía culpa polo cambio climático.

Environmental disaster is the biggest mental health issue of our lifetimes

O desastre ambiental é a cuestión de saúde mental máis grave das nosas vidas

and in our war against nature young minds are the collateral damage.

e na nosa guerra contra a natureza as mentes mozas son as vítimas colaterais.

At my own organization, Force of Nature,

Na miña organización, “Force of Nature”,

we've witnessed the same on a global scale.

vemos isto mesmo nunha escala global.

We've been talking to students in over 50 countries

Levamos falado con estudantes de máis de 50 países,

from Tel Aviv through Jakarta,

de Tel Aviv a Iacarta,

New York to Managua.

de Nova York a Managua.

All of them have shared this existential dread

Todos comparten este medo existencial

that keeps them up at night.

que lles impide durmir pola noite.

Dread not only fueled by doom scrolling,

Un medo provocado non só por consumir noticias negativas,

but by the belief that adults,

senón tamén por crer que aos adultos,

especially adults in power, do not care.

sobre todo aos adultos que mandan, non lles importa.

When I first discovered documentaries,

Cando descubrín os documentais,

I decided the world was run by people who were selfish and greedy,

concluín que o mundo estaba dirixido por egoístas cobizosos,

that the rest of society didn't care.

que ao resto da sociedade tanto lle tiña,

That we humans were a plague on our own planet.

que os humanos somos unha praga para o noso propio planeta.

I've since spent the past 10 years lobbying decision makers across business,

Levo dez anos facendo campaña entre os que toman as decisións

policy and civil society,

no mundo dos negocios, a política e a sociedade civil,

working with students in the classroom

traballando con estudantes nas aulas

and chief executives in the boardroom,

e con directivos nas salas de reunións,

and I can tell you that my bleak outlook,

e póidovos dicir que esta visión pesimista,

while in some ways right,

aínda que acertada nalgúns aspectos,

was in more ways very, very wrong.

era totalmente errada na maior parte.

Picture yourself as a senior executive at a big multinational.

Poñédevos no lugar dun alto executivo dunha gran multinacional.

In the 25 years you've been climbing that corporate ladder,

Nos 25 anos que levas escalando postos,

you've been told your job is to make money

dixéronche que a túa misión era gañar cartos

and maintain the status quo,

e manter o statu quo,

to deliver value to shareholders,

xerar valor para os accionistas,

to avoid the kind of risks that could cost you your job.

evitar o tipo de riscos que che poden custar o posto.

You recycle.

Reciclas.

You share climate change articles on LinkedIn.

Compartes artigos sobre cambio climático en Linkedin

You even went vegetarian two years ago,

Ata te fixeches vexetariano hai dous anos,

after watching a documentary on mass farming.

despois de ver un documental sobre gandaría intensiva.

Yet when you come home at the end of the day,

Pero cando chegas á casa ao final da xornada,

you get the sense that your kids see you as the problem.

tes a sensación de que os teus fillos ven que ti es o problema.

They wish you were the climate change protester

Preferirían que foses o activista do clima

gluing themselves to the glass tower,

que se pega aos cristais con pegamento

not the person sat inside the building.

e non o que está sentado dentro do edificio.

When I first started working with people in power,

Cando comecei a traballar cos dirixentes,

sorprendeume ver que en moitos casos

I was surprised to realize

that they often felt the least powerful of all,

eran os que menos poderosos se sentían,

and most of these leaders perform mental gymnastics

e a maioría destes líderes fan ximnasia mental

to get away from those uncomfortable feelings.

para fuxir desa incómoda sensación.

Young people today are falling into despair

Os rapaces de hoxe caemos na desesperanza

while the adults in our lives are making sense of the situation

mentres os adultos ao noso redor asimilan a situación

through denial.

por medio da negación.

When I ask leaders to describe the future they envision,

Cando lles pregunto aos líderes polo futuro que imaxinan,

it's something of a techno utopia.

describen unha especie de tecnoutopía.

Flying cars in a world where deadly diseases are eradicated.

Coches que voan nun mundo sen enfermidades mortais.

Yet when I asked eight and nine-year-olds in the classroom the same question,

Pero cando lles pregunto o mesmo a alumnos de oito ou nove anos,

the future they describe is a dystopian blockbuster.

o futuro que describen é unha distopía cinematográfica.

Empty supermarket shelves.

Andeis baleiros nos supermercados.

Cities underwater.

Cidades somerxidas.

The kind of place no one wants to find waiting for them

A clase de lugar á que ninguén aspira

when they grow up.

cando se fai adulto.

You might find comfort in denial.

A negación pode resultar reconfortante,

Numbing yourself to our hyper-consumptive culture, sleepwalking,

adormecernos, insensibilizarnos á nosa cultura hiperconsumista,

even though the science tells us that we're hurtling toward the cliff.

aínda que a ciencia nos diga que imos lanzados cara ao precipicio.

You might feel despair, like so many of my generation.

Ou pódese caer na desesperanza, como moitos dos da miña xeración.

Because while feelings of anxiety, frustration, anger,

Porque malia que os sentimentos de angustia, frustración, ira

can wake us up to the issues,

poden espertar a nosa conciencia dos problemas,

they can crush us if we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.

tamén poden esmagarnos co peso do mundo sobre os nosos ombros.

Neither despair nor denial help anyone.

Nin a desesperanza nin a negación lle axudan a ninguén.

They cause us to shut down,

Fan que nos pechemos,

to remove ourselves from the picture.

que nos eliminemos da foto.

Denial erases our responsibility.

A negación borra a nosa responsabilidade.

Despair lumps us with all of it.

A desesperanza bótanola toda enriba.

The story of denial sounds something like,

O relato da negación di algo así:

"It's not up to me, because someone else will fix it."

“Non é responsabilidade miña, porque o vai solucionar outra persoa”.

The story of despair sounds like,

O relato da desesperanza di:

"It's not up to me because it's too big to fix."

“Non é responsabilidade miña, porque é demasiado grave”.

Do you hear the similarity?

Vedes o parecido?

Despair and denial might appear to exist on polar ends

A desesperanza e a negación poden parecer polos opostos

of the generational spectrum,

do contínuum xeracional,

yet they stem from the same place.

pero teñen a mesma orixe:

How powerless we feel.

a impotencia que sentimos.

All of us.

Todos nós.

I believe that the threat, even greater than climate change,

Eu penso que a ameaza, maior aínda có propio cambio climático,

is how powerless we feel in the face of it,

é que nos sentimos incapaces de enfrontarnos a el,

concerned moms and dads,

preocupados pais e nais,

cautious corporate leaders,

cautos líderes empresariais,

anxious 11-year-olds.

angustiados nenos de 11.

And I don't believe we will solve this crisis

E non creo que poidamos resolver esta crise

or act on the many opportunities it presents us with

ou aproveitar as múltiples oportunidades que nos ofrece

until we've mobilized mindsets.

ata que cambiemos as mentalidades.

So how do we shift out of despair,

Así que como saímos da desesperanza,

out of denial, towards something radically different?

da negación, cara a outra cousa totalmente distinta?

There's a quote in "Spider-Man":

En “Spiderman” din:

"With great power comes great responsibility."

“Un gran poder comporta unha gran responsabilidade”.

Yet what if the opposite is true?

Pero, e se o certo fose o contrario?

What if it's really "with great responsibility comes great power?"

E se fose “unha gran responsabilidade comporta un gran poder”?

This is something that all of the world's movers and shakers

Os líderes e as persoas influentes de todo o mundo

have known to be true.

saben que é certo.

They weren't born leaders.

Non naceron líderes.

They simply decided to make themselves personally responsible.

Simplemente decidiron asumir unha responsabilidade persoal.

Now, solving climate change is not your responsibility

Agora ben, solucionar o cambio climático non é responsabilidade vosa

because it's outside of your control.

porque escapa ao voso control.

What you are responsible for

Do que si sodes responsables

is the thing inside your control,

é do que controlades;

indeed, the only thing that has ever been inside your control.

sobre todo, do único que controlades desde sempre:

Your mindset.

a vosa mentalidade.

We all have stories running on repeat,

Todos temos relatos que se repiten en bucle,

stories that immobilize us,

relatos que nos inmobilizan,

stories the world impresses upon us in boardrooms and classrooms alike.

relatos que nos inculcan nas salas de xuntas e nas aulas.

"I'm just one in 7.8 billion people,

“Só son un entre 7.800 millóns de persoas;

I'm too small to make a difference."

son demasiado pequeno como para cambiar nada”.

"I'm not smart enough."

“Non son intelixente abondo”.

“Carezo de experiencia”.

"I don't have the experience."

"I'm not the expert."

“Eu non son o experto”.

"The system is too broken,

“O sistema está demasiado avariado,

our leaders too shortsighted,

os líderes son demasiado miopes,

our society too shackled to the status quo."

a nosa sociedade está estancada”.

These stories paralyze us.

Estes relatos paralízannos.

Rewriting them is the single most powerful thing anyone of us can do

Reescribilos é o máis poderoso que pode facer calquera de nós

for the planet and for ourselves.

polo planeta e por nós mesmos.

Now ask yourself.

Facédevos esta pregunta:

Which story gets in the way of you taking action?

Cal dos relatos é o que vos impide actuar?

Then think of the one thing you could do to challenge that story.

Logo pensade niso que poderiades facer para pór en cuestión ese relato.

If your story is that you're not smart enough,

Se o voso relato é que non sodes intelixentes abondo,

you could challenge it by focusing on the skills and talents

poderiades cuestionalo centrándovos nas capacidades

and gifts that you bring to the table.

e calidades que achegades.

If fashion is your passion,

Se vos apaixona a moda,

how do we reimagine our relationship with clothes to be fully circular?

como podemos reimaxinar unha relación totalmente circular coa roupa?

If you love making food,

Se vos encanta preparar comida,

how do we stop a third of it from being wasted every single day?

como evitamos que cada día se desperdicie un terzo?

If you're a talented musician,

Se tedes talento musical,

how do we communicate the urgency of climate action

como comunicamos a urxencia da acción climática

through a universal language?

a través dunha linguaxe universal?

If your story is that the system is too broken,

Se o voso relato é que o sistema está demasiado avariado,

the problem is too big to fix,

que o problema é xa demasiado grave,

visualize what it would look like for you to focus on a single problem.

visualizade como sería centrarse nun único problema.

The climate crisis is the symptom of many interconnected problems,

A crise climática é o síntoma de moitos problemas interconectados,

from food waste to fast fashion,

desde comida desperdiciada ata moda rápida,

social inequality to how we've divorced ourselves from nature.

desde a desigualdade social ata o modo en que nos divorciamos da natureza.

Every problem requires a solution.

Cada problema require unha solución.

A solution delivered by a someone,

Unha solución que ten que achegar alguén,

like you.

coma ti.

When you look back on your own life,

Cando revises a túa propia vida,

what do you want to see?

que queres ver?

Will you have chosen despair, denial,

Elixiches desesperanza, negación,

or something different?

ou outra cousa?

Will you have been a spectator to our planet's problems

Fuches un espectador dos problemas do planeta

or the person who did something to fix them?

ou a persoa que fixo algo para resolvelos?

What will your story be?

Cal vai ser o teu relato?