The African swamp protecting Earth's environment | Vera Songwe

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2022

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

The peatlands of Africa's Congo Basin are a vast expanse of swamp and greenery that act as one of the world's most effective carbon sinks -- and they're under threat of environmental destruction. Economist Vera Songwe explains how putting a price on the carbon stored in the peatlands would not only help protect this vital resource but also recognize and reward the African communities that have contributed little to climate change. "This is not just about decarbonization," Songwe says. "This is also about development with dignity."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hu. Today we're going to focus on a natural weapon against climate change.
0:10.6	In fact, if they didn't exist, the planet would have likely already crossed the point of no return with regard to global temperature rise.
0:18.0	In her talk from the 2021 countdown summit, UN Undersecretary General Vera Songway
0:23.3	warns us of the devastation that could come if we don't protect the peatlands.
0:31.3	There is a play by one of my favorite writers, Nobel laureate Wolle Shouinka,
0:38.7	I would like to tell you about the swamp dwellers.
0:43.0	The swamp dwellers are about a blind beggar
0:45.7	who attempts to buy a piece of swamp land
0:49.1	because he believes that the swamps will provide him with a better livelihood.
0:54.0	However, the villagers in that swamp believe that deep in the forest of this swamp
1:00.0	lies a deity whose job is to protect them from all misfortune.
1:07.5	There is another swamp that protects us from misfortune
1:12.6	and holds the promise of humanity's survival.
1:19.0	Those are the pitlands of the Congo Basin.
1:23.5	The pitlands of the Congo Basin are a lush, vast expanse of weeds, shrubs and trees
1:34.3	that absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
1:39.7	They span 145,000 kilometers.
1:45.2	The pit formations began 10,000 years ago
1:50.2	when man moved from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
1:55.9	Nature, I guess, figured I'd better set protecting myself.
2:01.4	A couple of years ago,
2:03.9	scientists discovered that this tropical pitlands
	...

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