Take action on climate change at .
Novelist Elif Shafak invites us to listen to the trees, whose experience of time, stillness and impermanence is utterly different from our own. “Hidden inside [their] story is the past and the future of humanity,” she says.
This talk was part of the Countdown Global Launch on 10.10.2020. (Watch the full event here: .) 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
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Naya -
November 25, 2020 at 7:22 pm
If anything, the books let us witness our actions regarding the trees while hearing their perspective at the same time. Don’t cloud the message, guys.
manosmack
November 25, 2020 at 7:43 pm
a littlle Kiss !!!
Orbitinbloom
November 25, 2020 at 7:44 pm
Aaa this is so beautiful, thank you!
Salih Mert
November 25, 2020 at 8:17 pm
Shafak ne lan shafuck de istersen bu ne bir asimililektir
ahmet izmir
November 26, 2020 at 8:12 pm
:))
Stefano Signoretto
November 25, 2020 at 8:29 pm
Beautiful.. I’ll take ispiraction of this talk for a discourse of my novel
Noend26 D.A
November 25, 2020 at 9:09 pm
If America could think
We won’t have Biden, a man
That can’t think
Aylbdr Madison
November 26, 2020 at 1:08 am
_He who shall henceforth forever remain nameless_ can barely formulate a complete sentence.
I see you are no more linguistically literate than out toddler in chief.
*Hypocrite.*
blobbo
November 25, 2020 at 9:54 pm
imma kill all the trees if they could talk
Terry Wheelock
November 25, 2020 at 11:55 pm
I wish trees could pull a trigger, then you might see some respect! 🤣 It is good to be the TOP DOG!
No one will care, it will NEVER happen, until you make it practical and profitable to preserve the trees! 🤣
gc5484
November 26, 2020 at 1:54 am
The trees speak, and soon all will hear them.
Titan Greyback
November 26, 2020 at 2:31 am
Who else came here just because they know Elif cuz of the covers of the books they love??
Teaghan Dickson
November 26, 2020 at 2:35 am
This was incredible, provoking, and her voice was so relaxing!
Lisa Harrystone
November 26, 2020 at 4:45 am
I don’t really like reading books, but I really liked the books in the library that really helped my work as a bookworm 🍁
Princess Lea
November 26, 2020 at 5:12 am
This is beautiful and true. I do actually listen to trees on my walks..I like to observe them peacefully, listen to the branches and leaves rustle in the wind.and the plants.and I thank them and admire them, water them.I understand what you are saying. We humans, not all, do not really “listen” to the planet and what it is telling us. But the ones that do are lucky because that is when the true connection between planet earth and human nature can take form and we can live in harmony and not against this amazing living planet that is our home. After all, we come from this planet and the universe.
Dustin F
November 26, 2020 at 6:39 am
“Imagine if trees gave off Wifi signals, we would be planting so many trees and we’d probably save the planet too. Too bad they only produce the oxygen we breathe.”
-Tarun Sarathe
Дарья Тарасенко
November 29, 2020 at 5:30 pm
But they can hear as well as we, i have read or heard this somewhere, truly want to believe it is so..❤
Алина Сунарчина
November 26, 2020 at 7:20 am
The trees speak latin🌿
zapper zap
November 26, 2020 at 11:13 am
“they”>>>
Raghu Nandan
November 26, 2020 at 4:56 pm
I am a great admirer of Ms. Elif Shafak. I love to listen to her soothing voice.
Terry Amstutz
November 26, 2020 at 5:03 pm
Trees can’t speak but Ents can.
ahmet izmir
November 26, 2020 at 8:08 pm
*This woman is not as innocent as she seems. This video is just to show the woman sympathetically.*
*This woman’s husband is a member of a terrorist organization (FETO-Fettullah Gülen Terrorist Organization) about her husband Turkey also has an arrest warrant. Her husband currently live outside Turkey… Her terrorist husband’s name is “Eyüp CAN”.*
This terrorist organization; They are organized in a Zionist style and if necessary, they kill innocent people. They killed hundreds of people in this way and they did assassinations in Turkey. The FETO terrorist organization is currently engaged in similar activities in the USA.
Although this terrorist organization appears to be Islamist, it has nothing to do with religion. They just try to steal their own followers’ money and try to infiltrate the state ranks of the countries.
In other words, the main purpose of this video is not to create environmental awareness, we will learn what the main purpose of this “terrorist’s wife” is in the coming years.
André Jacques
November 26, 2020 at 8:14 pm
I am a feminist!
Amine Mouhamed
November 26, 2020 at 11:02 pm
The words are well chosen, meaningful and valuable
Trees are important in our world.
Kanak Agrawal
November 27, 2020 at 5:39 am
Again lit up the fire inside me to become an environmentalist
fati falls
November 29, 2020 at 1:49 am
👍🏽
Justin Kincaid
November 27, 2020 at 12:59 pm
They would tell you to stop speaking for them without their permission.
DutchRonin
November 27, 2020 at 1:32 pm
If trees could speak, they would ask for more carbondioxide in the air so that they can grow more.
Autonomous Wasabi
November 28, 2020 at 2:01 am
I love Elif Shafak!!
Oz Bloke
November 29, 2020 at 3:17 am
Just so profound and beautiful
Дарья Тарасенко
November 29, 2020 at 5:29 pm
This brief, but extremely significant story doooes prove one more time that we all are connected with nature, its, undoubtedly, beneficial power and inspiring spirit. It is impossible to live separately, because every tree “can hear and heal us”. We need to become more aware, attentive and sensible❤