TED X LUXEMBURG

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So how could we ever finally change climate change? And could we do it with the simplest and most pleasurable tool ever, a song? No seriously!

Here’s why this might not be such a monumentally stupid and absurd idea.

I’ve been an environmental and climate activist for quite a while now,

and the thing that always annoyed me to tears was this one sad refrain,
sung by politicians and business leaders alike:

there’s just doesn’t seem to be broad public support for climate action. People just don’t seem to want to save their lives. Really?

Okay. Well if your problem is lack of public support, well then...let’s...build it.

Nobody ever started to drink Coca-Cola because they suddenly felt this urge.
You need to work this.

Or - just for a moment - compare the climate action needed to a war, a war we can’t afford to lose.

Only there’s no casualties or losses, on the contrary. This is a fight for life, that brings health, and real, sustainable wealth.

But so how do you get people to rally round the flag, and invest in this one fight that – let’s admit – nobody was really really planning to get into?

You try to get everyone on board, with something that unites and excites and energizes people, with a positive, creative, dynamic vibe, behind a simple but forceful message. We really need to get going here.

Well then you need something...like a song. History shows us that every movement, every revolution or war effort needs some sort of an anthem for enthusiasm, belief to spread like the wild fires that have been ravaging parts of the world

So that’s what we did. We wrote some kind of simple mission statement if you will, and put it on top of this age-old melody that was used in so many prior revolutions, the much loved, well known, simple melody of Bella ciao. So that everyone could sing along, just like that, right off the bat.

And so we’d like to sing it with you.

In doing so you will join a massive international choir, hundreds of thousands of people that have been singing this song in over 52 countries now in just about every continent.

And then the concept of this singing manifestation and manifesto is simple as rain, don’t sing on your own. We urge you to round up your friends, your fellow students, co-workers, neighbors, anyone and everyone who is ready and willing to save their future - in groups, big or small, whatever safety permits but as with most things in life, size does matter. The bigger the better.

Okay ready?

Especially for these circumstances, and for TEDx, we’ve made a new karaoke, with a clip that recounts how we built this weapon of mass instruction, or indoctrination if you will.

The final step is that you film your sing-along and post it on your social media and on singfortheclimate.com, and on the highways of social media, to try and spread this message to these politicians and leaders, and all the ones who need to hear it. Yes, of course people do want to save their planet, and their lives. We just need to make all these voices heard.

The text kind of is the simple recipe of the action we need to take. So without further ado, you can try it out, and do it now.

Stand up, already that in itself is a pretty important thing to do. It will make you feel the energy, the vibe, feel the connection, we’ve missed it for so long.

Let’s do it again let’s do it now, let’s sing for the climate, and in doing so - hey who knows – let’s help build the movement that might just save our children’s future.