Translator: Michele Gianella Reviewer: Nicoletta Pedrana
This is Walter, my son, almost two years old.
You see him so cheerful
because he just unpacked his last gift:
a fantastic tricycle.
I have to say, a child's laughter is a wonderful sound,
one of the world's most beautiful sounds -
unless it's night, and you don't have kids.
Walter, in no time, like everyone at his age,
curious as he is, explored and understood his first means of locomotion:
three wheels that, once riding,
will introduce him, for the first time, to the concept of speed.
After a few minutes,
little Walter's adventures get even richer,
because Walter discovers that speed comes with risks:
the carpet blocked one of the three wheels,
and he fell on the ground.
I have to say, all in all,
it's a scene we're pretty used to:
some tears, the search for a hug,
and he is back, ready to run faster than before.
If you think about it,
the chances of a tricycle tipping over should not be so high,
because this vehicle wasn't built
but to give balance to those who sit on top.
It's literally a sustainable means,
one that's able to stand
and remain in that position over time,
at least until the next danger.
When we talk about dangers,
it is always good to pay attention to the concept of time, also.
Because our brain cares so much
about all the present problems:
it takes all its energy, its computing ability,
to solve them.
But if the problem moves into the future,
our brain drastically loses the drive to solve it.
Some neuroscientists have also called it by a name:
they called it "Hard Empathy."
because it's like, for the brain,
a problem too far into the future was someone else's problem.
It's like, "Andrea, it's not your problem.
Set me free, that's a problem for the future Andrea".
If you think about it,
that's why some diets don't work;
anti-smoking advertising has never worked;
but above all, this is one of the reasons
why, even though we've been talking about a climate crisis for decades,
we haven't done much yet to solve it.
The problem was too far away in time.
It is the three wheels that sustained Walter's tricycle;
and in fact, when we talk about sustainability
we often find it represented exactly like this: three wheels.
Economy, environment and society.
That intertwine, intersect
and at that small intersection they give sustainability.
Here: this image is completely wrong.
It's wrong because it leads us to think
that an economy can exist, a society is an unsustainable environment.
For example, the sustainable economy
is a very small portion of the total economy.
But "being sustainable" means being able to last.
It is not an ethical or moral issue: it is a pure survival instinct.
And that's exactly why,
if we want our species to be sustainable,
we must concern ourselves with all these three aspects.
We need to be sure that the economy, to be durable, to last over time,
doesn't dismiss society, the social issues;
and that same society absolutely must not neglect the environment.
If we want to be sustainable,
we need to take care of all these three wheels together.
Besides, we saw with little Walter’s tricycle:
as long as one of the wheels stops, all of a sudden everything stops.
The speed slashes to 0.
and the tricycle doesn't do anymore what it was supposed to do:
support Walter.
Although it is evident today,
that we need to adopt more sustainable behaviours,
in order to last over time,
and despite the problem is becoming more and more obvious,
we're still far away.
But why is that?
Well, because in order to be sustainable, you have to innovate.
We need to innovate what we do, how we do it and why we do it.
And innovation is not an easy thing:
innovation, be innovative, is a long, tiring, tortuous path,
which takes a lot of time and money.
In recent years, I worked in close contact,
with many corporations, ministries and international organizations,
and I spotted out some common factors that inevitably prevent innovation,
and therefore prevent us to reach sustainability.
The first block to innovation
is fear:
fear of innovation itself, of change, of the new.
Although we often tell each other the opposite,
changing our habits is scaring for us.
It scares us because we've invested so much time, and money,
to learn to do that particular thing;
we don't want someone suddenly changing the way we do it.
Let's imagine, for example, that I told you
that tomorrow I will change all QWERTY keyboards -
the keyboards we use every day,
even on your phone -
with new keyboards.
I will replace them in your workplace,
be it home or in the office.
New keyboards
will have keys positioned in a completely differently way;
and I do it on purpose,
which is to make you write faster
and also making fewer typing errors.
What do you say?
You're probably all thinking, well, no thank you.
I'm pretty fast with my keyboard,
I make very few mistakes with my keyboard.
And that's exactly what happened,
because the QWERTY keyboard patent
dates back to 1864.
It was made for typewriters, if course.
that would only hit the market 10 years later, mind you.
And you know what the aim of this patent was?
Slow down the typing,
so that the hammers of typewriters
do not get stuck.
Now, it is clear that a lot of other patents
have tried to improve, innovate the way we write.
Clearly we changed the way we do it today:
we have computers today.
And it's also completely different how and why we communicate.
Yet our habit has been much stronger.
The second block to innovation is similarity.
If we all agree in one room,
something will hardly come up
from our conversation.
Now, do any of you have a garden?
Raise your hand!
Okay, I don't see you.
but I'm guessing someone will have a garden.
You guys with a garden, but we also without,
we know that a green garden needs continuous care:
watering it, pruning the plants, defending it from parasites and bacteria.
Which of course takes time and skills,
as well as money.
If we look a little further,
we see the Amazon forest
grow green for miles and miles,
even in the absence of qualified gardeners.
This is possible thanks to its incredible biodiversity:
so many different organisms
that precisely because of this diversity
keep the forest system in balance,
a system where everything is connected.
The problem, again,
is speed.
Because if you think about it,
maintaining and creating such a different balance
does take time.
Similarity is very fast, on the other hand.
Think about it:
if you're planning a vacation, what do you usually do?
Go to the couple of friends with the same tastes,
the same spending power, children of the same age as yours.
And also, if you have a problem, go to your best friend
because he knows you, understands you
and he will almost certainly agree with you.
Here's the problem: similarity is very convenient -
because it allows us to do things quickly -
but it's a disaster in the long run,
because it develops and determines what can be called a unique thought,
within which innovation never grows.
The third and final block
that prevents us from innovating, to be sustainable,
is disconnection.
Disconnection understood as incapacity
to connect and share emotions, ideas, help.
Our nets are incredibly small and closed,
while they should be large, generous and open.
I'll ask the plants to help me here, too.
Yes, the plants.
that are not as lonely, and as silent, as we might imagine.
In Earth's secret,
plants communicate, trade,
exchange information and help each other.
A dense network of roots, connected together by mushrooms.
It's called the Wood Wide Web: it works like the Internet, but better.
Within this incredible network,
there are some slightly older trees, called mother trees,
who take care of the younger trees,
who are usually in the shadows,
who do not get sunlight,
and send them lots of nutrients.
Even trees that are sick, or dying,
give all their resources away
to make nearby trees grow healthier and stronger.
It's not over.
because trees can also communicate with each other
when there's a danger:
warn each other, face each other and help each other.
Obviously, like all respected networks,
we also have hackers here:
the black walnut, mind you,
when it feels threatened,
sends toxic substances to trees deemed rival.
This incredible, fantastic superorganism
which is the Wood Wide Web
shows us how the relentless exchange
bring us something incredibly positive.
This is yet another demonstration that in order to be sustainable,
we need to be connected.
Now, my whole speech was thought and developed on a concept,
speed.
We associate speed, almost inevitably, with a positive concept.
We consider it a merit:
we think that being fast
give us more chance to be innovative,
to be more sustainable, to last longer.
But speed has nothing to do with the complexity of a species,
with its ability to last over time.
A hummingbird wings 80 times a second,
but that does not make it smarter and more sustainable than a human being.
We don't help each other like plants:
but not just out of selfishness,
but because our lives go so fast
that sometimes we don't even realize what they need.
When you go fast, so fast,
you can't even see the changes,
watch them, anticipate them;
you can only react to them quickly.
And that's what we've always done:
we have always looked for quick solutions
that would allow us to change at the last possible second,
that would allow us to resolve the issue on the thin ice.
And this made us think that everything is reversible:
but this time it's different.
This time we don't need a quick fix;
we quickly need a slow solution,
that lasts over time,
that allows us to create that ecosystem that overcomes fears,
and overcome the resistance of innovation.
A single system made up of many different actors,
but incredibly connected to each other.
This time, my dear Walter, we're running out of time.
we have to slow down.
Thanks.
(Applause)