With a call to save the planet, Prince William and Pope Francis on Saturday joined activists, artists, celebrities, and politicians in a free streamed TED event aimed at mobilizing and unifying people to confront the climate crisis.
“The shared goals of our generation are clear,” William said in a video message kicking off the event, dubbed Countdown.
“Together we must protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world, and fix our climate.”
For more than five hours the second-in-line to the British throne and other speakers delved in the reality of the climate crisis, the need for action, and what can be done.
Solutions posed included ways of farming that welcome wildlife as well as crops; transportation systems powered by electricity; cities designed for people instead of cars; economies that thrive by keeping the planet healthy instead of destroying it and voting for political leaders keen to end the climate crisis.
“We are living during a historic moment marked by difficult challenges, as we all know,” Pope Francis said while urging people of all faiths to unite to protect Mother Earth.
“The world is shaken by the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights yet an even bigger challenge – the socio-environmental crisis.”
The Pope joined other speakers in saying the climate crisis is real and backed by science, and needs to be urgently confronted in ways that are socially just.
“The Earth must be worked and nursed, cultivated, and protected. We cannot continue to squeeze it like an orange,” the Pope said.
Countdown also focused on ways in which damage to the environment also fuels social and racial injustice.