Looking South

From June 11 to 14, the TED Countdown event will be held in the city of Detroit, United States, under the slogan “turning vision into reality”. The event will be attended by Uruguayan physicist Ramón Méndez, who was called as a “leader in just energy transition”.

Between TED talks, awards and a lot of work, Uruguay continues to add its knowledge and experience to the world in energy issues. In line with the founding objectives of the Ivy Association, we continue to contribute to Latin America accelerating its path towards a new model of sustainable transition and contributing to the necessary global transformation.

“I will be representing the country with world leaders of great relevance, such as Al Gore. It is always great news that Uruguay is occupying places of reference when we talk about energy and sustainable transition. The discussion on energy issues is part of the mandatory agenda in practically the whole world and it is surprising the admiration that the Uruguayan case arouses. Having achieved that practically all of our energy matrix is renewable and that this has allowed us to reduce the cost of electricity generation by 500 million dollars per year, is a fact that motivates us to ask ourselves how they did it, and that is what this TED will be about” said Méndez (Ivy’s Executive Director).

Why a special TED for these topics?

When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the world was on track for catastrophic warming of 4-5°C. Thanks to the progress made since then, possible ways out are beginning to emerge.

But we are still in crisis and have enormous work to do to protect our planet and its inhabitants. How can we come together and design a better future? The TED Countdown Summit will explore this crucial question by highlighting the state of climate progress, envisioning a better future and exploring the solutions, tools and partnerships that will help us move forward.

There will be 7 TED Talks sessions on the main stage, packed with climate talks from around the world, thoroughly researched and carefully selected by the TED team.

The Countdown Summit will take place in Detroit, Michigan, the city at the heart of the U.S. auto industry and striving to build an inclusive and sustainable future.

https://conferences.ted.com/countdown2023

Bonus track

Méndez’s role in the Uruguayan energy transformation process will also be recognized in October with an important distinction awarded by a prestigious North American university.

Each year, the University of Pennsylvania awards the Carnot Prize to a leader who has made outstanding contributions to the field of energy policy.
Méndez will be this year’s recipient because “his leadership in Uruguay’s incredible energy transition has pushed the boundaries of what is possible at the national level and has set new standards for action that governments around the world should implement.”