All language subtitles for Earth.Protectors.2023.720p.WEBRip.800MB.x264-GalaxyRG

I had a pretty unconventional childhood.

My father was the publisher
and friend of Jacques Cousteau,

the underwater explorer.

And so I grew up listening to the stories
of Cousteau’s adventures.

I remember one day him
telling me the very first time

they dove into this dark cave
with some experimental lighting.

They hoped it would improve
their ability to film underwater.

In the murky depths,

sea life had always just appeared
as dark and gray silhouettes.

But when they turned on the lights

they discovered the most extraordinary
colors they had ever seen.

I was really young,

but I remember feeling just how much
that experience had affected him.

Not only had they discovered
something so beautiful in nature,

but they had the power to share those
incredible colors with millions of people.

He knew how much that could change
our perception of the world.

And something profound
changed within me that day.

I think that's
when I became an artist.

In 2013 I began

photographing these installations,
that I call TimeShrines,

to document
how our planet was changing.

I started using these strong symbols
about time and choice,

everywhere I went.

I wanted to show what we have,

what we're about to lose,

and especially
what we've already lost.

I discovered so many worlds
along the way.

From the highest peaks
of the Himalaya...

to the depths of our underworld.

From the Amazonian rainforest
to the great mega cities.

Everywhere I went
I found the same story.

One story.

From the earth's tallest peaks
to the ocean floor,

scientists warn no part of the world
will be spared from the climate crisis.

That storms are going to sweep the Earth
and we are all gonna die by a heat wave.

I mean, this is an incredible
bad bad science...

Roughly one million species
are on the verge of extinction.

Carbon dioxide doesn't control
temperatures or climate

on any scale of time.

When I was a kid I never really thought
about whether the world that I knew

might be different
20 years down the road.

It’s during this journey that I realized
just how fast the world is changing.

One worst case prediction sees

a billion people affected
by the year 2050.

Drought and famine are forecasted

along with more frequent
and destructive storms.

All civilizations will become
spacefaring or extinct.

We need a plan B.

It became clear I couldn’t rely solely
on my artistic intuition to understand it.

I needed a soundboard.
I needed facts.

That’s when I met
Doctor Julie Pullen.

Climate change can manifest in so
many different ways across the planet.

As you have seen on your travels,
as you chronicled,

not everywhere
is experiencing rainfall,

not everywhere is at the moment
experiencing extreme heat.

And so weaving that story together,
these are all connected.

This is a global pattern
with local impacts.

It's a really big story to tell.

Throughout my journey
I noticed a kind of pattern emerging.

A lot of the people that I encountered
were on the front line...

and already dealing with
the changing planet.

They were reacting to it,

but more than anything,
they were adapting to a new world.

It was clear to me
I had to share their stories

in order to make my art complete.

Upper Mustang is one of the most
remote location in the Himalaya.

It's very difficult to fly to,

because the mountains are so high
and so close together

that it's actually quite dangerous
to get there by plane.

It was incredible: you felt like
you could actually touch the mountains

if you had stuck your hand
out the window.

Some of the milestones of change
are associated with the higher latitudes,

seemed to be happening
sooner than was projected.

You know, some of the most
resilient people are on the planet

are the ones that are experiencing
the most acute changes

associated with climate change.

This way? Let’s go this way.

This way!

Upper Mustang used to be this isolated
kingdom in north of the Himalayas.

As a kid, we grew up
like playing in the rivers, riding horses.

Trying to ride cows and all that.

The first visitor arrived in 1992
when it was open for tourism.

I remember that somebody had
a Polaroid camera

and he took photos of us
and gave it to us.

Me and my friends
were like very blown away

to see this foreign person
in the neighborhood.

But we were all even shocked
to see all the little things

like the Polaroid photos
of ourselves and things like this.

Tashi is part of the new youth groups
that have started in that region.

These youth groups are trying
to preserve their culture and their art,

and in the same time they try to develop
new opportunities for a new generation

to be able to stay there
and not leave to go to the cities.

Hey, look at these guys!

We used to ride horses and cows.
They're riding bicycles.

A new set of Prayer wheels.
They're so shiny and bling bling.

They are!
They are so bling, bling.

Someday I would love
to make electricity out of them.

I would love to put a little turbine
and then you can have electricity.

- That would be amazing!
- Yes, there would be streetlamps.

I'm here because we want to document
the evolution of the climate here,

and climate change
and climate breakdown in a way.

And so... nobody really believes that
is happening in the Himalayas.

It's very hard for people to think
it's cold in the glaciers and all that.

The glacial sources of water are drying up

and, if they're not drying up,
they're getting reduced so much

that they have not enough water
to irrigate their fields,

which is the main source of food.

It's just a desert everywhere.

And two of these villages
that we're going to,

the only option is to move elsewhere where
there's abundant sources of water.

So they're moving right now.

If you find it hard to balance
you just press your knees onto the...

The glaciers
in the Himalayan region represent

the primary fresh water source
for that whole region.

Downstream
it’s really creating life for humans,

so losing the glaciers
is going to transform their lives.

It was very challenging
and a little dangerous too,

especially if you're not
a good horseback rider like me.

You've got these really deep ditches

and your horse is going
on this really thin path...

You just shouldn't look down,
you just have to trust your horse

and just keep on going.

It was like really living the nomad life

and seeing and understanding
how they've been living forever.

What moves me a lot,
or moves so many people I'm sure,

is when you see
in televisions and news and media

that people believe
in climate change or not...

and the fact that some people
think they can believe in it or not.

It's just so striking when you see it
happening right in front of you.

As a westerner I had this vision that
the Himalayas, snow and ice and water...

I really didn't realize that
there was such a drama unfolding.

There is so much ancient culture there,

and so it's this incredible duality:
they're losing their glaciers,

but there's such a great risk that
they're going to be losing their culture.

It was almost immediate:

there was no way
I could recount the story of the loss

without integrating
the cultural loss as well.

- Oh my goodness, this is amazing.
- Yes.

The protector Gods of Samdzong.

They're so strange...
They are so different.

All the protective Gods are made to look
as wrathful as possible, you know?

They will be forced to migrate,

and they will have to abandon
their ancestry.

They are literally leaving
their gods behind.

It's a big reality:

the 2000 Himalayan glaciers that are
feeding around 1.6 billion people on earth

is now slowly, slowly disappearing.

And there's nothing they can do
as a person and measure to solve this.

Climate change is
unpredictability a global concern.

We should all act on it,
because we're all responsible in a way.

It's them today,
but it will be everybody else tomorrow.

They're just at the front line.

It's also about compassion and deciding
who we want to be as a species.

Do we want to keep on saying: "That's far
away, it's never going to happen to us"?

Or do we feel these are fellow humans,
and we need to be compassionate?

My installations are about
showing you that reality,

asking you not to turn
your back away from it

and decide what you choose to do
because you have a choice.

We don't have time anymore
to delay action.

One of the extraordinary
advances in science...

has been the ability
to simulate the whole Earth system

using advances
in supercomputing technology,

so we can look at how the different
components of the Earth system,

the air, the water,
the land surface, the ice,

interact with each other
and feedback to each other.

We can already read the future thanks
to these supercomputers, is that possible?

You know, if our emissions
continue on a high pathway,

then we can see
what how that plays out for the planet.

If our emissions are capped
and decline at a certain point,

then that's a different trajectory.

The ones who are experiencing
the most significant changes...

are those sentinels:
those societies and civilizations

that can help point the way
to how to navigate this world in flux.

I've seen this with the Shipibo tribes
that are in the Peruvian Amazon.

By culture and by nature,
they are Earth protectors.

There are thorns, be careful.

Is the machete for survival?

Yes, for survival and self-defense.

We can be attacked by wild animals.

What is this?

This is a male Huayruro.

We use it for luck on necklaces.

- Luck?
- Yes, luck.

It's beautiful.

It’s perfect for the installation.

Sometimes it's a cultural object,
sometimes it's organic.

There's a search,
there's a quest.

There's definitely a process,
in what I do.

A tree hug!

I arrive on location
and I need to connect to the location

and understand the place better,

its challenges, the people,

their challenges, their history.

And every time it's a learning process

because I'm trying to put together
a symbolic representation of that place.

Are these trees in danger?

Yes, of course.

Primary forests are immense,
large trees

which no one has deforested,
no one has cut down.

Nowadays we no longer see

large primary forests
near the city.

All these great trees...
They no longer exist.

Because of the increase in population,
they keep on cutting them down.

Until our resources will be over...

Jared is a forest protector by tradition,

because the Shipibo tribe is a tribe
that has always protected the forest.

He has also become a park ranger.

He's become
a modern forest protector as well.

My Shipibo name is Gushamani.

It means strong and kind man.

Sometimes I also feel worried.

I am concerned that
there will be no more guardians like me

because trees are standing there,
they grow alone, year after year,

they can last thousands of years

but they are not able
to defend themselves.

I brought you friends
who admire your strength

and are here
to take your picture.

Jared is obviously protecting
what they call the spirit trees,

because they're so ancient
and they're so huge

and therefore they have this value,

because that's like the ultimate luxury
is to be able to cut them

and use them for something else.

This tree has so many creatures
living in it...

All these little spiders came over

and started walking around
in the installation...

And then, of course,
I put in my symbols.

Is this a symbol of death?

No, it means “life”.

Life?

Our life choices between

a positive life

or a negative life.

And so there are these red flowers,
these beautiful red flowers

that in our western world is something
that is so luxurious and so rare to find.

You only find them in certain florists
and they're everywhere.

At the beginning it's like there's no way
I can cut these flowers,

because for me there was just such
an incredible luxurious experience.

And then that's when the Shipibos
told me that's not a problem.

You need to cut them because
like that it will just regenerate faster.

(Shipibo language)

We're going to send a drone
to the part that is deforested,

so we can see if there's no one
dangerous in there, so it's safe for us.

So we just send a drone
and if nobody's there, then we can go?

- We can get in...
- Ok, perfect.

Destructive fires
tore through massive sections

of the Amazon rainforest last summer,
and even before that,

it had lost 20% of its landmass
to deforestation in the last four decades.

Logging is a lucrative industry in Peru,

and timber from the rainforest
has become a key export.

The vast majority is caused
by small scale loggers or farmers

many of whom cut down forest
to grow coca for the black market.

How many hectares?

This deforestation area
is about five hectares.

It’s incredible.

How long?

This deforested farm is about
a month old, approximately.

- One month?
- A month since they've knocked it down.

This is the other facet of the Amazon.
I mean, it's the deforestation.

So this image is...
you know, what I had to do.

The other one is what I wanted to do
and this one is what I had to do.

We are only 14 park rangers

for a protected area
of 1,354,485.10 hectares.

It's quite dangerous
because of illegal activities

that exist in this protected area.

I need it for the installation.

It's very strong.

First they cut down the trees

and set them on fire

to clear and then plant the coca plants.

This?

It's like walking in a cemetery,

if you're coming from that life and
from that vitality and you end up here,

it's not even like a burial ground.
It's just a dead zone.

We've already had cases
of Shipibo-Conibo people

who have been murdered
by coca growers, drug trafficking.

It happens.

A gun? No, it's not allowed.

It’s very risky because we don't have
anything to defend ourselves.

I think now if he gets the palms
to put on the sides to...

What I saw there
it was a force under attack,

the entire jungle is completely
under attack. It's like a war zone.

You know, we have this sense
of the Amazon as being infinite,

with this infinite capacity
to regenerate itself.

But all of the incursions and the threats
that you're mapping in your work

are really devastating
and really profound.

And they really compromised
the ability of the Amazon...

to renew, to refresh,
and to regenerate itself.

There is a lot of pollution
in big countries

and we are a buffer
against this pollution.

Every person in every country,
all governments are called...

to protect the forests we have.

The scientists warn that if the planet
increases by three degrees Celsius...

above pre-industrial levels
within the century, that could be fires,

the kind we see in Australia
and in many other places.

Scientists say the fires across Siberia,
fueled by abnormally high temperatures,

are contributing to global warming.

Russia has one fifth
of the world's forests.

If they're burning,
the fallout is global.

When I arrived in Baikal
there was already a drought,

so that’s another thing that blew my mind,
is that there is drought in Siberia...

A few days into our trip,
these huge fires exploded

and they were so strong
that they actually affected the climate.

It still smells like burning.

I had to create an installation

and there was nothing optimistic
about it.

There were a few little yellow flowers
that were growing around,

but I just couldn't put them
on the installation.

There was nothing positive or good
or hopeful about that forest.

Environmentalists now fear
it's reaching a tipping point.

Everybody's talking
about tipping points these days.

Can you really tell me
what this is about?

The idea of a tipping point is that
once these thresholds are crossed,

we expect there to be cascading effects
and feedback loops...

that will drive
even more accelerated change.

With the fires in Siberia,

creating this warming and
accelerated melting of the permafrost...

we have an accelerated cycle of warming,

and then the ice just can't
take hold anymore.

We're going through
the worst fires in the US ever,

or in Siberia or even in the Amazon...

Are those like feedback loops
of the tipping points?

Is that the consequence
of the consequence?

They are. They lead to really significant,
profound land surface changes.

So all of these things
sort of cascade on themselves.

What did you feel
when you came here after two years?

This is one of my first experiences
of a great forest being burned.

A burned forest, anthropogenically
burnt forest was here.

And definitely I'll never forget.

It feels like you can shoot
a horror movie here.

And it was one of the most famous

and one of the most beautiful
places around Baikal.

And you know?
This way is more black.

It's weird.

Years ago, it was completely different.
It all was evergreen...

and it happens because of us.

Of course, forest fire
is something very natural

and it happens just because of
a thunderstorm or something...

But now it happens
like hundreds of times more frequently.

While I was doing my exhibition in Moscow,
I decided to go to Siberia,

I had always wanted to go there.

It was one of those places
that had always fascinated me

and especially lake Baikal.

We got in touch with some activists
who are in Siberia...

and who agreed to welcome me
and take me around...

and start giving me
a sense of lake Baikal.

Dasha was one of those people.

Most of us living here...

We define ourselves not that much
as Russians,

but as Siberians.

All the activists told me:
"You have to come back in the winter."

"You can't understand Baikal
if you haven't seen the winter season."

And they were right.

Baikal?

I would say that it's not only
the main water source for the planet,

it's also a great energetic resource.

I always put my hands in
and say like: "Hello, Father",

like in this big meaning... yeah.

And it actually helps.

It shouldn't be like:
"let's not touch nature".

Let's touch nature but in a smart way
so we actually conserve that.

Sometimes people
do something bad for the nature

not because they don't care,

but because they haven't
thought about that.

And when you actually explain,

when you actually
give them the message,

you change the world
with a very slight movement.

At the end I can put
a little wild herbs around it.

Smell this one...

I love it!

That’s great!
Yeah a little bit more on the side.

Yeah, yeah, beautiful.

Around the world, stronger storms
and more intense droughts

will create humanitarian crises
and risk more conflict.

Climate change
has a potential to exacerbate...

many of the challenges
the world already confronts...

For instance it can intensify competition
for natural resources,

drive up food prices
and increase geopolitical tensions.

Governments recognize
that they need to factor in the risks...

associated with climate change
and alter their operations accordingly.

Are you saying to me
that all the navies around the planet...

are already adapting to climate change?

Well, they have to be
to be resilient, yeah.

Fresh water will be in short supply
in the future,

and it already is
in some regions in the world.

This is going to be one of the most,

if not the most valuable resource
on the planet.

As water becomes scarcer,
people get more aggressive...

in protecting their water rights.
The fight over who gets to use...

the world's water has been
a long, ongoing battle.

This lake is over
30 million years old.

It's the most old lake
in the world.

The most big and the purest.

They say that with the water of Baikal
you could give water, drinking water

to the entire planet
for at least over a year.

Only on the last maybe
couple of years I mean,

locals start to realize what we have.

Because more and more
we can see...

in the media and news that people
are suffering without just water.

The water is just... Gone.

Our small movement become huge
for all of us.

So, yeah, of course, we start
to appreciate the clean water.

We start to fight for clean water.

We start to scream like -
"We need to save Lake Baikal!"

A lot of people become an activist

even like making a post on Instagram
or Facebook or something.

Maybe it's the first step to do more.

I'm drinking water
from the Lake Baikal.

This is Lake Baikal water
directly from the lake.

And I want my sons to do the same.

So it's really important for me.

Could it become a militarized zone?

I mean,
could this become blue gold?

Could it be that people
will not want to share it?

So there is research that suggests
that conflicts are instigated

and magnified
by resource constrictions,

and that water will be a flashpoint.

I have some climate science colleagues
that say

they're less worried about the changes
that the planet is undergoing

and they're most worried about the changes
that it could bring out in people.

In the Himalayas, countries
are already fighting over glaciers,

I think we all need to understand
that the solution to this...

is not trying to have bigger controls
on supply of natural resources,

but learning how to use it
controllably and ethically.

These are the fields of the 15 houses
of Samdzong, right?

And since this year,
they have abandoned all the fields.

All the fields you see around
have been abandoned.

So this village has been here
for over a thousand years,

and now it's going to have to move
because of lack of water, is that correct?

That's a result of the glaciers drying,

which is a result of the Earth
that is warming

due to things that we're doing, so...

And this is happening
all over the Himalaya?

Totally.
The people of Samdzong...

are one of the first climate refugees
in all of the Himalayas.

It's a reality
that they're forced to undertake.

You know, so, for them,
it's just absolutely forced migration

brought about by a problem they don't know
why or how to solve.

So, it's a global crisis.

It's all empty excep
for our house and a few others.

We are like refugees now.

We know that we cannot block
the changing weather.

They've been able to rely on the seasonal
water cycle of the planet for generations

and it's treated them well.

- Yeah, until now.
- Until now.

And they have almost
no impact on our planet.

They bring cow dung
to heat themselves.

This historical millennial village
is disappearing.

How does that make you feel?

I just also feel like somehow,
we are all to share the blame

and like these people the least,

because they're the least contributors,
but the most affected, so...

But they're on the edge,
so they have to leave.

What's the biggest problem
overpopulation or living sustainably?

If you take that area in Nepal,

you compare that
with an area like New York City,

that has magnitudes more consumption
than the whole of Nepal,

which has just like a fraction of that...

Do you mean an entire country like
Nepal has a lower consumption footprint...

- than Manhattan?
- Yes.

Massive disparities in consumption
patterns between different regions.

You know, this concept of overshoot day,

so midway through the year
we’ve consumed

what we could sustainably
manage to consume...

for the whole year in order
to live and allow it to regenerate.

In the global north we often are told...

that we have unlimited,
boundless resources.

Is that really a message
that we want to be giving and receiving?

I think they understood
why I was there,

and they wanted to make sure

that I was able to transmit
who they were and what they are.

And I think that these carved mantras
is probably one of the strongest things.

- It's carved with these mantras.
- Beautiful, let's put in the front.

So that's a very strong symbol
for warding off evil spirits

and praying for victory to the gods.

And they told me it was okay for me
to use them for my installation.

And that was something
that really blew my mind

because in my religion,
you don't touch anything that's sacred.

You can't really share it and you
have to just look at it and honor it.

Time is ticking.

Time is ticking.

And all those carved mantras
are going to stay in Samdzong

and they're going to leave.

I think that the crisis
that Samdzong is facing now

is something that each of us
are somehow responsible for.

Everyone else will have to go through
what Samdzong is going through today.

More than one billion people
could be displaced by the year 2050,

according to a new analysis
of global ecological threats.

Those areas are expected to expand
across one fifth of the planet

in the next half century.

North Africa is one of the areas that has
projected the strongest migration patterns

and the loss of water and water supply
will drive many people to leave that area.

I met quite a few refugees,
both in Lampedusa and in North Africa.

They're anonymous mostly.

I can't even say where I was
in North Africa. We weren't there legally.

We kept on going, on and on.

We were really tired,
but we kept on going.

It's deadly,
but you don't have a choice.

You have to reach the destination
you are thinking.

Another impact of climate change is global
migration, like we've never seen before.

It's going to require us
to think about,

to rethink how we think about

what security, safety, human rights
are in an environment

where so many people are displaced.

I started going to Lampedusa almost
right at the beginning of my project,

because the European island
is the closest to North Africa

and that's where
a lot of people arrive.

This was before
the refugee crisis started.

And every year it just got worse.

In a desert or something like that,
there is no policeman, there is no rule.

Human being and a chicken is
the same for them.

I met five men who stopped me
and raped me.

All five of them.

We suffer, we all suffer...

but women suffer the most.

What shocked me the most was the rape,
and then this child...

What's his name?

He doesn't have a name yet.
I don't have a name for him.

I don't know...

We are just here.

I love him.

He is innocent.

This is Lampedusa, right?

I had brought it to Brussels.

People kept saying "it doesn't work"
or "I don't like it"...

but they can't really explain why...
What does it mean "it doesn't work"?

Nobody wants to talk about refugees.

Nobody wants to see the problem,
that is the truth.

This is the purpose of my work,

even if I create artistic compositions
there is also a documentative aspect.

This is what I found there.

This is what I saw there.

There is no will to understand
nor to evaluate the image

because it corresponds to something
they don't like.

Art in all its forms right now
has an extra duty, like a civic duty

to remind us of who we are,

where we belong
and what our roots are

and what we've been able
to achieve,

and therefore
what we can still achieve.

And art can do that.

Most of the time, our eyes stop
at the first layer of the ocean

and already that one is able
to make us dream.

- Hello!
- Being in the bottom of the sea.

But there is so much more
beneath that layer.

Imagine that 80% of all living species
live in the marine environment.

And the ocean actually covers
71% of the Earth's surface.

So our planet that is called planet Earth,
but should be called planet Ocean.

Those animals, those marine creatures,
can be really a catalyst for change,

but this is the most important lesson
that we should learn from aquarium.

Mariasole and I met
at the United Nations.

I was a speaker for World Oceans Day
and she was the moderator.

She's a marine biologist in Italy.

In the context of climate change,

it is going to require us
to do things really differently.

How does it make you feel personally
to see the state of the ocean?

Witnessing the state of the ocean

and knowing what I cannot see
with my eyes, makes me sad.

I am responsible,
as an individual, as a citizen,

as a marine biologist, as someone
that works in marine conservation,

to talk about these issues,

to make people aware
that something major is happening,

but we still have time to turn the tide.

Oceans are stressed at levels
they have rarely been before,

and it could have
grave consequences for all of us:

dying coral reefs
and chemical pollution.

Scientists say some of these changes
are happening faster than predicted.

Abundance of plastics
filling the oceans and landfills...

and in places on Earth
that even humans don't occupy.

The combination of these stresses
could lead us...

to a mass extinction
of multiple marine species.

Every year, about 8 to 10 million tons
of plastic enter the ocean.

And it does this through rivers.

95% of all the plastic that enters
the ocean sinks after five months.

Somewhere that is like
yet to be explored by us

is already touched by us
through plastic pollution.

I was diving
and suddenly this current came through

and I saw all these jellyfish.

I started to try and avoid them,
and then one of them touched me.

I backed off.

It wasn't a jellyfish,
it was a piece of plastic.

Those pieces also absorb
external chemicals...

that are already in the ocean,
like pesticide,

but also all the odors and smells
that you can find in the ocean.

What happens is that
for fish and other marine creatures,

plastic looks like food
and smells like food.

There was this piece of pink plastic
and it was exactly as the jellyfish,

and I tied this tiny miniature hourglass
around the piece of plastic

and then I took my smallest vanity,
my smallest skull,

and I wrapped that around
the other part of the piece of plastic

and then suddenly it just looked like
the scary mermaid.

Hundreds of hundreds
of marine mammals die every year

because they have been eating plastic.

This pilot whale is stranded
and starving to death.

It cannot eat
because its stomach is full of plastic.

The human race,
humankind in the whole world,

we drink over one million
plastic bottles every minute,

and just 8% gets correctly recycled.

The plastic production is foreseen
to increase by 40% in the next decade.

I think that we still need to work a lot
in order to change our behavior...

and approach to something, a material,
that is made to last forever.

This is when the TimeShrine
is just disappearing,

because now we're entering into
this new anthropogenic moment

of what our oceans look like now.

I have to find a different type
of message.

I have to show you something different.

I have to show you
what our planet is becoming.

I have to show you
how much it's changed.

People are still discussing
in the global north

whether we're going through
the Anthropocene or not.

And so many people don't even know
what it means.

It's this period of time of rapid change
in the environmental conditions.

I started discovering the destruction
by going to these locations,

I wasn't expecting it.

It was a little bit the other way around,
really like going to these locations,

hoping to create beautiful installations

and realizing that I couldn't,
because all I was finding there was trash.

If I didn't know about it,
probably most people didn't either.

So humans are the dominant drivers
in this new era that we're in.

And so that touches all kinds of things.

The way that we're modifying
our environment,

the way that we're consuming,
the way that we're disposing of things.

The largest emissions introduced
into the atmosphere

happened over the last 50 years,

I mean, that is just a compressed
time frame of change

and these poor species,
I mean, how do they keep up?

How could they possibly
keep up with that?

And then there was a shift
in my mind, in my spirit,

about what our legacy
was going to be about.

Was our archeology going to be trash?

Is that what our civilization is?

Are we going to be remembered for trash?

All the plastic that was ever produced
still exists

because it just breaks down
into smaller pieces,

but it stays.
It does not biodegrade.

And when it breaks down into pieces
that are smaller than five millimeters,

it's called micro plastic.
And recent studies prove

that basically we ingest
five grams of plastic each week,

which is the equivalent
of a credit card every week.

We went to Norway,

we went to Patagonia,

we went to a glacier
near Santiago de Chile...

- Also to Mount Kenya?
- Yes, also to Mount Kenya.

And that was the last expedition we did.

I met Roberto Ambrosini through Mariasole

because both are studying microplastics,
her in the ocean and him in glaciers,

and this is where the voice of science
is important

and where collaboration
between different specialties,

whether it's through art, through science,
through engineering or whatever,

we all have to come together
to talk about these things.

The first and only scientific
demonstration so far...

of microplastic contamination
in a glacial environment

is the work we did on the Forni glacier.

If you want to understand the amount
of contaminants of an area,

glaciers are the right place to go.

Is plastic contamination aerial?

Yes, on glaciers it arrives
mainly by air.

Plastic is transported from cities,

from down valley
and arrives on the glaciers.

So this is already a good selection,
imagine downstream, in our cities...

In our cities there is much more.

So we all breathe microplastics every day.

Yes, every day.

Microplastic particles
have been revealed in the placenta...

of unborn babies for the first time.

The particles are likely to have been
consumed or breathed in by the mother.

We need time to find the solutions,

and the problem is
that we're running out of time.

Glaciers are like
these extreme environments,

and so within extreme environments
exist bacterias and microbes

and a whole world of elements
that don't exist anywhere else,

and perhaps have the strength of,
for example, eating the microplastic...

or destroying it.

But they're disappearing, they're melting.

And we have to cover them up
with these intelligent materials,

not to prevent them from melting,
but only to slow it down.

Can we still talk about mitigation
or are we just...

already in full blown adaptation?
That's just the way it's going to be.

The reality is we need it all.

We need to be doing mitigation.
We need to reduce our emissions.

We need to be drawing down
our emissions...

at the same time
that we're rapidly adapting.

The scale of the challenges
is so immense

that it's going to take all of our systems
adapting to sustain our life

not just for humans, but for all the range
of different creatures on the planet.

But there are a range of different ways
to address adaptation:

from barriers, from walls,
which are very strong interventions,

to more passive interventions

like more terrace structures that
allow the water to flow and then recede

but still provide some protection.

This facility was created
to protect this area

from flood damage
which is a huge problem here.

When all the little rivers
are about to overflow,

this will be the place that ensures
the safety and security of the people

by taking all the excess water
and draining it to the big river Edogawa.

That was really important for me:
to discover that concept,

the fact that we were geologically
affecting our planet.

And it was the first time
in the history of our planet.

And the fact that we were
a geological force,

that was something that really pushed me
in my project even more,

because obviously, if we were being
a negative geological force,

we could also become
a positive geological force.

My work for
the “Jóvenes por Xcalak” group...

is monitoring snails, lobsters,

turtles, lionfish and reefs.

We also look for turtles
caught in fishing nets

and we set them free.

We are an example because we're protecting
species from extinction.

"Jóvenes por Xcalak" is a great example
of community science.

We take measurements,

we take blood samples
that can be analyzed...

They are bringing all these data
to the scientific platform

and this is real data,
because they have...

the local knowledge of the places
where they can do this monitoring.

What is the future?

I would love to see our reefs preserved

as we have them now,
they are so beautiful.

I am one of the people
that is taking care of nature.

We as "Jóvenes por Xcalak"
conserve our planet,

we have to transmit to our children...

the knowledge of how
to take care of our planet

because we only have one planet,
we don't have another.

In addition to monitoring,
we raise awareness in schools

and we transmit the importance
of taking care of the environment.

As a mother I teach my daughters
to preserve our species,

because I know them
and I would like them to keep reproducing

so my daughters get to know them...

and that their children
get to know them too.

Normally we think that...

we go to the communities
and teach them something,

and now there's a community
going out of the community

and teach the youth in the city...

what is happening in terms
of conservation at the local level.

But you were a "Jovenes" yourself.

I mean, this is where you started.
So this is you 10 years later.

I started here when I was 18 years old
as an environmental educator.

My work at the United Nations
is representing...

an international
nongovernmental organization.

I am there to raise
the voice of the community

and to bring the voices
of communities,

to bring the reality
of what's happening on the ground

to the global vision.

What surprised me about Lili was
her determination.

She’s from a very young age,

had to deal herself with people
coming in and drug dealers

because Mexico has its issues.

And she was confronted
to a very rough reality.

Yeah, negotiations can be tough.

It can be frustrating...
but we are there with a purpose.

Thinking about Xcalak makes me...

Helps me to keep up and...

knowing that there
we are looking for solutions.

Xcalak absolutely made me belong
to this planet, belong to this Earth.

I'm amazed by its beauty,

but also about the fragility
and the social situation.

Coming back and seeing
that amount of sargassum.

That was really shocking.

That tells you that something is wrong,
something is happening.

That's what shocked me the most
when we arrived in Xcalak,

is that we actually smelt
the sargassum seaweed

before we actually saw it.

And then you get to the beach.

And it is just everywhere.
There's no white sand.

Sargassum is a natural ecosystem
floating in the water,

and it actually has
its own endemic species on it

but having a lot of it
is really causing problems.

It’s definitely something changing
in the environment, in the ocean...

So the activities that we do
on land affect the ocean.

The nutrients come in the water system,
the river system,

all these irrigates to the ocean
and it affects.

Sargassum is affecting us women
economically as we work in tourism

because of the bad smell
and at the same time it ruins our things.

This was an incredible collaboration.

I've never done such a big collaboration
with so many people.

They're these incredible Ocean protectors,
this new generation of kids.

In their office was this huge whalebone,

like humongous.

And I was like "oh, my gosh, can we
use that to create the installation?"

And they were like, jumped up,
yes, of course.

Just kind of carried it out
and helped me create this installation.

So this was
a real collaboration with them.

Obviously, I could have never gotten that
whalebone where it was without their help.

Probably my big worry is
that we ignore things.

If we keep thinking
that nothing is happening,

we're not going to be able
to do anything.

We ignore the fact
that things are changing.

So, if we live in ignorance,

we are not going to make a difference.

We are not going to make it work.

That's my big worry.

You choose your own limits.

No one else.

And when you really love something,

you will find several pathways,
there's a lot to do!

And this is one of those places
that really made me want to...

go beyond the installation,

and tell the stories
of who was behind the installation,

of the backstage of the installation,

of what I've learnt and who I've met.

As you can see
Mimi and Panchita are excellent,

incredible examples of why
50% of humanity is key...

for the world of tomorrow
and for the protection of the oceans.

The sargassum seaweed has tripled
from last year.

As much as they are courageous

and are doing locally everything
that they should and can do to survive

are very much aware
of how fast the environment is changing

and how much their survival depends
on global change.

I go really deep under the sea
to see what's happening there.

Do you know what I found?

I started to see the changes
that were happening around the world...

We actually are physically
changing the planet.

We have that power.

We will have to choose
what we want to keep...

and what we are ready to let go.

So that was another really
interesting moment

when teachers and professors started
coming to my shows

and asking me if they could
come back with their students.

I had never anticipated that.

We can choose between a positive
and constructive life

or a negative
and superficial life.

I realized that my art,
in a way, had a voice.

The question is:

do we want to live on a planet
where snow leopards still exist?

Today the United Nations
says that by 2050...

And that children and youth
really got it.

What can we do to help?

We can all fix something,
even if it is something very small

and make it beautiful again.

Does anybody have a last question
before we show the last film?

I think your project is cool because,
you know, "Save the Planet" and...

Yeah, it’s awesome.

But I think you are not giving
real tips of how to save it

because it’s your generation
and the generation above you that...

you know, destroy our planet in a way.

You can teach us to save our planet

but actually we can’t do
because we are teens.

The politicians can do something
but they don’t care so much in the end.

What happened is that
I saw the youth evolve,

the first year they would listen
to me graciously

and then little by little,
I started getting pushback.

People ask me what I want to do
when I grow up,

and my question is
why do I have to grow up to be somebody?

You say you love your children
above all else

and yet you are stealing their future
in front of their very eyes.

Greta Thunberg is a young woman
from Sweden

who has decided to make her life’s mission
to save the world from climate change.

It’s a shame
because we could change the world,

it’s up to us to change the world.

But right now, only old people can vote

and old people don’t want
to change the world.

Millions of people around the world today
are gathering for climate strike.

The demonstrations are being held...

with activist Greta Thunberg’s
Fridays for Future movement,

which invites young people
stage school strikes for the climate

When Greta Thunberg
and the youth movement started,

I was really not surprised, because I had
already started seeing those reactions...

for over a year
in my educational projects.

I met Alexandria in New York
when she was 13 years old,

and that was right at the beginning
of the Fridays for the Future Movement.

She's that generation
that belongs to the Anthropocene,

where these children are taking
onto their shoulder these responsibilities

and these challenges
and these worries for their future.

Sitting at this bench is a very cold,

I have been school striking in wind,
rain, sleet, snow,

and I've even striked in the polar vortex
in a subzero sleeping bag.

Some people have geotagged it
Alexandria's bench.

Sitting at this bench has turned myself
into an activist

where I'm constantly working now
to have a future to get climate action.

My family has always been really
connected with nature,

so when I was younger,
we'd go on family road trips to the beach

and there'd be the specific beach,
Pebble Beach in Northern California

that we would always go to.

And it would be really fun because
I'd get to bury my dad in the pebbles...

and they'd bury me
in the pebbles.

Pebble Beach is disappearing
because with sea level rises,

the water is getting
higher to the point...

where the beach
may no longer exist anymore.

And with the beach disappearing,
it's like a part of myself disappearing.

Having that love for California and
wanting to protect where you're from,

it really makes me feel
more encouraged to stay going.

No, CO2 emissions are not actually
harmful to the planet.

I hate to see so many young people
especially panicking about climate change.

The climate hysteria movement
is not about science.

If it were about science, it would be led
by scientists rather than by politicians

and the mentally ill Swedish child
who is being exploited by her parents...

I think when people read articles
about that, sadly it's a good sign

because that means that they're really
threatened by our beliefs

and how we're really
making a difference

to the point where we're threatening
what they've thought for so long.

And so the way they fight back
is trying to cyberbullying us

and we're trying to save them as well.

And their children
and their grandchildren,

the people who are the climate deniers...
we're saving them.

Do you feel that what you're getting out
of what you're doing now as an activist

is something you would not have
gotten from school?

I definitely think the educational system
is something that will have to change

because we aren't being taught
the crisis we're in.

We're not being told the truth.

A lot of the time we're being taught
about how to live...

in the same world we're in,
how to be the same consumers.

That's what we have to learn
on ourselves

and have to push back and teach ourselves,
which isn't fair.

I think that
in the environmental movement,

there was a before and an after
Fridays for the Future for sure,

In a couple of months they were able
to start communicating...

and get through messages that lot of us
had never been able to get through.

But it doesn't take away the fact that
Alexandria never had a little girl's life.

And that is because of what
the generations before them did.

And that is extremely unfair.

The system is broken
and it needs to change.

That's what all the activists
are calling for.

We're calling for a system change,
not climate change.

Failure is not an option for us
because this is our future

and we're going to make sure
that we have a livable planet.

It's so striking because in the cities
we're so disconnected from nature.

But yet we are the ones that are
and will be affecting the natural world.

You know, technology and wealth
have never rated this high,

and yet we've probably never faced
such an uncertain future, as right now.

It suggests that there's more to be done
to channel the technology toward

where our sustainability challenges are
right now, like in this moment.

Are there ways to align
the incentives of innovation

to be focused more on climate solutions.

And there's this whole area
of climate tech, which is focused on that,

like how do we rapidly innovate
in the energy space

and the climate solutions
based in the agriculture space.

- Can you hear me?
- Yes.

Yes, I can.

This is like a science fiction movie.

We are looking at the first ever
experimental underwater farm in the world.

Is that Basil?

It looks so healthy.

It even looks happy.

I mean, look at it!

Can you imagine
how many people we could feed?

It is completely self-sufficient.

We're swimming in the future!

Technology is a tool,

it's like a knife:

you can use it to share a piece of cake,
or you can use it to kill.

So, it's up to us, the tool is there.
It's up to us how we want to use it.

Is that happening all over the planet or
is just going to be for the global north?

The hope is that they'll be able to share
both that knowledge and those resources.

So we do have more of
an equitable allocation.

Because our ability to take action
is going to be different

than the people's ability to take action
in the other places you've been visiting.

And we can learn from them
and they can learn from us.

And it's not a one-way street.

This is a mutual engagement.

If we choose it.

My ancestors, my grandparents
lived here.

We came here, grew up and lived
generation after generation.

These are communities that are a barrier

between full blown economic exploitation
of the Amazon and the nature,

so they're the last frontier.

You see how little technology they have
considering how much more they need.

There's absolutely no investment
made by the government.

The new technologies that are coming out
are really a support for us.

Like the drones, that we can elevate
to check who is there

and that helps protect us from dangers.

Wouldn't that be incredible
to coevolve with the technology,

to really bring it to bear on the issues

that are the most pressing
for our civilization and society?

Is coevolution an option...
With a positive...?

- It sounds so positive.
- Absolutely.

I believe that traditions and technology
can be combined.

When they will come together...

a greater knowledge will take form.

We came back down from Cashiboya,
and next thing we knew,

Coronavirus had hit all of Europe
and the United States.

We barely made it out of Lima
because there were no more flights.

There's always a cultural shock once you
come back from a place like the Amazon.

But then it was like that the world
had completely changed overnight.

We can't go back.

This is something incredibly non-linear
that has just happened.

And the ripple effects are enormous.
They're incredible.

Everything has just been
shifted forward.

You know, we have this thing
we call it climate vision,

when you can look ahead
and see what those impacts will be.

But now we're just,
we're feeling those impacts

and these waves that are, like,
crashing on top of each other.

I have been bedridden for about
a month and a half, almost two.

So are there a lot of Covid cases
in the community?

Thousands of thousands,

hundreds of hundreds of Indios have died
because of the Coronavirus.

What do you think about this situation
with the government?

It's like they say "they can die."

Or something like that...

We have been pushed aside
and forgotten by the government.

They don't give us much importance,

they care more about those in the city.

And as climate change impacts
accelerate and expand,

we're going to see more of these types
of compounding cascading tipping points.

It's like a boot camp of what could
happen in the Anthropocene, right?

That's a big transition point for us.

So there's important lessons
to learn from this:

how to keep each other safe,
what does security mean,

how do we love each other
through crises.

- Where are we going to put the third one?
- I think it’s going on the top.

Ok, so we need “Trash”.

- It’s 42 cm here.
- I’m at... 41.

Going and creating art in places
that are so challenging and so difficult

and meeting Earth protectors that have to
deal with difficulties and societal issues

and then coming back to a world of beauty
and sophistication and wealth,

never bothered me at all.

My art had the purpose.

The purpose of bringing back
these stories and sharing them,

but also the fact that by selling the art,

I was also contributing to help
these communities through my foundation.

So many systems have flaws, you know?

I think the best approach would be
rather than being outside the system,

to push that thing through the system
and I would love to be a part of it.

Do you believe
that that's going to happen?

Do you really believe in the future?

There are so many things that prevent us
from believing that it will happen.

But I think that the approach
is to believe.

For me personally, it would be even
if it never happened in my entire life,

I would tell my children
that it will happen.

Definitely, the art takes
its whole meaning

once it's in an exhibition,
and it's seen

and it can touch people
from a completely different reality.

Not everyone will have
positive reactions...

Those are beautiful images,
but they make you think...

That's what empowers it.
That's what makes it purposeful.

It can be shared and seen by people

who could never else relate
to any of those realities.

We had seen things that could change.

But in that race of awareness
are we bringing solutions?

Are we bringing tangible solutions that
are going to help people on the frontline?

One Planet One Future...

is the show
at the Moscow Modern Art Museum

on the issues related to global pollution.

When I think of us as Mankind,

I feel that at the same time
we are very very small and silly

compared with Nature.

On the other side
we are very very strong.

Each small person can make
a huge difference.

I don't exactly know
what people are going to do,

but I think the crisis
is getting so urgent...

that people will start thinking
of ways that the youth aren't thinking of,

in ways where they do
become violent.

There is still more room
for civil disobedience

because now is the time
to do direct action.

In order to survive as a species,

we need to step back a little bit
and talk about also regeneration.

We have changed the very essence
of the ocean in the past 50 years.

Now it's time to give back.

I think I'm just the tip of the iceberg.

I think there's an entire
generation of artists arriving after me

who will take on that role
in extraordinary ways

that I have not even been able
to imagine.

But if in my generation we don't create
the installations and the TimeShrines

and we don't put them
in front of nature;

what's going to happen
to the next generation of artists?

What are they going to have to photograph?