EarthFest Online

Earth Day 2021: Road to Recovery - Descriptive Transcript

[American Museum of Natural History logo animates out over an illustration of the rotating Earth.]

[TEXT: Earth Day 2021: Road to Recovery

[TEXT: This Earth Day, we’re in the midst of the worst global pandemic in a century.]

[Earth dissolves into a spiky coronavirus the same diameter as the globe.]

[TEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone.]

[The coronavirus becomes an empty circle. An abstract figure peers through and looks sad, as if trapped inside.]

[TEXT: Half the world’s population—3.9 billion people—experience lockdown. Source: AFP]

[A “We’re closed” sign swings inside the circle, representing a shuttered business.]

[TEXT: 8.8% of working hours were lost, the equivalent of 255m full-time jobs. Source: ILO]

[Screen goes blank.]

[TEXT: Over 140 million people got sick. 3m people died.]

[TEXT: By mid-April 2021, 140m people had tested positive and 3m deaths were officially attributed to Covid-19 globally. Source: JHU]

[TEXT: The global economy slowed down.]

[TEXT: In 2020, the global economy shrunk 4.3%. Source: World Bank]

[Globe reappears on centerscreen. Airplanes are flying around it.]

[SOUNDS OF A FLIGHT ATTENDANT SPEAKING TO PASSENGERS]

[TEXT: In 2020, international tourism fell 74%. Source: UNWTO]

[Most airplanes disappear. Then all planes are replaced by abstract factories circling the globe.]

[SOUNDS OF MOTORS]

[TEXT: Manufacturing fell 8%. Source: UNIDO]

[Some factories disappear. Then all factories are replaced by abstract ships circling the globe.]

[SOUND OF SHIP HORN]

[TEXT: There was a 9% drop in trade. Source: WTO]

[Some ships disappear. Then the globe is replaced by a flickering flame.]

[TEXT: In 2020, energy demand fell. Gas: -3%]

[A shovel scoops up some glowing coal.]

[SOUND OF SHOVELING]

[TEXT: Coal: -7%]

[A gas nozzle drips]

[SOUND OF DRIPPING]

[TEXT: Oil: -9%]

[TEXT: Global energy use fell 4% in 2020, including for natural gas (-2.5%), coal (-4%) and oil (-8.6%). Source: IEA]

[A line graph is drawn, showing mostly rising CO2 emissions since 1940, with a significant dip in 2020.]

[TEXT: As a result, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions experienced their biggest drop in history. 7% Source: Carbon Brief]

[TEXT: Global CO2 emissions fell 2.4 billion tonnes in 2020, the largest decline in history and a 7% reduction compared to 2019.]

[The graph is extended to 2030, and a dashed line indicates a continued steep decline in CO2 emissions.]

[TEXT: To meet the Paris Agreement targets to limit global warming, we would need to cut CO2 every year through 2030.]

[TEXT: To limit warming to under 2°C this century, we must cut CO2 4-7% (1-2 Gt) every year for the next decade. Source: Nature]

[An airplane flies past and the graph is replaced by an abstract person.]

[TEXT: When we  emerge from the pandemic, human activity will pick up again. Can we still cut greenhouse gases?]

[The person shrugs.]

[The music changes to a faster, more upbeat tune as the word “Yes” takes up most of the screen.]

[TEXT: Yes. If we act now to:] 

[Solutions are listed one by one, from the bottom of the list to the top.]

[TEXT: Dispose of refrigerants properly. Use cleaner cookstoves. Restore tropical forests. Invest in health & education. Switch to plant-rich diets. Reduce food waste. Shift to renewable energy.]

[TEXT: To learn about solutions, visit Project Drawdown at drawdown.org.] 

[Graph appears. On the x-axis are the years 2009 through 2019. On the y-axis is the price of electricity. An animated wind turbine and solar panel move across the graph and each draws on a line with a descending slope. The prices of both wind and solar energy are declining over time.]

[TEXT: The shift to renewable energy is happening much faster than expected, as costs plummet.]

[The solar and wind icons are joined by a flickering flame, representing gas, and a glowing pile of coal. Each as a price under it, given in dollars per megawatt-hour.]

[TEXT: Solar: $40, Wind: $41, Gas: $56, Coal: $109. $/MWh. Source: Our World in Data]

[Graph moves off screen and is replaced by a piggy bank.]

[TEXT: Institutions are divesting from fossil fuels]

[TEXT: By 2020, 1,200 institutions with $14 trn in assets had moved investments away from the fossil fuel industry. Source: Fossil Free]

[Dollar signs pour from the bottom of the piggy bank and fill up bars in a bar chart.]

[SOUNDS OF COINS PILING UP]

[TEXT: and investing more sustainably.]

[Bar chart shows steadily increasing investment between 2006 and 2020.]

[TEXT: By 2020, 3,038 institutions with $103 trn in assets had pledged to incorporate sustainability principles into investment decisions. Source: PRI]

[Bar chart scrolls off screen. A high-speed train passes through a rural scene with wind turbines, solar panels and trees. It arrives in a city, where lights click on in buildings, representing the use of renewable energy.]

[TEXT: Renewable energy can power new jobs, industries, and a more resilient global economy]

[Cityscape is replaced with bubbles filling the screen and then floating away.]

[TEXT: while lowering the costs of climate change and air pollution, and saving millions of lives.]

[TEXT: Every year an estimated 8m people die prematurely from air pollution, including outdoor (4.2m) and indoor (3.8m) air pollution. Source: WHO]

[The screen clears and an abstract human figure takes center stage.]

[TEXT: The pandemic has shown we can: Change our behaviors quickly]

[The figure wears a face mask.]

[TEXT: The pandemic has shown we can: Innovate]

[A hypodermic needle appears and a vaccine is injected into the figure’s arm.]

[TEXT: The pandemic has shown we can: Work together to meet big challenges]

[The figure is joined by other abstract people of different shades of color. They bump elbows. The figures move off screen and the globe returns to the center.]

[TEXT: What will future Earth Days look like? Together, we decide.]

[Credits roll.]