I have roots in two countries in Italy
and in the United States I have roots on
this planet and I feel deeply connected
to nature and I love it some might call
me a tree hugger but I don’t really hug
trees it goes more like this
put your hands delicately on a trunk
feel the temperature feel the texture of
the bark you might not get much energy
first but if you couple what we know
trees breathe right and you imagine the
lymph flowing after a while scepticism
gives way to something quite powerful
and regenerating in fact when we’re in
forests chemicals named Fito cyanides
pour upon us they balance our immune
systems they balance our entire
well-being I’m rooted in the communities
that have shaped me and that continue to
forge new relations in fact in our
communities in our places we are tribal
by nature we strive to evolve but when
we pan out the picture gets messy
collectively we forget one we’re one big
family we forget we share this home but
we have a tool embedded in us that
allows us to feel with others that tool
is empathy and while it’s easy to get
lost in what we know for example in the
span of my lifetime the population the
human population is more than doubled
and we’ve lost 50,000 species it’s
difficult to ignore how we feel so
please allow yourself to feel while I
ask you to come with me on a journey to
the Mergui archipelago 800 Islands
largely unexplored in the Andaman
see off the southern coast of Myanmar
near Thailand the indigenous people
Mogens
are sea gypsies only about 2,000
individuals survived today their
lifestyle nomadic lifestyle is based on
trade and it’s threatened by meager
catches and by their uncertain legal
status so that when they encounter
police on the water they can’t prove
where they were born so they’re taken to
land they’re given identity cards in
they’re forced to settle which for a
nomad equals prison we were told during
a trip which was a sailing expedition it
was unlikely that we would encounter
these people so when we saw this
flotilla we were very happy the next day
we approached this island and while we
were drawn by the houses on stilts we
rather questioned that large cement
structure but there was not enough time
to dwell because these children were
rowing towards us on their little cabins
their traditional log boats Moke and
children learn to swim before they walk
in fact the name of these people means
immersed in water and in their natural
element under water they have
exceptional eyesight ana lund from the
University and a Ghislaine from the
University of London Sweden studied this
remarkable trade and she found that in
their natural element they see twice as
well as Western children because they
can shrink their pupils more than any
other known human ethnicity and shape
the lens in a way similar to seals and
dolphins so they are basically the
Mogens people who live most intimately
with the oceans and you might have heard
about them because in December 2004 they
escaped the tsunami they predicted it
the wave that devastated coastal
communities in 12 countries and took an
estimated 230,000 lives because
generation after generation for
centuries they kept a story going about
the seventh wave or Laboon according to
the legend a wave that would sweep away
all evil and make room for new life
along with the prophecy came the
knowledge how to detect signs of the
lagoon through wave patterns and how to
seek Harbor by escaping to the mountains
or deep in water so when young boys saw
the tide pull away all of a sudden they
ran to tell the elders only their
villages were destroyed the population
survived and their story went around the
world what I didn’t know at the time was
that after the tragedy many Mogens were
forced to settle away from the water
inland they were joined in large
communities without ever having shared
living grounds before their home was the
ocean they were given modern facilities
such as running water sewage systems
electricity that they didn’t know how to
manage while we know everything about
what foods are good for us we eat seeds
and wild berries which we call
superfoods they were put on fast food as
their diets shifted to saturated sugars
and fats they developed diseases they
knew nothing about so with the purpose
of protecting them centuries of
traditions were erased in a matter of
months building techniques and daily
rituals how to harvest for food so is
this progress well let’s go and see
together these children greeting us are
graceful and beautiful these are the
kids that see like dolphins
we approach the island treading softly
entering the protected sanctuary and
there’s no Westerners in sight we’re in
a prime travellers experience and this
is what we see now what does a Mogan
village look like from the inside it
looks like that how long does it take
you to see the plastic can you count it
because our brains don’t want to go
there we move on to the island and we’re
attracted by a rainbow of colors in the
Little Shop and we approach it full of
expectations handicrafts made of cedar
bark but when we pop our heads in this
is what we see the Cascade of colors is
all made of plastic mono doses of candy
toys joy gives way to a million
questions about the consequences the hut
is quiet children which you can see
there are staring up at a muted TV set
the candy in their shop is advertised on
television all they have to do is reach
up and grab it and those crunchy
colorful wrappers slip out of their
hands as they unveil sweet saturated
flavors the garbage is everywhere it’s
on the path it’s in the water
nobody told these people that plastic
doesn’t go away nobody told them that
it’s one of nature’s biggest enemies so
is this progress
we can think no and we’re doomed or we
can think this isn’t progress but I know
what progress is we see it every day
we’re exploring space deeper and deeper
we’re editing DNA were designing
artificial leaves so how can we deal
with this if we look at it collectively
we think there’s just no way out but
let’s shift perspective for a moment
let’s break things down and bring them
to a human level and let’s stick to
plastic for a moment there are many
people who are taking plastic too big
concern we just heard a wonderful story
earlier or what about Boyan slat a 19
year old at the time who thought let’s
design nets to collect plastic from the
oceans
well his idea and his organization ocean
cleanup is making way quite well in
quite rapidly of course that can only be
one piece of the puzzle or what about
the biggest online platform for
petitions called ava’s a community forty
four million people strong they have
just put out a new campaign to push
countries to ban mono use plastics
because a hundred million bottles of
plastic are thrown away every day it’s a
big number more than we can fathom more
than all the recycling centers in the
world could deal with so that could be
another piece of the puzzle what about
Federica Berto kini the Italian
researcher who made headlines all over
the world with her serendipitous
discovery of plastic eating worms a worm
that by the way we used as long as we
know as bait to fish all of a sudden
we’re discovering that it has an enzyme
that can digest polyethylene that is
huge what a revolution for that creature
to pull a 360 like that so we need to
string together many solutions to our
big problems unlike last century where
we had one big solution for many many
things which was oil we can no longer
seek one solution for each problem and
we need to fuel our hope and these great
ideas I don’t know about you but they
give me a lot of hope my seed of hope on
this journey was when we visited this
mangrove pristine and pure nothing
man-made in sight we were told that it
was protected by an Italian organization
Yukos dedicated to protecting natural
environments and promoting sustainable
development thank you very much
and when I got home I found
organizations who have taken the Mogens
to heart so maybe there is hope that
their heritage might survive it’s
complicated but unlike them oaken’s we
can choose we can buy local food sourced
by community systems we can buy clothes
from responsible chains we can recycle
everything and use our imagination and
make new things we can filter our water
and free ourselves from plastic we have
an infinite host of solutions of course
again that we need to combine and why
would you say it’s relevant to scale
this well wouldn’t we rather export
models of progress that we’re proud of
unlike what we did to the poor Mogens
where we sent them a model of progress
that’s half a century outdated when
disposable goods and fast food were the
big new thing or isn’t it important to
scale best practices from one city to
the other in my home in Milan we recycle
everything 53% of the
household waste becomes something new
its regenerated my other home New York
one of the most advanced cities in the
world ships out every day 12,000 tons of
waste of garbage and only 17% gets
recycled so where do we go from here we
don’t like being told what to do or how
to do things though I rather enjoy it
and I have to watch myself because I
sometimes turn lights off in people’s
homes or close the faucet when it’s
running too much fortunately my friends
and family don’t think I’m a freak at
least not too much and they forgive me
but collectively we don’t like being
told what to do so remember empathy that
tool that we have our brains are wired
that way well it’s what you feel for
example when you see Oh sign bolt
reaching the finish line that surge of
emotions where you’re taking part of his
victory well let’s practice a moment of
empathy together would you love diving
in that fresh clear blue water right now
feel it just rise feel that pleasure
take you over and hold on to that
pleasure for a moment while I ask you to
come with me on another journey let’s
imagine going back to that Moken village
together in this sense of belonging who
would you like to take with you who
would you like to help the Moken people
clean up and understand what trashes
researchers or anthropologists who would
like to learn from the Mogens how to
seek refuge how to escape a tsunami or
inspired corporations who would like to
ship nutritious foods in biodegradable
packages there feel the power of this
human Tecna
at work which we still have not learned
to use at its full potential coupling
information imagination heart a lot of
heart
creativity imagine putting all the
intelligence at work in our ecosystems
which again we don’t know enough about
thank you stefano Mancuso for finally
saying that plants are intelligent and
please go and seek contact with trees so
could we conclude that progress is
keeping an eye to where we come from
honoring our home while looking forward
because if we don’t keep this double
perspective we risk getting so enamored
with all these technologies that we’re
inventing so fast that we might forget
who we are thank you
[Applause]
and in the United States I have roots on
this planet and I feel deeply connected
to nature and I love it some might call
me a tree hugger but I don’t really hug
trees it goes more like this
put your hands delicately on a trunk
feel the temperature feel the texture of
the bark you might not get much energy
first but if you couple what we know
trees breathe right and you imagine the
lymph flowing after a while scepticism
gives way to something quite powerful
and regenerating in fact when we’re in
forests chemicals named Fito cyanides
pour upon us they balance our immune
systems they balance our entire
well-being I’m rooted in the communities
that have shaped me and that continue to
forge new relations in fact in our
communities in our places we are tribal
by nature we strive to evolve but when
we pan out the picture gets messy
collectively we forget one we’re one big
family we forget we share this home but
we have a tool embedded in us that
allows us to feel with others that tool
is empathy and while it’s easy to get
lost in what we know for example in the
span of my lifetime the population the
human population is more than doubled
and we’ve lost 50,000 species it’s
difficult to ignore how we feel so
please allow yourself to feel while I
ask you to come with me on a journey to
the Mergui archipelago 800 Islands
largely unexplored in the Andaman
see off the southern coast of Myanmar
near Thailand the indigenous people
Mogens
are sea gypsies only about 2,000
individuals survived today their
lifestyle nomadic lifestyle is based on
trade and it’s threatened by meager
catches and by their uncertain legal
status so that when they encounter
police on the water they can’t prove
where they were born so they’re taken to
land they’re given identity cards in
they’re forced to settle which for a
nomad equals prison we were told during
a trip which was a sailing expedition it
was unlikely that we would encounter
these people so when we saw this
flotilla we were very happy the next day
we approached this island and while we
were drawn by the houses on stilts we
rather questioned that large cement
structure but there was not enough time
to dwell because these children were
rowing towards us on their little cabins
their traditional log boats Moke and
children learn to swim before they walk
in fact the name of these people means
immersed in water and in their natural
element under water they have
exceptional eyesight ana lund from the
University and a Ghislaine from the
University of London Sweden studied this
remarkable trade and she found that in
their natural element they see twice as
well as Western children because they
can shrink their pupils more than any
other known human ethnicity and shape
the lens in a way similar to seals and
dolphins so they are basically the
Mogens people who live most intimately
with the oceans and you might have heard
about them because in December 2004 they
escaped the tsunami they predicted it
the wave that devastated coastal
communities in 12 countries and took an
estimated 230,000 lives because
generation after generation for
centuries they kept a story going about
the seventh wave or Laboon according to
the legend a wave that would sweep away
all evil and make room for new life
along with the prophecy came the
knowledge how to detect signs of the
lagoon through wave patterns and how to
seek Harbor by escaping to the mountains
or deep in water so when young boys saw
the tide pull away all of a sudden they
ran to tell the elders only their
villages were destroyed the population
survived and their story went around the
world what I didn’t know at the time was
that after the tragedy many Mogens were
forced to settle away from the water
inland they were joined in large
communities without ever having shared
living grounds before their home was the
ocean they were given modern facilities
such as running water sewage systems
electricity that they didn’t know how to
manage while we know everything about
what foods are good for us we eat seeds
and wild berries which we call
superfoods they were put on fast food as
their diets shifted to saturated sugars
and fats they developed diseases they
knew nothing about so with the purpose
of protecting them centuries of
traditions were erased in a matter of
months building techniques and daily
rituals how to harvest for food so is
this progress well let’s go and see
together these children greeting us are
graceful and beautiful these are the
kids that see like dolphins
we approach the island treading softly
entering the protected sanctuary and
there’s no Westerners in sight we’re in
a prime travellers experience and this
is what we see now what does a Mogan
village look like from the inside it
looks like that how long does it take
you to see the plastic can you count it
because our brains don’t want to go
there we move on to the island and we’re
attracted by a rainbow of colors in the
Little Shop and we approach it full of
expectations handicrafts made of cedar
bark but when we pop our heads in this
is what we see the Cascade of colors is
all made of plastic mono doses of candy
toys joy gives way to a million
questions about the consequences the hut
is quiet children which you can see
there are staring up at a muted TV set
the candy in their shop is advertised on
television all they have to do is reach
up and grab it and those crunchy
colorful wrappers slip out of their
hands as they unveil sweet saturated
flavors the garbage is everywhere it’s
on the path it’s in the water
nobody told these people that plastic
doesn’t go away nobody told them that
it’s one of nature’s biggest enemies so
is this progress
we can think no and we’re doomed or we
can think this isn’t progress but I know
what progress is we see it every day
we’re exploring space deeper and deeper
we’re editing DNA were designing
artificial leaves so how can we deal
with this if we look at it collectively
we think there’s just no way out but
let’s shift perspective for a moment
let’s break things down and bring them
to a human level and let’s stick to
plastic for a moment there are many
people who are taking plastic too big
concern we just heard a wonderful story
earlier or what about Boyan slat a 19
year old at the time who thought let’s
design nets to collect plastic from the
oceans
well his idea and his organization ocean
cleanup is making way quite well in
quite rapidly of course that can only be
one piece of the puzzle or what about
the biggest online platform for
petitions called ava’s a community forty
four million people strong they have
just put out a new campaign to push
countries to ban mono use plastics
because a hundred million bottles of
plastic are thrown away every day it’s a
big number more than we can fathom more
than all the recycling centers in the
world could deal with so that could be
another piece of the puzzle what about
Federica Berto kini the Italian
researcher who made headlines all over
the world with her serendipitous
discovery of plastic eating worms a worm
that by the way we used as long as we
know as bait to fish all of a sudden
we’re discovering that it has an enzyme
that can digest polyethylene that is
huge what a revolution for that creature
to pull a 360 like that so we need to
string together many solutions to our
big problems unlike last century where
we had one big solution for many many
things which was oil we can no longer
seek one solution for each problem and
we need to fuel our hope and these great
ideas I don’t know about you but they
give me a lot of hope my seed of hope on
this journey was when we visited this
mangrove pristine and pure nothing
man-made in sight we were told that it
was protected by an Italian organization
Yukos dedicated to protecting natural
environments and promoting sustainable
development thank you very much
and when I got home I found
organizations who have taken the Mogens
to heart so maybe there is hope that
their heritage might survive it’s
complicated but unlike them oaken’s we
can choose we can buy local food sourced
by community systems we can buy clothes
from responsible chains we can recycle
everything and use our imagination and
make new things we can filter our water
and free ourselves from plastic we have
an infinite host of solutions of course
again that we need to combine and why
would you say it’s relevant to scale
this well wouldn’t we rather export
models of progress that we’re proud of
unlike what we did to the poor Mogens
where we sent them a model of progress
that’s half a century outdated when
disposable goods and fast food were the
big new thing or isn’t it important to
scale best practices from one city to
the other in my home in Milan we recycle
everything 53% of the
household waste becomes something new
its regenerated my other home New York
one of the most advanced cities in the
world ships out every day 12,000 tons of
waste of garbage and only 17% gets
recycled so where do we go from here we
don’t like being told what to do or how
to do things though I rather enjoy it
and I have to watch myself because I
sometimes turn lights off in people’s
homes or close the faucet when it’s
running too much fortunately my friends
and family don’t think I’m a freak at
least not too much and they forgive me
but collectively we don’t like being
told what to do so remember empathy that
tool that we have our brains are wired
that way well it’s what you feel for
example when you see Oh sign bolt
reaching the finish line that surge of
emotions where you’re taking part of his
victory well let’s practice a moment of
empathy together would you love diving
in that fresh clear blue water right now
feel it just rise feel that pleasure
take you over and hold on to that
pleasure for a moment while I ask you to
come with me on another journey let’s
imagine going back to that Moken village
together in this sense of belonging who
would you like to take with you who
would you like to help the Moken people
clean up and understand what trashes
researchers or anthropologists who would
like to learn from the Mogens how to
seek refuge how to escape a tsunami or
inspired corporations who would like to
ship nutritious foods in biodegradable
packages there feel the power of this
human Tecna
at work which we still have not learned
to use at its full potential coupling
information imagination heart a lot of
heart
creativity imagine putting all the
intelligence at work in our ecosystems
which again we don’t know enough about
thank you stefano Mancuso for finally
saying that plants are intelligent and
please go and seek contact with trees so
could we conclude that progress is
keeping an eye to where we come from
honoring our home while looking forward
because if we don’t keep this double
perspective we risk getting so enamored
with all these technologies that we’re
inventing so fast that we might forget
who we are thank you
[Applause]
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