The ethical case for taking on the climate crisis | Al Gore, Wanjira Mathai & Karenna Gore (TED Countdown House)

TED Talks Daily

TED

Ted Podcast, Ted, Ted Talks, Society & Culture, Ted Talks Daily

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For the first time in climate negotiations, leaders are asking the question that actually matters: not just how do we solve the climate crisis — but why aren't we? Join Nobel laureate Al Gore for an in-depth conversation with Wanjira Mathai and Karenna Gore, leaders of the Global Ethical Stocktake: an urgent, values-first reset that seeks to center justice, phase out fossil fuels and elevate Indigenous and Global South leadership. Discover the initiative that's making fossil fuel lobbyists squirm and climate veterans hopeful — before the world moves on to COP31.

Please note, this conversation was recorded live on November 14, 2025, at the TED Countdown House at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil. There are a variety of names mentioned during the conversation of global leaders involved in the convening that took place at COP30, they are as follows (listed in order of mention):

Laurence Stebiana, Special Envoy to Europe for COP30

Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change

Kumi Naidoo, South African human rights activist and former director of Greenpeace

Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition

António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

Gus Speth, American environmental lawyer

"Mutirão COP30," the Tupi-Guarani term meaning "a collective effort or community mobilization"

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.
0:14.0	I'm your host, Elise Hugh. We are living the effects of climate change and see evidence of it with more frequent and intensifying natural
0:22.1	disasters. So why aren't we solving the climate crisis? In this special in-depth conversation
0:28.6	from the TED countdown house in Belém Brazil during the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference,
0:35.1	otherwise known as COP 30 Nobel laure laureate Al Gore, spoke with
0:38.9	Wangira Mathai and Karenagor, who are leaders of the global ethical stocktake, an urgent
0:45.2	values-first reset on climate action that seeks to center justice, phase out fossil fuels, and
0:50.6	elevate indigenous and global South leadership. Discover the initiative that's making fossil fuel lobbyists squirm and climate veterans hopeful
0:59.6	before the world moves on to COP 31 next year.
1:07.2	It's such an honor to be here with Wanzira and Kerenna.
1:11.0	I hope you can imagine what a pleasure it is for me to be here with Korena, but also with
1:16.5	Juanjira, we've known each other for so long.
1:19.4	We're here to talk about the global ethical stock take.
1:23.1	This is a new initiative in COP 30 that, frankly, in my view, somebody should have thought of a long time ago.
1:32.3	Taking stock of how many barrels of oil and how many tons of coal, that's one thing.
1:37.7	But taking stock of how we're doing on the spectrum of right versus wrong is really at the heart of the challenge that the world faces in
1:47.1	attempting to solve the climate crisis. It is really a groundbreaking initiative and it took 28
1:53.4	cops before the phrase fossil fuel was ever even mentioned. But now that it's been mentioned,
1:59.5	the focus is really intensifying.
2:02.3	So, Wangira and Corinna, you two have served as co-convenors of the global ethical stock
2:09.7	tag, helping to gather input from Africa and North America, respectively. So I'd like to start
2:16.8	by asking you both, each one of you, for your
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.