Earth ‘squeezed like an orange’

San Francisco: Celebrities from filmmaker Ava DuVernay to Britain’s Prince William to the Pope himself issued powerful calls Saturday calling for people to mobilize and unify to confront the climate crisis. Here are some quotes from the free, streamed TED event. “The Earth must be worked and nursed, cultivated and protected. We cannot continue to squeeze it like an orange,” said Pope Francis. “I want to cast my vote in favor of the planet,” said filmmaker Ava DuVernay. While Prince William added, “Young people no longer believe that change is too difficult. They believe that the climate crisis and the threat to our biodiversity deserve our full attention and ambition.” ®

What happens in the next 10 years will likely determine the state of the planet we hand over for future generations. We must make sure each country has a plan to zero emissions. Billions of people around the world are already suffering from our failure to act. “We can and need to be a part of this movement: eat local food, ride your bike more, understand what you are spending your money on, vote for people who share our vision. Let’s change the world,” said music star Prince Royce.®

“Black people breathe in the most toxic air relative to the general population, and it is people of colour who are more likely to suffer in the climate crisis. It gives all new meaning to the Black Lives Matter slogan ‘I can’t breathe,'” remarked British Parliament member David Lammy. “We can do nothing and hope the problem goes away; we can despair and fall into paralysis, or we can become stubborn optimists and rise to the challenge.” ®

“What about committing to never buying a car or two-wheeler again with an internal combustion engine?” climate activist Xiye Bastida suggested. “The good news is it is now clearly cheaper to save the planet than to ruin it. The bad news is we are running out of time.”