Ideas worth spreading

Global issues

A collection of TED Talks (and more) on the topic of Global issues.

Video playlists about Global issues

How innovation changes the world

The big and small ways invention and transformation can bring about new eras of inspired action, thought and change. (Curated in partnership with Project Management Institute.)

Talks that will make you think twice

Everyday sights and experiences that are not as innocuous and innocent as they may seem.

How data can save lives

An exploration of what we can do to save the world with the massive amounts of data collected every day.

Why climate change is a human rights issue

Learn about the ways climate change is deeply altering how we live, where we live and the foods we eat -- ultimately threatening some of our most basic human rights.

See all playlists on Global issues

Talks about Global issues

Solomon Goldstein-Rose

How much clean electricity do we really need?

Carol Farbotko and Ingrid Boas

Where will you be able to live in 20 years?

Charlotte Degot

A more accurate way to calculate emissions

Soraya Field Fiorio

The infamous overpopulation bet: Simon vs. Ehrlich

The informal settlements reshaping the world

The real-life superheroes helping Syrian refugees

The revolutionary power of Black joy

Earth's original inhabitants -- and their role in combating climate change

3 ways to upgrade democracy for the 21st century

Mainak Mazumdar

How bad data keeps us from good AI

Financial inclusion, the digital divide and other thoughts on the future of money

Cedric Habiyaremye

How quinoa can help combat hunger and malnutrition

The world is running out of water — but new tech can help

Climate change is becoming a problem you can taste

An Indigenous Mixtape from Lima, Peru

Post-Pandemic Paradise in Rapa Nui

See all talks on Global issues

Exclusive articles about Global issues

The world’s refugees need all the help they can get. Here are 7 ways that businesses can support them

Want to do something to help the world’s more than 22 million refugees? Any business -- no matter its size -- can give them a boost, says Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Posted Jun 2018

Cultures, nations and religions are not rocks — they’re always changing

“Africa is doomed to be poor” -- that wrongheaded statement is an example of the destiny instinct, the belief that innate characteristics determine the destinies of countries or cultures, says the late global health expert Hans Rosling. Here’s why it happens and how to overcome it.

Posted May 2018

Why ideas matter … now more than ever

It might seem as if our interconnected world is unraveling, if last week's Brexit vote is anything to go by. But it's now, says TED curator Chris Anderson, that great ideas can help knit humanity together.

Posted Jun 2016

See all articles on Global issues