- I've never in my professional life
had so much reason to be scared as today.
But I've never had in my professional life,
so much reason to be hopeful than today.
(lively music)
- You have said the ice is melting to a point of no return
and we know that all ecosystems are deeply interconnected.
So I was wondering, why is the Arctic so crucial
for global climate stability?
- There's so much to know about the polar regions,
about ice sheets that are fundamentally important
for the action on solving the climate crisis.
We have these two permanent caps
that hold the climate stable.
The more ice that melts the darker the planet becomes.
And the darker it becomes,
the more heat from the sun is absorbed
and heats up the planet.
So this is one of the biggest nightmares
that we are looking into
and we would be committing all future generations
to certainly an additional one, two,
potentially three meters of sea level rise.
Not that it would happen overnight,
but that we would not be able to stop it.
It may take the centuries,
but it would not be possible to stop.
- What do you see the role
of the Green New Deal being in combating the climate crisis?
- So this is the grand moment for investing
in a sustainable future.
I hope we can see even more green deals emerging
and not only green deals
in terms of beautiful, political rhetorics,
but in terms of real, real money on the ground
for real action.
We know where to put the money.
So we still need to go from talk to walk
and, but the potentials are there.
- Why is it that we still don't take action?
Why is it that the world is still not ready to take
the necessary steps needed for us to get out of this crisis?
- I think what we've seen just the last five years
is that the world is showing
more and more convincing signs of being ready.
And I agree that so far, we can still be very critical
because we see more promises than delivery so far.
But still the promises are more likely
to become real action, given that we have so much proof
that the banks, the financial institutions,
the big players and economies
are starting to see the writing on the wall.
And the writing on the wall is that if you want to win,
if you want to really have good outcomes,
you go the sustainable route.
So let's see what happens the next few years.
But I definitely share the concern posed in this question,
but I see a change, a sea change really,
that that may make a different in the coming years
- With all the research you have done
and the things you've seen happening around the world,
what gives you hope?
- Now, I'm a positive guy.
I'm always trying to look at the bright side of things,
but things are not always that bright.
And I cannot say that every day is hopeful.
In fact, many days are not so hopeful.
We learned for the first time
that even the Amazon rainforest has tipped over
from being a carbon sink to now being a net source,
emitting more carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases
than it's absorbing.
That, it would not be honest to say
that I can be hopeful when I read such findings.
And that is a reality of the situation we're in.
But in all of that,
let's say in all of that challenging darkness,
there is light.
There's, it's almost like they're kind of weighing equally
on either side.
And that is where the little sliver of light comes in
because it is worth fighting for.
And what gives me hope here,
that despite all the risks we have in that negative bowl,
at least, I conclude at least,
from the scientific evidence at hand,
that we still have a chance.
We haven't fallen over the escarpment yet.
The planet is not rolling away
irreversibly towards a hothouse earth.
We still can turn back into a safe operating space.
It's, we're close, so close that I get nervous,
but we're not there yet.
And that we can turn back
and that we have the solutions and we know how to do it.
That gives hope.
(gentle music)