Outrage and Optimism X Jane Goodall /
What Happened When We all stopped
As we saw the emergence of the Covid Lock-down in 2020 an animated short and downloadable illustrated book entitled - What Happened When We All Stopped by best-selling author Tom Rivett-Carnac launched. The children’s book was written to share a positive message of hope as we came out from lockdown.
Narrated by the celebrated anthropologist and UN Messenger of Peace, Dr Jane Goodall who was so inspired by Tom’s poem, she agreed to provide the voiceover for the video inspired by the book, created by TED-Ed’s renowned animators. A former Buddhist monk, Tom spent the last 20 + years working on climate change, at the intersection of international diplomacy, energy policy and private sector engagement. He is known as one of the architects of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, signed by 195 countries in 2015, having served as the chief political strategist at the UN, Having been asked many times for advice on how to talk to children about climate change, Tom decided to use lockdown as an opportunity to write a story for parents and children about what comes next.
Set to beautiful artwork created by Tom’s sister, Bee Rivett-Carnac, a noted illustrator with two decades’ experience, the poem conjured an inspiring vision of the renewed, nature-rich world that was waiting for people as they emerged from isolation.
The project was put together by Global Optimism - founded by Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010-2016, and Tom Rivett-Carnac, who served as her Senior Political Advisor, on leaving the UN.
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