TED Talks Daily - An unexpected plan for peace in the Middle East | Nada Majdalani

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

The Middle East is a climate hotspot, with many parts of the region set to experience an increase in temperature by five to eight degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Palestinian peace activist Nada Majdalani discusses how the climate crisis could actually instigate a movement towards peace, unveiling the "Peace Triangle" initiative — a visionary plan to transform conflicts in the Middle East through shared water and energy projects. Drawing on her experience in cross-border environmental collaboration, she offers a glimpse of how economic interdependence between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians could lead to peace.Want to help shape TED's shows going forward? Fill out our survey!For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDSports: ted.com/sportsTEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-vienna Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Amid the conflict in the Middle East, another threat silently multiplies, climate change. But what would happen if instead of looking at climate and world conflict as separate, we saw them as being integrally connected. In this talk, Palestinian environmental peacemaker Nada Majdalani shares how her organization

is bringing together Jordanians, Palestinians, and Israelis through a vision of environmental peacebuilding and why tapping into the region's natural resources can foster interdependence and cooperation, not conflict. Some things just take too long. A meeting that could have been an email, someone explaining crypto, or switching mobile providers. Except with Fizz. Switching to Fizz is quick and easy. Mobile plans start at $17 a month. What's better than a well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart

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each of which is a separate legal entity. As the war rages in the Middle East, I sometimes wonder, are we witnessing the wrong war? Amid the loudness of bombs, famine and fear, there's a silent threat multiplying, climate change. According to scientists, not my own words, There's a silent threat multiplying, climate change. According to scientists, not my own words, climate change is a magnifier of instability and suffering.

In a region like ours, already tinted and torn by pain, there's still a chance for hope. There is an untapped power to heal. Let's look at the example of the European Union post-World War II. Germany and France, two bitter enemies, they chose cooperation over fighting. They signed the Coal and Steel Agreement, which converted battlefields into the European Union in the early 1950s.

But what if I tell you that in the Middle East, we have resources that are more powerful and more environmentally sustainable than coal and steel? We have the sun, we have the sun, we have the sea, and we have transformative ideas that could unlock the potential of our region into a region of prosperity for all.

My name is Nada Majdalani, and I'm the Palestinian director of EcoPeace Middle East, and I'm here to take you, and I'm the Palestinian director of EcoPeace Middle East, and I'm here to take you on a journey of hope. To tell you a little bit about myself, I was born and raised in the diaspora. I was exposed to various experiences and cultures, but I could never call a place home.

Until 1994, when the Oslo Peace Agreement was signed between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel, it granted thousands of Palestinian families among my own the right to return to Palestine. It was such a profound emotional moment, and the air was filled with hope. As a kid, I joined environmental peace-building organizations and activities,

and I encountered the first Israeli, who is not a soldier. A teenager like myself, who is fond of wild flowers and watching birds. And since then, it was EcoPeace Middle East, my dream job. And after various trials for many years, failures, rejections, I was able finally to join. So lesson learned, never stop chasing your dream.

(*Applause*) I stand here representing 60 environmental peace-building professionals and activists from our three nations. I am a member of the Jewish Community of Israel, and I am a member of the Jewish Community of Israel, and I am a member of the Jewish Community of Israel, and I am a member of the Jewish Community of Israel, and I am a member of the Jewish Community of Israel, and I am a member of the Jewish Community of Israel, I stand here representing 60 environmental peace-building professionals

and activists from our three nations. This cross-border team is our true strength and all unique to our region. It's experience and knowledgeable to actually deal with all the challenges that we face as we are considered a climate hotspot. What does that mean? It means that many parts of our region are going to experience by end of the century an increase in temperature by five to eight degrees Celsius

and a decrease in precipitation by 40 percent. and a decrease in precipitation by 40 percent. And all of this is certainly not going to stop at natural phenomena. Our region is also shaped by, and our reality is shaped by, power asymmetry, where natural water is not equally shared, pollution doesn't recognize boundaries or checkpoints, and our ecosystem is also jeopardized

and held hostage to the stagnation in the political horizon. But we at EcoPeace recognize that we live on such a tiny piece of land that is so interconnected and so vulnerable that it requires cooperation and shared responsibility. We at EcoPeace turn water and energy into an opportunity for mutual benefits. We train thousands of Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian

young professionals every year on the principles of water diplomacy, climate change, water energy realities and negotiation skills. With cross-border efforts, we also provide skills and green solutions to schools, businesses and farmers. And we address the drastic humanitarian disaster and crisis in Gaza Strip.

We refuse the status quo. We dream forward, and we have a vision for the day after the war. EcoPeace introduced a concept of a peace triangle. This peace triangle includes Palestine, Israel and Jordan integrated within the India-Middle East Europe economic corridor, also known as IMEC. IMEC was launched in the G20 summit in New Delhi in 2023,

and it aimed to boost global development and global economy through regional integration and interconnectivity. Our peace triangle initiative focuses on three sectors and three catalytic projects in the sectors of water, energy and sustainable transport for trade. These all come based on extensive research and data and advocacy and networking with regional and international partners and experts.

Let's first imagine that huge amounts of energy are produced in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and exported to the eastern and southern parts of Europe to provide them with 30 percent of their energy needs. This is all aligned with the Repower Europe initiative and also with the Euro-Asia Interconnector, which already is based on existing agreements

between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece, and between Israel and Cyprus. But what if I tell you that we add Gaza as a node for exporting renewables to Europe? Let's also imagine a large-scale desalination plant in Gaza, not only to provide clean and drinkable water to Gaza, but also to the West Bank, and to sell this water to Jordan

and transfer it through the Israeli national carrier. If these projects are realized and implemented, we achieve interdependence in shared resources, just similar to the coal and steel of the European Union. And finally, let's imagine our region as a conduit of goods from India, the Middle East to Europe. IMEC is all planned around a railway from the Gulf to Jordan to the IMEK is all planned around a railway

from the Gulf to Jordan to the port of Haifa in Israel. What if we add and extend this railway from Jordan to the West Bank to the port of Gaza, so that both the port of Gaza and the port of Israel, of Haifa, serve as the gateway of the Middle East to Europe. These projects, if realized and implemented, they will achieve not only economic prosperity, the peace triangle is not merely an economic revolution,

it comes with a geopolitical security agenda that would make the Palestinian state an achievable dream alongside the state of Israel, to achieve the two-state solution. It would propel the reconstruction of Gaza into non-traditional ways that would achieve regional integration and prosperity for all. Some of you might think that these are dreams that are impossible.

Some of you would never see such stories of hope on mainstream media. And maybe you would think that such ideas and long-term visions are also really unrealistic during the time of war. And I tell you the truth that most of us at EcoPeace, we are condemned of treason, we are condemned of normalizing with the enemy, and our reputations are smeared. But also, each one of us has a story of grief and loss.

I live in the West Bank under military occupation, but I stand strong here, calling for peace. I stand here for my beautiful daughters and for the children of our region. I stand here for humanity, sanity, freedom and justice.

I stand here for my comrades of peace at EcoPeace Middle East, because we know and we believe that we all deserve better. I invite you all to share our vision. I invite you all to talk about the peace triangle. Tell our story that there's people in the Middle East who coexist, who refuse destruction and the killing and the loss of innocent lives.

Tell the people that in the Middle East, we have people who work together on concrete, bold ideas, because we want to move forward. We deserve peace. We deserve prosperity. It matters to you, as it matters to us. We have a shared future. Our future is entangled, and our survival is shared.

Thank you. Applause That was Nada Majdalani at TED Countdown Summit 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar,

and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Fazy-Bogan, additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. This episode is sponsored by Sell-Off Vacations. You know how sometimes a single experience, one moment, one place, can shift your perspective entirely? Travel does that. It moves us not just physically but emotionally, even spiritually. We deserve those moments. That's where Sell-Off

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