Science & Technology

Farwiza Farhan: The powerful women on the front lines of climate action | TED Countdown

When it comes to big problems like climate change, we tend to focus on big solutions — but many of the best ideas come from people on the ground, facing day-to-day conservation battles. Sharing her effort to protect the Leseur ecosystem in Indonesia (the last place on Earth where the Sumatran rhino, tiger, elephant and…

Published

on

When it comes to big problems like climate change, we tend to focus on big solutions — but many of the best ideas come from people on the ground, facing day-to-day conservation battles. Sharing her effort to protect the Leseur ecosystem in Indonesia (the last place on Earth where the Sumatran rhino, tiger, elephant and orangutan still roam together in the wild), TED Fellow and conservationist Farwiza Farhan explains the challenges women face on the front lines of forest preservation within patriarchal societies — and the resilient, world-changing power they hold.

Countdown is TED’s global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at

Learn more about #TEDCountdown:
Twitter:
Instagram:
Facebook:
Website:

Watch the full 2021 TED Countdown Global livestream here:

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

Become a TED Member:
Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:
Subscribe to our channel:

TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

41 Comments

  1. Florian Hansch

    February 1, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    You do realise paternalistic just means a denial of self autonomy, as in a parent to a child? If you to want bring attention to your good cause with click bait I suggest you wear a bikini, because 70% of YouTube viewers are in fact men. Alternatively and much preferred, provide us with some interesting factual documentaries to stimulate of minds.

  2. SUBB FOR SUBB BACK ꪜ

    February 1, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    I found this channel randomly; it is really a channel that produces quality content.🤗
    🤗

  3. SUBB FOR SUBB BACK ꪜ

    February 1, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    Trust the path, trust your self, and ultimately follow your inner voice over the chatter of external rationalisings.😙🙃😙

  4. Thoren

    February 1, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    While the climate war rages on the front lines, these powerful women are fighting tooth and nail to stem the tide of darkness. It really makes you put your own life of leisure in perspective!

  5. Jakes Yaseen

    February 1, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    Man is driven by super egos . Woman is driven by inborn instinct To Conceive give birth , to new human being , breast feeding raise the infant , child, adult which is the hardest job in the world driven by love and is love back man driven by conscious

  6. Syeda Saleha Khan

    February 1, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    Many more challenges come to women life ..many time they are facing dengrous and critical conditions ..if they have full believe on the god ..so definitely his power to help us😥

  7. JT

    February 1, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    DISLIKE

    • Tenenx

      February 1, 2022 at 4:52 pm

      +1

    • Tara Ķøřā

      February 1, 2022 at 6:50 pm

      +1

  8. astralux

    February 1, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    i subbed so i can dislike every video

  9. suicune2001

    February 1, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    If someone wants to help protect against climate change then be vegan.

    • Eli Nope

      February 1, 2022 at 6:31 pm

      @suicune2001 Why not both? This either or attitude isn’t going to inspire cooperation.

      But to answer your question, the beef lovers will attack your approach and the problem will persist MUCH longer.

    • suicune2001

      February 1, 2022 at 7:08 pm

      @Eli Nope I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy of wanting to help climate change and then actively participating in the worst part of it. And the main problem with making people feel better about their terrible choices is that encourages people to keep doing it.

    • Eli Nope

      February 1, 2022 at 7:16 pm

      @suicune2001 Yeah, I was forced to make that decision and decided that I don’t support combatting climate change.

      How many others are like me because as a response to the words and actions of people like you?

    • suicune2001

      February 1, 2022 at 7:33 pm

      @Eli Nope If you choose to destroy the world you and your loved ones live on, I can’t do anything about that. Just as I can’t stop anyone from contributing to the creation of zoonotic diseases by eating animals. All I can do is educate others on what their choices actually mean.

      Do you know what would happen if McDonald’s had a commercial that said, “same great taste, now with 40% less methane emissions!” ? Their sales would skyrocket. More people would eat it and feel better about doing so. It would make things WORSE, not better.

    • Eli Nope

      February 1, 2022 at 7:41 pm

      @suicune2001 Then do it quietly. Regulate using it in advertising but also use the things that do reduce emissions. Know what will happen to beef prices if seaweed were not a monopoly, and was widely available and was required as part of a methane reduction plan? Beef prices would go up, fewer people would pay so much for it, and methane reductions would occur both on the side of people who stopped buying it and people who chose to pay more because they valued it.

      But attacking the beef industry and saying to go vegan? If you wanted that to work, you had to start 4 generations ago. If you want cooperation at all from people who aren’t going to give up steak anytime soon, you will have to start with cooperating with them. Cooperation is not one sided, and there are a very large number of people who will disobey orders from on high simply over the principle that they don’t agree that those people can give those orders.

      You turn addressing a problem into a new political problem with the original problem still there by using your methods. You don’t have to believe me, go ahead and look at recent history. Your strategy will lead to greater climate change because you were not flexible in your path to address it.

  10. Nadishka Perera

    February 1, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    This is so dumb

  11. RRIDAFITNESS

    February 1, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    🧒🏻🧒🏽🍒🍒🍒🍒👍👍🏽

  12. kassandrawannabe

    February 1, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    I’m an environmental advocate in Trinidad and Tobago and I have faith that some day my work will change the world, even if it’s one person at a time

    • Alexis King

      February 2, 2022 at 11:44 pm

      Yes it will sis!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 👏🏽 Thank you in advance.

  13. Eli Nope

    February 1, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    Women hold up half the sky, but the muses have been disrespected and are choosing not to inspire the men to care.

    A powerful muse with 9 strong men can accomplish far more than 20 strong independent women. But the ruling class’ power is threatened by muses in the modern age because of the reach of the internet.

  14. Life with Joey

    February 1, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    Cool story but why is Farwiza Farhan telling it in a way that places emphasis on things unrelated to what the story is about? It really takes away from the amazing work Sumini is doing. TED should allow her to tell her own story

  15. Higher Primate

    February 1, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    The planet will survive, we are not.

    • Krystal

      February 1, 2022 at 5:59 pm

      People will starve trying to save the planet, you’re probably right.

  16. El Bicho

    February 1, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    Blah blah blah

  17. CMDR After Hours

    February 1, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    If you fall for this sort of thing, I don’t know what to tell you. Just another excuse to further enslavement people. Wake up. This is beyond ridiculous.

  18. Mike Toyo

    February 1, 2022 at 8:27 pm

    Stop. Just stop. No climate. No space. Work on the humans. We need to work on us. We need human development centeres.

  19. Shaun Rankin

    February 1, 2022 at 10:07 pm

    Climate change is the devils creation to hide signs from God in the heavens and the skies.

  20. Mumu Maxima

    February 1, 2022 at 11:41 pm

    I didn’t particularly appreciate it because she tells others’ stories. Supposed to be Sumini and other villagers on the stage, not her

  21. Bihansa thathsari

    February 2, 2022 at 1:26 am

    Womens rights!!

  22. suspicious mindz

    February 2, 2022 at 1:54 am

    Your super fine 😃

  23. Toni

    February 2, 2022 at 1:55 am

    Thank you for the information. It was awakening.

  24. Zenn Exile

    February 2, 2022 at 2:22 am

    The real front line of carbon management is in the soil we all walk on. You don’t need to be strong or powerful or connected. All you need is to put back into the soil what has been taken. Then just allow life it’s purpose. Everyone can do this. Everywhere. That solves EVERY problem we face as a global human society. Just feed the soil organic waste, and let life grow in it, on it, and of it. Put the carbon back. That’s all we have to do. It’s maddeningly simple. But you’re all too brainwashed by 50 shades of nonsense to see it. Life is carbon. More life in and on the ground = less carbon in the atmosphere.

    Everything else is an orchestration based on a desire to generate revenue or political will. If you think you can prove me wrong, I double dog dare you to. And even before you try I will double down and claim that not only can you not prove this wrong, but every part of the carbon problem you think is an essential issue could very well be completely ignored for another century, if and ONLY if, we begin encouraging the abundant growth of life starting with the soil and every other form of life it sustains.

    We don’t need to reduce meat consumption or dairy production. We need to increase it, and decentralize it. Return them to migratory grazing to support permaculture carbon batteries over vast areas like Bison used to in North America. We have the herds, and feeding them is cheaper. Drone management of herd movement couldn’t be easier.

    Repairing the harm we’ve let the Industrial Revolution cause to the Rhizosphere itself will erase the carbon footprint of ALL human activity. In a historic and all encompassing way. All of it. And it achieves this by creating abundant life and defining abundant life as a vitally necessary resource. One that provides the basis for all human needs, and when produced to extreme abundance both eliminates the harm we’ve caused already, reverses it, and prevents the economic slavery our only other option provides children of the future.

    Economic inequality begins and ends as a line in the soil. A line between the scarcity of life, and the abundant curation of it. Either we continue our path of consolidation and scarcity or we reverse it and inspire abundance. One path solves our problems, one path permanently institutionalizes them.

    This is the real choice that YOU and only YOU can make. Corporations are buying your mind with convenience, political organizations are renting it with fear. They depend on this scarcity model and keeping you focused on your own best interests in order to continue consolidating. To continue controlling life itself.

    But YOU have the power to make life. And I don’t just mean new shaved monkeys with new problems. ALL life. You can choose to make a piece of land productive for life, and choose to be a part of that ecosystem. Or you can choose the convenience of having someone else do that for you, as long as you are willing to agree to the Terms and Conditions.

    People all pretend to want to be free. But convenience sure feels nice. Are you gonna help save humanity from itself? Or sell out your children’s future for temporary convenience? I already know the answer. Do you?

  25. Raymond Reddington

    February 2, 2022 at 3:09 am

    She is STUNNING

  26. Tim Chau

    February 2, 2022 at 3:27 am

    🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙🦙

  27. Bill the Fifth

    February 2, 2022 at 4:52 am

    No time for this feminist bull crap. I like how you’re using a crisis to push an agenda.

  28. AuthorBooksReader

    February 2, 2022 at 6:59 am

    Very Inspiring And Motivating!!!!

  29. سبحان الله وبحمده

    February 2, 2022 at 11:01 am

    Mostly lies

  30. DAMODARAN SWAMINATHAN

    February 2, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    Long back ,one of my professors, interested in conservation,got a grant,from the ministry of environment , invite the teachers and their students,provide them boarding and lodging ,and give them lot of seeds and other plant materials, of that forest,and ask them to plant and thus created awareness about the importance and conservation of forests for sustainability.All govts can follow this example.Thank you very much Rev.Fr.Mathew of St.Joseph’s college , Tiruchirappalli,Tamilnadu for your initiative.let our remembrances may reach you @ heaven.

  31. Hassan AK

    February 2, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    Amazing

  32. totalfreedom45

    February 2, 2022 at 4:37 pm

    Climate action needs to tackle these two issues:
    *_1_* Worldwide women hold just *_29%_* of senior management roles.
    *_2_* Just *_1.1%_* of the world’s population hold *_45.8%_* of global wealth.
    💕 ☮ 🌎 🌌

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending

Exit mobile version