Shifting paradigms to solve climate change

[Music]

hello to everyone

i’m bertrand piccard the chairman of the

solar impulse foundation

there is a philosophical way to protect

the environment

it is to say that nature is beautiful

but fragile

it is to say that life on this planet is

a miracle

but is it enough i don’t think so

since years we have heard that we must

protect the environment but we are still

destroying it

since years we’re hearing that to

protect the environment we have to put a

lot of

money a lot of subsidies that we have to

pay

a lot that we have to reduce mobility

sacrifice our comfort and it has not

been motivating

so when we speak about innovation it’s

not only technological innovation

it’s also innovation in the way we think

can we find another paradigm can we get

rid

of everything that did not work until

now this is what i’m trying to do with

the solar impulse foundation

because the leaders of this planet the

key decision makers

they are not thinking in the

philosophical way about the environment

their needs their language their words

are about job creation profit

and sometimes selfish personal interest

so it doesn’t match with philosophy the

question today is

can we respond to the need of protecting

the environment

and at the same time speak the language

of the people we want to convince

i believe yes we need to show

that today thanks to technological

innovation

protection of the environment has become

financially profitable

that it can create more jobs than

destroying the environment

and this is why we have initiated the 1

000

solution challenge at the solar impulse

foundation

to identify everywhere in the world

1 000 technologies processes

products materials devices

that can create new business

opportunities

that can bring profit that can

create jobs and at the same time

protect the environment and fix climate

change

in the beginning of course everybody

told me it’s impossible exactly like

when i wanted to

fly around the world in a balloon and

then to fly around the world

in the solar powered airplane but today

we have these 1000 solutions

and they protect the environment in the

field of water energy

construction mobility agriculture

industry

but what is very disappointing is to see

that all those solutions

exist although they protect the

environment although they make money

they create jobs

they are not known enough and

they are not used and why aren’t they

used

because the legal framework

is so much outdated being based on

old technologies that today a lot of

people will tell you

maybe i pollute but it’s completely

legal

what i do is legal although it destroys

the environment

so for a long time it was not possible

to make a new legal framework

because the technology would not allow

it but today

does today the master word

that i would like you to remember is

efficiency

efficiency we waste

75 of the energy half of the food we

produce

half of the natural resources we waste

95 percent

of the waste because people don’t even

understand that waste is a resource

so we live in a society that is wasting

and all this waste

all these losses cost a lot of money

so efficiency pays by itself

so speaking of innovation here is also

economical

innovation it’s the way to be

politically innovative also

to adapt the legal framework

to the reality of what the technologies

allow us to do today so we need to

work with governments we need to work

with big corporations

we need to modernize everything

modernize everything can you imagine

modernize everything

maybe it would cost a lot and it would

be impossible or it would be profitable

and it’s the business opportunity of the

century

and i believe this is the case so we are

not anymore

in the situation where we have to choose

between

degrowth that brings

social chaos or the so-called

illimited quantitative growth

that leads to ecological disaster no

there is the third way which is the

qualitative growth the qualitative

growth

is when you create jobs and you make

money

by replacing what is polluting by what

is protecting the environment

and this is where we can go today so we

have to spread this message

because speaking about all the problems

this was okay 30 or 20 years ago even 10

years ago

now we have to speak of solutions the

solutions exist

the innovators have produced

what we need today and can you imagine

innovation brings innovation because

with new innovations

we open new fields of implementation

that will bring

even more innovations

but of course we have to create the need

for this create the need

this is putting for example

a co2 tax this is to put

standards and norms for the environment

criterium

in a way that is much tougher

that is much more demanding so the

technology will answer

to these new needs you see how exciting

it is

how exciting it is it’s not anymore

something boring like we were saying

before

we don’t need to say nature is beautiful

to save it

even the climate change deniers today if

they want to be logical

even more than ecological are able

to develop the business opportunity of

the century

implementing all these new technologies

being more efficient

it pays for itself it’s not a cost it’s

an

investment so there is hope

there is hope because there is a

possible action so let’s act

let’s act now implement technologies

implement

all these solutions they are available

the soil impulse foundation has made the

work with a thousand innovators with

experts with partners with industry

corporations political leaders now

it’s time to take it further thanks to

you

good luck thank you

you