“What to do when climate change feels unstoppable” Ted Talk by Clover Hogan – Review

Ted Talk Review
Written By Pawel Swierczynski

Clover Hogan is a widely known climate activist, and in her latest TED Talk from 2021, called  “What to do when climate change feels unstoppable”, she offers a very good insight into how our society needs to change and why climate change needs to be a priority. What’s interesting about her specific TED Talk is the fact that she focuses a lot on the problems that our actions will cause for any future generations. 

We’re leaving a negative mark for any future generations to deal with:

During her talk, she placed a huge emphasis on various catastrophic events like the Jakarta flooding, Californian firestorms, but also the different natural disasters caused by climate change. She shows that young people are dealing with the aftermath of actions coming from previous generations. And according to her, in the UK alone, over 70% of those aged 18 to 24 are dealing with insomnia, panic, anxiety, and even fear when it comes to climate change, along with a sense of helplessness.

Clover also talks about the challenges she faced when it came to creating her organization called Force of Nature. According to her, talking with executives and people in power was extremely challenging and very hard to do. She soon realized that finding a way to tackle such a problem was not going to be a walk in the park. 

Finding our own way of dealing with climate change:

In my opinion, her talk is very well structured, and Clover does an excellent job at showcasing just how much of a challenge it is for people right now to deal with climate change. We have no idea what to do in order to prevent major natural disasters coming from climate change, and even the smallest eco-friendly step we make feels like something in vain. 

Clover tells us that solving climate change is not something we can control. And that’s the thing: when we want to make a difference, we think that stopping these ongoing problems is going to be the right solution. But the truth is, that’s not going to be helpful, if at all. Realistically, what we want to do is to change our mindset. 

If someone tells you that you’re not smart enough for a job, you go ahead and prove them wrong. If the situation feels helpless, you try to find a solution in order to solve it. But in this case, having a positive mindset, finding even the smallest solutions, and adapting things can indeed make a huge difference. 

That’s the thing, if you feel that the system is too broken, try to narrow down on things. I like Clover’s approach in this TED talk because it encourages us to take action, even if we think it’s meaningless. Because once we do that, other people will do it as well, and as we continue spreading the word and making smaller changes, those will always add up. The last thing we want is to maintain that sense of helplessness and denial. Knowing what to do, choosing not to be a spectator, and witnessing our planet crumble in front of our eyes that’s the most important thing.

Conclusion

I enjoyed Clover Hogan’s amazing speech and TED Talk, because it highlights how important it is for us to take action. A lot of people, especially Gen Z and the younger demographic in general, they tend to deal with anxiety, fright, and they feel helpless. But that’s the thing: we can all make a change and do everything we can to alleviate climate change issues. We are stronger together, and taking the right action can help bring in front the results we need. Yes, it’s not going to be a walk in the park, but we shouldn’t spectate and witness disasters; instead, we need to act now, and future generations will benefit from all of our actions!

Pawel Swierczynski
Previous

‘This is your brain on air pollution’ - Interesting take, I’d say…
Next

Losing Earth - A Recent History