 Good afternoon, welcome to Global Report, I'm Michele Slullay. We have with us today Mr. Aaron Oliveira, who is the founder of Earth 300. Welcome to the show, Aaron. Thank you for having me, Lily. It's a great honor. Well, Aaron, I should say good morning to you, because where we are in Singapore is morning time. Good morning. That's right. Good morning. That's right. Now, Aaron, Earth 300, let's not keep the audience in suspense. Tell us what on Earth is Earth 300. Yeah, Lily, thank you so much. So Earth 300 is an organization, a project that's rooted in the needs to end global warming and tackle the climate crisis. You know, and it's an initiative that was launched to ring the climate alarm on a global scale and inspire the largest and greatest collaborative climate action effort in history. You know, essentially, it's really to address global warming and wake up the world as to the fact that we need to make changes in our daily lives and what we're doing if we add to Earth, you know, extreme weather events and extreme warming, you know? So that's what Earth 300 is. And I see a picture of us right behind you. Is this the Earth 300 you're talking about that's going to be ensuring the survival of humanity for generations to come? Yeah, that's right. So essentially, you know, what it is, Lily, it's... You know, we wanted... we're facing a global crisis. You know, we wanted to wake up the world in a global way. So what we did was that we had a vessel designed. There's an oceanographic research vessel that's been designed as an extreme technology platform for science, research and innovation on the oceans. And it's been designed to be very... with striking aesthetics, you know, to be something that's recognized by everyone around the world. And so the idea was to make sure that when we launch the project and to attract people's attention, we would have an object, you know, that would go around the world with a community of 160 scientists on board. So we have 160 strong strikers of scientists ranging from marine to land to atmospheric and space scientists, as well as experts in residence of different folks from different walks of life. So for example, we have... we'll have economists and entrepreneurs, explorers. We'll have artists, we'll have activists, we'll have journalists, filmmakers, you know? All of the different perspectives coming together to solve the climate crisis, you know? Neri Oxpin from the MIT Media Lab said that you don't solve the climate crisis with a PhD in thermodynamics, so you need a systemic approach. So we're using global systems thinking to address that and building an incredible vessel, you know, to serve as an emblem for sustainability. And we call it the Olympic torch of global science, you know, something that everybody will see and they'll be inspired to be part of. So let me get it right. You are going to bring all these great minds together onto this vessel to look for solutions, is that correct? That's correct. The idea was to create a confluence of brilliance of all of the smartest and brightest and most influential, most diverse group of people on the planet, putting them on a vessel that would be truly global because the climate crisis is a global crisis again. And so we needed to take a global perspective. And so the idea is that this vessel is going around the world. Again, the climate crisis is really coming out of the fact that there's a lot of warming and the oceans are warming. And so if you want to study the oceans, you need to be on it. We wanted a global object that would go around the world visiting all continents. It can visit one hundred and fifty non-landlocked countries, you know, and really be a global ambassador for for science, for sustainability. And of course, for ringing the climate alarm, you know, on a global scale. You know, that makes a lot of sense to me because climate change is really one of the most complex issues facing humanity today. There's so many dimensions to it, right? That's political, that's economic, that's social, that's ethical, that's moral. So it only makes sense that we're assembling this multitude of diverse talents to seek solutions to this crisis. Tell us, who are some of the names that you have assembled already? Yes, so look what we did in terms of the technology. We partnered with IBM in Singapore and now we are moving that up and the idea is for them to help us to build this as a next generation platform for state of the art science at sea, right? So we'll have frontier technologies like quantum, AI and robotics. And with these technologies, the idea is putting the smartest and brightest people on the planet, on the vessel with access to a level of technology that would have been unparalleled maybe a hundred years ago, even 20 years ago, but very possible today. And the idea would be for them to pioneer catalytic blockbuster solutions to address the world's most pressing problems. So as you said, you know, I mean, in 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change published a report saying that we had 12 years to transform civilization. If we wanted to avert 1.5 degree warming, at which point there are really catastrophic catastrophic events on a daily basis. And so that's why the idea of building something iconic and something that would be done on a very next level platform made a lot of sense, you know, really putting the spotlight on the climate crisis in a positive way, you know, to allow people to dream but also to demo and come together and see this as a great opportunity is really to cooperate on a global scale. So I hear IBM, is there any other organizations that are coming on or any specific individuals whose names? Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, look, we've launched as a tabula rasa, you know, in terms of an inclusive platform. So we haven't partnered openly with educational institutions, but we are in talks with a few of them right now. And in terms of the people we have on our team, we've hired a gentleman called Victor Zaykov, who used to lead the world's most advanced oceanographic research vessel last year, which was he was owned by Eric Schmidt of Google from the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Now this year, of course, this year, the Ocean X by Ray Dalio has been launched. So that's more advanced. But Victor Zaykov was with them and he's with us now. And we also have advising us, you know, the global chief technology officer for mud cities and for one of the world's leading companies. He's based in Singapore, it's called Martin Yates. We have a lot of really interesting people coming around us now and joining us and certainly the line of organizations aligning themselves with us is quite long. We've got a foundation called the World Impact, the World View Impact Foundation, whose mission is to plant a billion trees. And they've done the whole area in Myanmar, you know, where they planted a million trees already there, 32 million. So they're also partnering with us. So we have organizations like this. And then, of course, on the technology front, we partner with co-power and that relates to our propulsion system. So we're going to be a nuclear mega vessel, you know, but it's a new advanced atomic energy that we're using. It's really a radical departure from traditional atomic which uses pressurized water reactant and can explode. It's dangerous. This one cannot explode. It cannot melt down. It's safe. It's sustainable. You know, it's really and it's very efficient. So it's almost 100 percent efficient, whereas traditional nuclear is almost 100 percent inefficient. It uses very little efficiency. Traditional nuclear is like 1 percent efficiency. This one is almost 99 percent efficiency. Now, what is the difference here? Because I'm no expert, but, you know, when people hear nuclear, we're thinking of all the safety aspects. So when you say this one doesn't explode, what exactly is this? How different is it? Yeah, so great question. So essentially here we're using the molten salt reactor. It's the technology that was actually developed in the 60s, but was put on the shelf and it wasn't developed for political reasons. But this is using liquid salts, which boil at very high temperatures. You know, so fission occurs at 800 degrees. You know, the splitting of atoms where you create heat. And the salts only boil at 2,000 degrees. So there's no chance of any pressure being created and steam. When you have steam, it creates a lot of pressure, which is what traditional reactors use. And of course, you know, we have the terrible examples of horrific accidents that have happened at Fukushima Chernobyl. But you've got to look at what's what's. I mean, when you look at why that happens, you know, even, for example, in Chernobyl, the nuclear power plants were not covered as usual as they're meant to be covered. And again, that's using traditional nuclear. So it's a little bit about education, right? I like to compare it to how dangerous a shark looks versus a mosquito, right? The shark looks very dangerous. But in reality, it only kills seven people a year. A mosquito kills almost a million people a year, but you don't get scared of a mosquito. So it's all to do with education. I really let the public know that this is a safe way to do to develop nuclear. Now, you mentioned this was a technology that was developed back in the 60s, but it was shocked because of political reasons. How have you managed to overcome those political photos to bring it back to the scene? Well, I mean, look, now the US government is behind this new technology. So the Department of Energy just issued a grant to a consortium of nine companies in the US, one of those companies is called Terra Power. They also have a company called 3M or Reino from France, Bechtel and Co Power is the company that we've partnered with. So they are our technology partners for this nuclear. They're adapting this technology for maritime. So now the US government is behind it. Things have changed. I mean, it's been 60 years, right? So now that is not an issue anymore. The first prototype should be already on land by 2024, 2025. Now, as you are going through the names, somebody just pop into my mind because I had an hour long conversation with one of your one of the brilliant minds that you have gathered. And this John Merriman, he's actually based in Hawaii. We should give a shout out to him now. Hi, John. How are you doing? Yeah, so I recall in my hour long conversation with John, he said this. He said that if we were to get together things that don't naturally come together and just put them together, we get the first ever seen on something. I may not be quoting him what to work, but see, when I look at climate change crisis and I look at this fabulously sexy vessel that you envision and then I look at this multitude of diverse talents that you're gathering, it just impeccably with what he says, you know, you bring things that don't naturally come together together to seek solutions to the climate change crisis. This is truly fascinating. Yeah, 100 percent. And that's a great point. And that's exactly what we're doing. You know, so, you know, one of the individuals I am talking to, he describes this project as a global multidisciplinary crucible of science, cultural intelligence and art. And that's exactly what we're trying to do. People ask me why on a vessel and I say, look, number one, a vessel is truly global, goes all around the world, touches every continent. Number two, you know, when is the last time you had an adventure on a building in land, right? And number three, you know, when you're on a vessel, confined with a group of other individuals, the kind of bonds and chemical combinations that are happening, they are very different to those that happen on land, right? So the idea is putting the smartest, brightest, most diverse, most influential people together in one place, in a kind of like a pressure cooker, you know, and intense pressure and the ideas that can come out of them. And these individuals are going to manufacture miracles, right? Especially when they have access to a level of technology that has never been seen before at that level. So that's really the magic. And then you have also the consumers coming on board, right? The private citizens are coming on board. So you have a situation where intellectuals are meeting with excitement and then the consumers are becoming contributors to, you know, so I liken it to being able to participate in the science at such a level where you're sitting with Newton under the tree when the apple falls or you're in the lab with Edison holding electrodes, you know, when he discovers electric conduction or you're walking on the moon without Armstrong and Aldrin or if you're a little bit adventurous, just you stay in the capsule with Collins, right? And so not only are you contributing to the preservation of humanity for generations to come, but you're also having an incredible time and an incredible adventure whilst you're at it. And even the way the interiors will be designed will be something from another world, right? It will not be something that you're used to, you know? So we are taking a very different approach, you know, and I describe this vessel as a kind of a mix of a Silicon Valley meets SpaceX meets Davos meets NASA meets Disney. You know, you put all of that together. And when people come on board, especially the wealthy people who are coming on board, they can go online and buy anything they want. But what they cannot buy is a new mental model with which to see the world, right? So when they come on board the vessel, we want them to be we want it to be a mind blowing and life transforming experience, you know, where they realize that they've been missing out on the greater picture all of a sudden and they see something new and we are able to change their mindsets. And that's really the ultimate goal of the project is really to elevate human consciousness and allow people to realize that, you know, we are not apart from nature, we're a part of nature, right? And that's really what it is. And with this vessel designed as a scientific sculpture for the oceans, we want to certainly capture people's attention, but also their hearts and their imaginations for them to come along with us on the ride. And so again, because this will be built as a as a computer on the oceans, we're going to have a cutting edge media platform where we'll be able to have a billion passengers on board virtually. So people will be able to zoom in and see what's happening, what's happening on the deck, what's happening in the scientific laboratories, where is this vessel going? You know, they're experiencing science real time, you know? So this is very different. You're on board, you're making history. It's a very different approach. Well, that's fascinating. But I mentioned something of this colossal scale of this magnitude is going to cost a bomb. So how much are we looking at? And how are we looking at funding it? Yes. So I like to paraphrase that, Lily, with the fact that, you know, WWF published a study last year where they found that if we had to manufacture, if we had to supply the planet with ecosystem services, you know, like water, irrigation, purification, cross-pollination, it would cost us $125 trillion, you know? So that's just to kind of frame it. And so at the moment, the benchmark that we have is between five and seven hundred million dollars. We are now going to the shipyard where we'll get an exact quote because we wouldn't know exactly until the shipyard comes on board with a bid package and then we'll take it from there. But that's the number we're working with. And in terms of investment, it's starting with private investment from some private individuals and then moving over to the usual instruments, right? So banking mechanisms, loans, debt structures, a green bonds. We're exploring all of these things. And then also, you know, from the bookings that we're getting in advance from some of the wealthy people who want to contribute to the science, not to mention also the scientific laboratories and foundations wanting to be part of it. So there's a lot to it. But we start with private money first. Now, you mentioned poor power getting the grant from government. I'm wondering what other entities are you from in partnership with? Are you also looking at university labs, research institution, more governmental bodies? I mean, right here, we're in Singapore. I just want to give you a spoken to people like Grace Blue, you know, because she's leading our industry on sustainability and environment. So have you spoken to her? That's right. So yeah, absolutely. So we have been invited in Singapore to be part of the climate week. So we are under Grace Blue's radar. I mean, she knows about us and we're also speaking to the NPA. So I'm meeting up with them, you know, with a chief technology officer and seeing what opportunities there may be for Singapore and overseas. I mean, we're in talks now with MIT on two different levels. I mean, one level is really they've got an organization called ANPEG, which is really an advanced network of experts for the nuclear group. And they look at setting up the infrastructure for this new advanced atomic energy. So they call them, you know, small modular reactors because that's the other interesting thing about these reactors is that they're not this massive behemoth which costs like two or three billion dollars. They're very small. They're the size of a 40 foot container. They can be put on a supply chain and basically, you know, produced off of a conveyor belt, you know. So eventually imagine having small nuclear battery packs, right, that power everything. That's really the future. So yeah, we are in this kind of in conversations with these organizations, governments, not really, you know, but I mean, as we move forward and this takes more shape, I'm sure that there will be more opportunities and things will become clearer for us to cooperate with governments. We've just been contacted by the United Nations Climate Change Organization. So we're having talks now, but it's all very preliminary. Yeah, you know, I was at the launch of a 300 that took place about two months back. And I just have to share my experience because I went with no expectations and I was totally blown away. I felt that I had to step onto the movie set for Star Wars or the premiere of Star Wars. I mean, you guys did such a great job together. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to marry scientific excitement with the glam of entertainment. And so, you know, that was just amazing. And I recall meeting one of the guys from our space team. I didn't even know we have a space company in Singapore, but he was there as well. So I imagine he's on board the Singapore Space and Technology Limited or something like that. That's exactly right. Jonathan Hang here. So we've also partnered with them. That's right. That's one of the organizations that we have on board. And again, when you look at spaces, the future, right? So a lot of the technologies they are doubling with and looking at will be relevant for us. And absolutely right. So you hit the nail on the head, Lily. What we wanted to do with this project is really, you know, marry science, technology, art, entertainment, adventure, exploration, hospitality in ways that have never been done before, right? So again, it's been able to participate at the cutting edge of science in a way where you can actually be part of it, not only in terms of spiritually by contributing to it, but also physically. And so the idea was to elevate the environmental agenda and really place science on a pedestal, right? Because all too often, I mean, we've glamorized celebrities, right? So when we think of celebrities, it just means that somebody's celebrated. But the only celebrities that are celebrated today are really actors, artists, and musicians. So I think, you know, that scientists are the real celebrities. They are the ones who allow us to move forward, right? I mean, societies are built on the backs of great scientists and inventors and engineers who nobody really knows about, right? When you ask the average person on the street, who's your favorite scientist? They may say Newton or Einstein and they've been there for quite some time. So I think that the idea of glamorizing science and then by glamorizing it, you're immediately democratizing it because people start to relate to it, right? They say, oh, this is really cool and they can be part of it. So that's what we wanted to do. You know, we didn't wanna come from this perspective of sustainability where you've got a bunch of people demonstrating, you know, in front of a forest or something. We wanted to make it something that's attractive to the mainstream. And I think only when you get the mainstream behind you, can you really affect global change? And again, that's why this vessel has been designed with such an iconic shape because we wanted to capture everybody's attention and also their hearts and imaginations. Well, I will say this for lack of a better word, but climate change has never looked this sexy. So you guys are, you know, going in the direction that you intend. Now, Erin, when climate change activists talk about climate change, they tend to think of a two-pronged approach. You know, that's the mitigation. How do we reduce emission of greenhouse gases? And then there's the approach of adaptation. How do we adapt to a changing climate? Because you and I know that carbon dioxide doddles in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. So even if we were to cut emission gases today, we in the future generations still have to deal with all the carbon dioxide that's in a pipeline. So when you look at Earth 300, would you say it's getting more towards adaptation or mitigation or a combination of both? I would say a combination of both. And the third one, which would be restoration. You know, we're not looking at this in a linear fashion. We're looking at it in an exponential fashion, right? So again, there may be something under our noses. You know, I mean, Carl Sagan says, you know, somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known, right? So I think that there's many electricities around us. What's the next electricity that we're going to discover that's going to allow us to immediately get rid of all of the excess carbon? So I think adaptation is definitely important for the short term, but in the long term, you want to treat the root cause, right? You really want carbon capture, like Elon Musk now has launched the fund. I think that's fantastic. And that's really what we want. So I would say adaptation, restoration, and certainly, you know, changing the ways that we're doing things now so that we stop making the problem worse, right? I mean, that's given to us. But with technology, you know, we've never before have we had such access to exponential technologies at our fingertips. So I think we're living in a really daunting time in human history because of climate change. We're facing a fundamental existential crisis, which most people are not really aware of. They think climate change is something happening in the polar ice caps, you know, in island nations. And at the same time, we're living in a really exciting time because of all of this technology that's available to us. So I think if we galvanize ourselves and work together, there's no problem that we cannot solve as the human race. I mean, that's really, you know, a tremendous faith in humanity. You know, I mean, with that amazing things, we've come out of many pandemics before, right? I mean, this is hundreds of years ago, we're still here. So I think that's very telling of who we are as a civilization. Well, that's good thinking because I think we need to go beyond being reactive to proactive. And this sounds like what, you know, of 300 is trying to accomplish. Now, as with all good things, there's worthy of our pursuit. There are challenges. So I'm just curious, what are some of the challenges that you have encountered so far and how have you overcome them? And that's a really interesting question because normally people ask me what are the challenges moving forward? The challenges up to now have been able to get so far with very limited resources because, you know, I'm not a billionaire. I didn't inherit a lot of money like Paris Hilton, right? So, you know, I'm really a little guy that just happened to fall into this, you know, by seeing that we're destroying the planet and then seeing a niche where we can actually use the worth of the wealthy to advance the cause of science, you know? So back in 2015, I was in the Maldives. I saw that the corals were dead. I was shocked, you know? And I said, it makes no sense to build another resort, you know, when the world is not in a very good condition, why not kill two birds with one stone, right? And that's where the idea started. And the challenges have been being able to remain in the game for long enough, you know, to be able to galvanize enough people and attract a certain level of individuals, you know, like Martin Yeats, like Jonathan Han, like John Merrifield, you know, I mean, John, who's our Chief Creative Officer, he used to be with Google before. He was the Chief Creative Officer for Google, very high pedigree guys. I mean, John is a guy who was in meetings with Steve Jobs and Lee Klaus. So to attract these kind of individuals has not been easy, but I think the power of the vision and the fact that it makes a lot of sense to do what we are doing allowed us to get this far. So I think that those are the only challenges we've had. I mean, the funny thing is, nobody has actually said, this doesn't make any sense, so it's a crazy idea. They've said it's a crazy idea in a cool way, but like I tell people, this is not a moonshot, you know, we're not building a vessel that's gonna navigate on the rings of Saturn. It's still gonna float. It's gonna have amazing technology, amazing people. It's gonna look beautiful, you know? Why is it only the mega yachts for private pleasure that needs to look beautiful? Why not we do something for science that is amazing and iconic and emblematic and just something that attracts people to want to be part of it? So you went scuba diving and you came up with this grand solution. I tell you, when I go scuba diving, my mind is occupied with a secret desire to meet a shark. I mean, not any shark, but one that will let me pet it without biting my hands off. So my hands off to you. Now, Ero, what about inclusivity? Because I imagine that not everybody has the monetary resources, not the expertise to be a part of this futuristic project. How can we include more people? Look, that's a beautiful question. I mean, and it's like really what we want, right? We want to include more people to be part of this. I think, I mean, there's two interpretations I have to that question. One of the first interpretation is how can other people in my position also do something like this? And I guess the answer to that is, find something that makes a lot of sense and do it in a very different way that's not been done before that's attractive, right? If you look at Nike, Nike glamorized the sports and running, right? They glamorized, having a Nike issue is like a fashion statement. The Steve Jobs glamorized computing. So it's all about glamorizing things and looking at them in different perspectives. And then the other part of it, in terms of how people can be part of it, is so we're building a collaboration platform with IBM, which will allow, it's going to be a sustainability intelligence platform, which becomes a software for the hardware that then goes into the ship, right? So the ship is the hardware and this is the software, the brain. And so we are building, you know, the library of all of sustainability, all of any initiatives to do with sustainability. We're building a library where corporates can collaborate, students can collaborate, scientists can collaborate and we're taking a multidisciplinary approach to it where we don't leave anybody out. And it's not just multidisciplinary, but it's also intercultural, it's intergeographic from all around the world, interintelligence or different kinds of intelligences, right? Like someone from a leading tribe in Africa knows more about surviving in the jungle with natural resources than the smartest businessman, right? So there's different intelligences and then also intergenerational. We also want to involve young people, you know, and old people. We want to involve 90-year-olds and these people sometimes have so much knowledge. I mean, I have the pleasure of dealing with a lot of top individuals and very senior individuals like re-admirals of the Navy. I was just on the phone with another gentleman the other day. He's like in his 80s and the way they speak is like, you know, they have volumes of information. It's beautiful. And then when you take a young person, the last questions that nobody else will ask because they will not feel like it's a stupid question, right? They'll just ask the question and maybe they find a solution. So the idea is to attract all these individuals to come and be part of what we're building, you know, and we are plugging them into this platform. That's what we're doing at the moment. Well, I'm very here to, you know, here you mentioned the old and the young. I mean, where I'm living here, I have a seven-year-old climate change police who will never let me discuss anything that can be recycled. Well, Erin, we have just a minute to close. Before we go, I just want to track on the point of how real climate change is. Let me just touch on three points for the audience if I can remember. One is global temperature rise. So since the late 19th century, we've seen a two degrees Fahrenheit rise in temperature and 2016 and 2020, like for the warmest year on record. And as far as sea level rise, for the past century, it has risen eight inches and in the last two decades alone, 16 inches. And last but not least is the melting of the polar caps as you have mentioned. So green hand lost 279 billion tons of ice from 1993 to 2019. And Antarctica lost 17, 149 billion tons of ice from 1993 to 2019. And that is a loss on an annual basis. That's not a totality. So climate change is very real. And I just want to end by thanking you, Erin, for your ambition and your passion and bring together the brightest minds to solve these climate change crisis. I commend your courage and I commend your vision. And I'm still immensely privileged to be a part of this in my own small way. So thank you so much, Erin. Thank you very much. Thank you, Lily, you're a gracious host. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you, and I'll see you around town. Yes, thank you so much. Yes, look forward to that. All right, thank you. Bye. Bye.