0:00:00.875,0:00:03.833
It was about two years[br]after Hurricane Katrina

0:00:03.875,0:00:06.667
that I first saw the Louisiana flood maps.

0:00:07.500,0:00:11.268
These flood maps are used[br]to show land loss in the past

0:00:11.292,0:00:13.851
and land loss that is to come.

0:00:13.875,0:00:16.976
On this particular day,[br]at a community meeting,

0:00:17.000,0:00:19.101
these maps were used to explain

0:00:19.125,0:00:23.476
how a 30-foot tidal surge[br]that accompanied Hurricane Katrina

0:00:23.500,0:00:26.851
could flood communities like mine[br]in south Louisiana

0:00:26.875,0:00:30.167
and communities across[br]the Mississippi and Alabama coast.

0:00:30.875,0:00:35.667
It turns out that the land we were losing[br]was our buffer from the sea.

0:00:37.125,0:00:40.559
I volunteered to interact[br]with the graphics on the wall,

0:00:40.583,0:00:44.292
and in an instant my life changed[br]for the second time in two years.

0:00:45.333,0:00:50.059
The graphic showed[br]massive land loss in south Louisiana

0:00:50.083,0:00:52.184
and an encroaching sea,

0:00:52.208,0:00:58.809
but more specifically, the graphic showed[br]the disappearance of my community

0:00:58.833,0:01:02.000
and many other communities[br]before the end of the century.

0:01:03.292,0:01:05.684
I wasn't alone at the front of the room.

0:01:05.708,0:01:10.101
I was standing there with other members[br]of south Louisiana's communities --

0:01:10.125,0:01:13.000
black, Native, poor.

0:01:13.792,0:01:18.143
We thought we were just bound[br]by temporary disaster recovery,

0:01:18.167,0:01:22.059
but we found that we were now bound[br]by the impossible task

0:01:22.083,0:01:26.226
of ensuring that our communities[br]would not be erased by sea level rise

0:01:26.250,0:01:27.583
due to climate change.

0:01:29.375,0:01:34.309
Friends, neighbors, family, my community:

0:01:34.333,0:01:36.958
I just assumed it would always be there.

0:01:37.958,0:01:42.893
Land, trees, marsh, bayous:

0:01:42.917,0:01:47.018
I just assumed that it would be there[br]as it had been for thousands of years.

0:01:47.042,0:01:48.292
I was wrong.

0:01:50.250,0:01:52.851
To understand what was happening[br]to my community,

0:01:52.875,0:01:55.851
I had to talk to other communities[br]around the globe.

0:01:55.875,0:01:59.268
I started in south Louisiana[br]with the United Houma Nation.

0:01:59.292,0:02:03.184
I talked to youth advocates[br]in Shishmaref, Alaska.

0:02:03.208,0:02:06.684
I talked to fisherwomen[br]in coastal Vietnam,

0:02:06.708,0:02:09.226
justice fighters in Fiji,

0:02:09.250,0:02:11.434
new generations of leaders

0:02:11.458,0:02:14.643
in the ancient cultures[br]of the Torres Straits.

0:02:14.667,0:02:18.768
Communities that had been here[br]for thousands of years

0:02:18.792,0:02:20.643
were suffering the same fate,

0:02:20.667,0:02:24.833
and we were all contemplating[br]how we would survive the next 50.

0:02:26.625,0:02:29.309
By the end of the next century,

0:02:29.333,0:02:32.059
it's predicted that[br]more than 180 million people

0:02:32.083,0:02:34.476
will be displaced due to climate change,

0:02:34.500,0:02:36.184
and in south Louisiana,

0:02:36.208,0:02:39.851
those who can afford to do so[br]are already moving.

0:02:39.875,0:02:42.851
They're moving because[br]south Louisiana is losing land

0:02:42.875,0:02:45.208
at one of the fastest rates on the planet.

0:02:46.250,0:02:49.059
Disappearance is what my bayou community

0:02:49.083,0:02:51.958
has in common with[br]other coastal communities.

0:02:52.708,0:02:56.768
Erasure is what communities[br]around the globe are fighting

0:02:56.792,0:02:59.750
as we get real about[br]the impacts of climate change.

0:03:01.208,0:03:04.518
I've spent the last 14 years[br]advocating on behalf of communities

0:03:04.542,0:03:07.601
that have been directly impacted[br]by the climate crisis.

0:03:07.625,0:03:09.934
These communities[br]are fighting discrimination

0:03:09.958,0:03:12.809
within climate disaster recovery,

0:03:12.833,0:03:16.768
and they're also trying to balance[br]mass displacement of people

0:03:16.792,0:03:18.601
with an influx of others

0:03:18.625,0:03:21.000
who see opportunity in starting anew.

0:03:22.250,0:03:27.268
Since 2005, people[br]have been called "refugees"

0:03:27.292,0:03:30.476
when they leave when they're displaced[br]by climate disaster,

0:03:30.500,0:03:34.976
even when they don't cross[br]international borders.

0:03:35.000,0:03:37.976
These terms, these misused terms,

0:03:38.000,0:03:40.934
that are meant to identify the other,

0:03:40.958,0:03:42.708
the victim,

0:03:43.375,0:03:45.934
the person who is not supposed to be here,

0:03:45.958,0:03:47.934
these terms are barriers

0:03:47.958,0:03:50.226
to economic recovery,

0:03:50.250,0:03:52.268
to social integration

0:03:52.292,0:03:56.458
and to the healing required from[br]the climate crisis and climate trauma.

0:03:57.542,0:03:59.351
Words matter.

0:03:59.375,0:04:02.375
It also matters how we treat[br]people who are crossing borders.

0:04:03.125,0:04:07.101
We should care about how people[br]who are crossing borders today

0:04:07.125,0:04:09.934
to seek refuge and safety[br]are being treated,

0:04:09.958,0:04:14.268
if for no other reason than it might[br]be you or someone you love

0:04:14.292,0:04:17.934
who needs to exercise[br]their human right to migrate

0:04:17.958,0:04:19.250
in the nearby future.

0:04:20.250,0:04:23.809
We must start preparing[br]for global migration today.

0:04:23.833,0:04:25.542
It's a reality now.

0:04:26.917,0:04:29.684
Our cities and our communities[br]are not prepared.

0:04:29.708,0:04:32.851
In fact, our economic system[br]and our social systems

0:04:32.875,0:04:37.184
are only prepared to make profit[br]off of people who migrate.

0:04:37.208,0:04:42.726
This will cause rounds[br]of climate gentrification,

0:04:42.750,0:04:46.559
and it will also penalize[br]the movement of people,

0:04:46.583,0:04:48.893
usually through exploited labor

0:04:48.917,0:04:51.208
and usually through criminalization.

0:04:52.542,0:04:56.393
Climate gentrification that happens[br]in anticipation of sea level rise

0:04:56.417,0:04:59.101
is what we're seeing in places like Miami,

0:04:59.125,0:05:02.226
where communities[br]that were kept from the waterfront

0:05:02.250,0:05:05.893
are now being priced out[br]of the high ground

0:05:05.917,0:05:07.684
where they were placed originally

0:05:07.708,0:05:10.018
as people move away from the coast.

0:05:10.042,0:05:12.643
These folks are being moved,[br]forced to relocate away

0:05:12.667,0:05:15.792
from the social and economic systems[br]that they need to survive.

0:05:17.333,0:05:22.833
Climate gentrification also happens[br]in the aftermath of climate disaster.

0:05:23.542,0:05:26.059
When massive amounts[br]of people leave a location

0:05:26.083,0:05:28.268
for an indefinite amount of time,

0:05:28.292,0:05:30.601
we see others come in.

0:05:30.625,0:05:33.184
We also see climate gentrification happen

0:05:33.208,0:05:37.643
when damaged homes are now "green built,"

0:05:37.667,0:05:39.643
but now have a higher value,

0:05:39.667,0:05:43.184
generally outside of the reach[br]of black and brown and poor people

0:05:43.208,0:05:44.458
who want to return home.

0:05:45.667,0:05:49.809
The price difference in rents[br]or the ownership of a house

0:05:49.833,0:05:53.726
is the difference between[br]being able to practice your right,

0:05:53.750,0:05:57.101
your human right[br]to return home as a community,

0:05:57.125,0:06:00.143
or be forced to resettle somewhere else

0:06:00.167,0:06:01.643
less climate resilient,

0:06:01.667,0:06:03.101
less expensive

0:06:03.125,0:06:04.375
and alone.

0:06:05.458,0:06:08.726
The climate crisis[br]is a much larger conversation

0:06:08.750,0:06:11.101
than reducing CO2 emissions,

0:06:11.125,0:06:15.268
and it is a much different conversation[br]than just extreme weather.

0:06:15.292,0:06:19.583
We're facing a shift[br]in every aspect of our global reality.

0:06:20.292,0:06:23.393
And climate migration[br]is just one small part,

0:06:23.417,0:06:25.476
but it's going to have ripple effects

0:06:25.500,0:06:28.750
in both coastal cities[br]and cities in the interior.

0:06:29.458,0:06:31.018
So what do we do?

0:06:31.042,0:06:32.393
I have a few ideas.

0:06:32.417,0:06:34.184
(Laughter)

0:06:34.208,0:06:38.893
First, we must reframe[br]our understanding of the problem.

0:06:38.917,0:06:41.768
Climate change is not the problem.

0:06:41.792,0:06:45.559
Climate change[br]is the most horrible symptom

0:06:45.583,0:06:47.684
of an economic system

0:06:47.708,0:06:50.101
that has been built for a few

0:06:50.125,0:06:55.684
to extract every precious value[br]out of this planet and its people,

0:06:55.708,0:06:57.476
from our natural resources

0:06:57.500,0:06:59.726
to the fruits of our human labor.

0:06:59.750,0:07:02.684
This system has created this crisis.

0:07:02.708,0:07:05.375
(Applause)

0:07:08.250,0:07:12.309
We must have the courage[br]to admit we've taken too much.

0:07:12.333,0:07:15.184
We cannot close our eyes to the fact

0:07:15.208,0:07:18.351
that the entire world is paying a price

0:07:18.375,0:07:24.500
for the privilege and comfort[br]of just a few people on the planet.

0:07:25.333,0:07:29.226
It's time for us to make[br]society-wide changes

0:07:29.250,0:07:32.476
to a system that incentivizes consumption

0:07:32.500,0:07:34.792
to the point of global imbalance.

0:07:35.458,0:07:39.851
Our social, political and economic[br]systems of extraction

0:07:39.875,0:07:44.268
must be transformed into systems[br]that regenerate the earth

0:07:44.292,0:07:47.208
and advance human liberty globally.

0:07:48.042,0:07:51.708
It is arrogance to think[br]that technology will save us.

0:07:52.625,0:07:56.434
It is ego to think that we can continue

0:07:56.458,0:08:00.143
this unjust and extractive approach[br]to living on this planet

0:08:00.167,0:08:01.417
and survive.

0:08:02.458,0:08:07.768
(Applause)

0:08:07.792,0:08:10.726
To survive this next phase[br]of our human existence,

0:08:10.750,0:08:14.018
we will need to restructure[br]our social and economic systems

0:08:14.042,0:08:16.250
to develop our collective resilience.

0:08:16.750,0:08:22.309
The social restructuring must be[br]towards restoration and repair

0:08:22.333,0:08:23.768
of the earth

0:08:23.792,0:08:26.643
and the communities[br]that have been extracted from,

0:08:26.667,0:08:27.934
criminalized

0:08:27.958,0:08:30.208
and targeted for generations.

0:08:30.917,0:08:32.726
These are the frontlines.

0:08:32.750,0:08:34.792
This is where we start.

0:08:35.500,0:08:40.351
We must establish a new social attitude[br]to see migration as a benefit,

0:08:40.375,0:08:43.226
a necessity for our global survival,

0:08:43.250,0:08:46.167
not as a threat[br]to our individual privilege.

0:08:46.958,0:08:51.184
Collective resilience means developing[br]cities that can receive people

0:08:51.208,0:08:52.893
and provide housing,

0:08:52.917,0:08:55.809
food, water, health care

0:08:55.833,0:08:57.851
and the freedom from overpolicing

0:08:57.875,0:08:59.143
for everyone,

0:08:59.167,0:09:00.518
no matter who they are,

0:09:00.542,0:09:01.958
no matter where they're from.

0:09:03.583,0:09:07.875
What would it mean if we started[br]to plan for climate migration now?

0:09:08.667,0:09:12.893
Sprawling cities or declining cities[br]could see this as an opportunity

0:09:12.917,0:09:17.851
to rebuild a social infrastructure[br]rooted in justice and fairness.

0:09:17.875,0:09:20.601
We could actually put money[br]into public hospitals

0:09:20.625,0:09:22.101
and help them prepare

0:09:22.125,0:09:24.351
for what is to come[br]through climate migration,

0:09:24.375,0:09:27.917
including the trauma[br]that comes with loss and relocation.

0:09:28.750,0:09:32.059
We can invest more of our time in justice,

0:09:32.083,0:09:34.684
but it cannot be for temporary gain,

0:09:34.708,0:09:37.143
it cannot be to help budget shortfalls,

0:09:37.167,0:09:39.309
it has to be for long-term change

0:09:39.333,0:09:41.893
and it has to be to advance justice.

0:09:41.917,0:09:44.184
It's already possible, y'all.

0:09:44.208,0:09:45.976
After Hurricane Katrina,

0:09:46.000,0:09:49.976
universities and high schools[br]around the US took in students

0:09:50.000,0:09:54.143
to help them finish their semester[br]or their year without missing a beat.

0:09:54.167,0:09:57.976
Those students are now[br]productive assets in our community,

0:09:58.000,0:10:01.434
and this is what our communities,[br]our businesses and our institutions

0:10:01.458,0:10:03.018
need to get ready for now.

0:10:03.042,0:10:04.875
The time is now.

0:10:06.083,0:10:09.851
So as we reframe the problem[br]in a more truthful way

0:10:09.875,0:10:13.708
and we restructure our social systems[br]in a more just way,

0:10:14.375,0:10:18.393
all that will be left is for us[br]to reindigenize ourselves

0:10:18.417,0:10:21.625
and to conjure a power[br]of the most ancient kind.

0:10:22.500,0:10:26.726
This necessarily means[br]that we must learn to follow --

0:10:26.750,0:10:31.559
not tokenize, not exotify, not dismiss --

0:10:31.583,0:10:34.018
the leadership and[br]the traditional knowledge

0:10:34.042,0:10:36.333
of a particular local place.

0:10:37.042,0:10:40.768
It means that we must commit[br]to standards of ecological equity

0:10:40.792,0:10:43.518
and climate justice and human rights

0:10:43.542,0:10:45.768
as the basis, a base standard,

0:10:45.792,0:10:47.143
a starting point,

0:10:47.167,0:10:49.125
for where our new society is to go.

0:10:50.250,0:10:55.601
All of this requires us to recognize[br]a power greater than ourselves

0:10:55.625,0:10:58.934
and a life longer[br]than the ones we will live.

0:10:58.958,0:11:03.351
It requires us to believe in the things[br]that we are privileged enough

0:11:03.375,0:11:04.750
not to have to see.

0:11:06.000,0:11:09.143
We must honor the rights of nature.

0:11:09.167,0:11:12.601
We must advance human rights for all.

0:11:12.625,0:11:15.559
We must transform from a disposable,

0:11:15.583,0:11:18.268
individual society

0:11:18.292,0:11:22.143
into one that sees our collective,[br]long-term humanity,

0:11:22.167,0:11:24.042
or else we will not make it.

0:11:25.125,0:11:30.934
We must see that even the best of us[br]are entangled in an unjust system,

0:11:30.958,0:11:33.101
and we must acknowledge

0:11:33.125,0:11:35.726
that the only way you're going to survive

0:11:35.750,0:11:38.768
is for us to figure out

0:11:38.792,0:11:41.583
how to reach a shared liberation together.

0:11:42.625,0:11:44.101
The good news is

0:11:44.125,0:11:46.476
we come from powerful people.

0:11:46.500,0:11:49.268
We come from those who have,[br]in one way or another,

0:11:49.292,0:11:52.893
survived so far to be us here today.

0:11:52.917,0:11:55.309
This is reason enough to fight.

0:11:55.333,0:11:57.851
And take it from[br]your south Louisiana friend,

0:11:57.875,0:12:01.101
those hardest fights[br]are the ones to celebrate.

0:12:01.125,0:12:06.018
Let's choose to make this next phase[br]of our planetary existence beautiful,

0:12:06.042,0:12:07.309
and while we're at it,

0:12:07.333,0:12:10.292
let's make it just and fair for everyone.

0:12:11.042,0:12:12.893
We can do this, y'all.

0:12:12.917,0:12:14.184
We can do this,

0:12:14.208,0:12:15.809
because we must.

0:12:15.833,0:12:18.809
We must, or else we lose our planet

0:12:18.833,0:12:20.684
and we lose ourselves.

0:12:20.708,0:12:22.351
The work starts here.

0:12:22.375,0:12:24.434
The work starts together.

0:12:24.458,0:12:25.893
This is my offering.

0:12:25.917,0:12:27.976
Thank you for receiving it. Merci.

0:12:28.000,0:12:31.583
(Applause)