The people of Palau -- a pristine ocean state made up of more than 300 islands in the western Pacific -- warmly welcome travelers to their home every year. But the guests don't always know how to protect the country's beautiful beaches and coral atolls. Enter the Palau Pledge: an environmental pledge that's now part of visitors' visas, where they promise to "tread lightly, act kindly and explore mindfully" -- while respecting the country's culture and heritage. (Thanks to Jennifer Koskelin-Gibbons and Susan Kloulechad) Countdown is TED's global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at https://countdown.ted.com/sign-up Learn more about #TEDCountdown: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TEDCountdown Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tedcountdown Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED Website: https://countdown.ted.com/ Watch the full 2021 TED Countdown Global livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_vqlb1pOQ Visit http://TED.com/ to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. Become a TED Member: http://ted.com/membership Follow TED on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TEDTalks Like TED on Facebook: http://facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: null TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com/