Hi, it's Pierce Brosnan here, guest hosting today.

If you want to learn how to take real lasting climate action, like I do,

I want to invite you to join Countdown,

TED's new global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis.

Here's a talk from the Countdown Global Launch Event given by Ursula von der Leyen,

the president of the European Commission.

To hear more of these ideas and get involved, check out countdown.com and subscribe to the countdown podcast wherever you're listening to this.

Thank you so much.

Fighting climate change has become the greatest responsibility of our times.

And this is why in Europe we have set our objective to become the first carbon-neutral continent

by 2050.

This means leading an entire continent towards transitioning to clean energy, reinventing our

infrastructure, and much, much more.

It may sound abstract, and it sounds huge.

And yes, it's actually both.

And it is also possible.

Why?

In the European Union, we have a good record of turning ambitions into successes.

We are a political and economic union with 27 countries and a total population of 450 million people. On the ashes of

two world wars, we have secured lasting peace among us. From a divided continent, we have created a union

without borders. And I strongly believe we can also achieve our next challenge, becoming the first

carbon-neutral continent. When I became president of the European Commission, I send a clear signal.

...