Elise Hu

What does it take to turn a quiet, almost invisible problem into a movement that can change a country?

That's climate champion Kimiko Hirata, who's been at the forefront of climate action in Japan for decades.

In her talk, she shares how a moment of national upheaval revealed a surge of coal projects hiding in plain sight and how she was able to shut down a bunch of them before they even opened.

But stopping something is one thing.

Convincing people to believe in a different future is another.

She shares key steps she's learned for doing just this so we can turn no into a strong, powerful yes.

That's coming up right after a short break.

And now, our TED Talk of the day.

That was Kimiko Hirata at the TED Countdown Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in 2025.

If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines.

And that's it for today.

TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective.

This talk was fact-checked by the TED Research Team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, and Tansika Sangmarnivong.

This episode was mixed by Christopher Faisy-Bogan.

Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo.

I'm Elise Hugh.

I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.

Thanks for listening.

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.

I'm your host, Elise Hu.