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Observer
3 days ago
- General
- Observer
Grief and grit in the climate fight
I didn't come to TED Countdown, a global gathering focused on accelerating climate solutions, in search of answers. I came carrying questions. Heavy ones. About exhaustion. About how long one can stay in the climate movement without losing the very thing that drew them in: belief. It has been four years since I gave my TED talk, filmed in the stillness of Oman's lockdown, standing in the mangroves of Yankit, who have always been more than trees to me. They are teachers. They hold storms, heal waters and never ask for applause. In that moment, even through a screen, I wanted to share that symbol of climate resilience. I did not know then how much I would need that same resilience now. I saw that tension again in Al Gore's talk. His words did not sound rehearsed. They sounded bruised. He spoke against the rise of climate realism, a quiet surrender dressed up as pragmatism. That realism does not make us honest. It makes us tired. It tells us to shrink our vision to match political convenience. But I have never believed realism and ambition are opposites. You can face the facts and still believe in miracles. You can be heartbroken and still show up. There was also a session that asked whether the 1.5 degree target is already dead. Some said yes. Others refused to surrender. But what struck me most was not the debate. It was what it revealed. We are still struggling to mourn while we act. Still learning to speak both loss and urgency in the same breath. In the session I co-led, titled Spiritual Resilience for Climate Action, we asked a different question: what roots us? We read sacred verses, sat in silence and shared the quotes and memories that carry us through. We often reach for graphs and policy briefs. But sometimes, the most powerful thing is a remembered verse or a deep breath before a storm. That space grounded me more than any debate or headline. It was a return to why we do this in the first place. Not for data points, but for the land and lives we love. And then there was the fire. Not in speeches, but in what is already being done. Over a million people have signed on to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, led by Pacific Island nations who have no luxury of delay. Outside the United Nations process, they are building the future anyway. That is not protest. It is leadership. The Global South is not waiting to be rescued. It is offering rescue. There is no shortcut through climate grief. But naming it matters. Sitting with it matters. And still choosing to act, especially when the story seems too heavy to lift, is what transforms that grief into something enduring. I am leaving Nairobi without easy optimism. But with something stronger: clarity. Climate fatigue is real. But so is climate faith. And faith, for me, is not just belief in a better outcome. It is belief that showing up again and again matters. That grief can coexist with grit. That stillness can sharpen resolve.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pattie Gonia makes history with in-drag TED Talk: 'Joy is rebellious'
Activist, musician, drag queen, and 2024 Out100 honoree Pattie Gonia made history by delivering an in-drag TED Talk on the event's main stage. During her talk — titled "Why joy is a serious way to take action" — Pattie advocated for climate change, made the audience laugh, and discussed how turning pain into joy can be a powerful force to "fight for what we love." Sign up for the to keep up with what's new in LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment — delivered three times a week straight (well…) to your inbox! Pattie's main-stage TED Talk — filmed in Brussels, Belgium in October 2024 — was officially released this week. Under the premise that "joy is a strategy to fight back," the environmentalist queen discussed the biggest lesson that the art form of drag has taught her: "You can take fighting for something seriously without taking yourself too seriously." Pattie recalled, "When queer people were beaten in their homes, and put in jail just for existing. When we had the statistics and the facts on the millions of queer people dying of AIDS — yet no one was joining our fight — drag performers turned pain into joy. And, in doing so, welcomed millions more people to fight with us." After explaining that joy is a great and necessary tool to make the climate movement feel irresistible and to inspire others to join, Pattie argued that "we deserve more than doom and gloom, because this is the only planet with a Beyoncé on it." As the audience laughed, the queen added: "Facts are facts, TED." Pattie was invited to speak at TED Countdown, the organization's main climate event every year, during the fall of 2024. "It was a whole production!" Pattie tells Out. "From designing an upcycled dress with designer Anna Molinari out of pool floaties, shower curtains, and Barbie doll pieces; to memorizing the script in the middle of tour last fall in the back of our tour van; to learning a lot about queer history and the AIDS crisis." While many drag artists have spoken at independently organized TEDx events, and RuPaul himself has delivered a main-stage TED Talk out of drag, Pattie has broken new ground delivering a talk on the TED main stage and being in full drag. When asked about the significance of a drag artist being taken seriously to deliver a legitimate TED Talk about climate change while presenting in full drag, Pattie replied that we need even "more drag queens on main stages." "The world is finally waking up to the power of queerness and drag," she added. "To be honest, that's why so many people in power — like billionaires and politicians destroying this planet for profit — are feeling so threatened." Pattie Gonia's full TED Talk, "Why joy is a serious way to take action," is now streaming on .
