--- title: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Urges Action on Climate Solutions description: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, the marine biologist who co-founded the Urban Ocean Lab, received a TIME Earth Award at the TIME100 Next Gala. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-gala-2025/7327402/ayana-elizabeth-johnson-climate-solutions-time-earth-award-speech/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-31T15:51:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T01:02:07.143Z og:title: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Urges Action on Climate Solutions og:description: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, the marine biologist who co-founded the Urban Ocean Lab, received a TIME Earth Award at the TIME100 Next Gala. og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-gala-2025/7327402/ayana-elizabeth-johnson-climate-solutions-time-earth-award-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8612fc323d5718b0/6998cb559fbc7c1d62d9a943/Ayana-Elizabeth-Johnson-T100-Next-Speech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Urges Action on Climate Solutions og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Urges Action on Climate Solutions twitter:description: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, the marine biologist who co-founded the Urban Ocean Lab, received a TIME Earth Award at the TIME100 Next Gala. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8612fc323d5718b0/6998cb559fbc7c1d62d9a943/Ayana-Elizabeth-Johnson-T100-Next-Speech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 31, 2025 # Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Urges Action on Climate Solutions in TIME Earth Award Speech by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/) ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer  Ayana Elizabeth Johnson speaks at the 2025 TIME100 Next Event in New York City on Oct. 30, 2025. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson speaks at the 2025 TIME100 Next Event in New York City on Oct. 30, 2025.Craig Barritt—Getty Images for TIME Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, the marine biologist and climate activist who co-founded the Urban Ocean Lab, received a TIME Earth Award on Oct. 30 at the [TIME100 Next Gala](https://time.com/7033988/time100-next-gala-photos-2024/ "undefined"), an event bringing together emerging leaders from across the world. [Nomzamo Mbatha](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2025/7318847/nomzamo-mbatha/ "undefined"), a South African actor, humanitarian, and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador as well as a 2025 TIME100 Next honoree, presented Johnson with the Earth Award at the Manhattan gathering in recognition of her work to champion climate solutions. Johnson, [who was previously recognized](https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2021/5937679/ayana-elizabeth-johnson/1000/ "undefined") by TIME in 2021, began her acceptance speech by acknowledging the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, where her family is from. “I was asked to talk about hope tonight, but I work on climate change, and 2024 was the hottest year on Earth in human history,” Johnson said. “F-ck hope. What's the strategy? What are we going to do so that we don't need hope?” Solutions already exist, she said, noting solar panels and wind turbines are the cheapest ways to generate electricity. As she put it, “There's no magical technology we need to wait for, and we are making progress, but we need to move _much_ faster.” She urged those listening to take bold action to combat climate change: “Every tenth of a degree of warming we prevent, every inch of sea level rise we avoid, every increasingly unnatural disaster that we prevent, every species we save, every bit of nature we protect and restore—it all matters.” The award acknowledged Johnson’s years spent in service of conservation and the environment. The scientist and activist knew she wanted to be a marine biologist ever since she was five years old and became mesmerized by a coral reef while learning to swim in the Florida Keys. She helped craft the Blue New Deal to protect oceans worldwide, and, as executive director of the Waitt Institute, she worked on the first island-wide ocean zoning plan in the Caribbean. Past recipients of TIME [Earth Awards](https://time.com/collection/earth-awards-2023/ "undefined") include former NYC mayor [Michael Bloomberg](https://time.com/7269124/how-we-chose-2025-time-earth-awards/ "undefined"), former U.S. Secretary of State [John Kerry](https://time.com/6958837/earth-awards-2024-john-kerry/ "undefined"), U.N. Secretary General [António Guterres](https://time.com/collection/earth-awards-2023/6272884/antonio-guterres-climate-change-apology-great-great-granddaughter/ "undefined"), and actor and activist [Jane Fonda](https://time.com/6958813/earth-awards-2024-jane-fonda/ "undefined"). _The TIME100 Next Gala was presented by Rolex, Toyota, General Catalyst, Project Management Institute, Meta, Smirnoff, and The Spark Collective._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-gala-2025/7327402/ayana-elizabeth-johnson-climate-solutions-time-earth-award-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-gala-2025/7327402/ayana-elizabeth-johnson-climate-solutions-time-earth-award-speech/"},"headline":"Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Urges Action on Climate Solutions","datePublished":"2025-10-31T15:51:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:02:07.143Z","description":"Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, the marine biologist who co-founded the Urban Ocean Lab, received a TIME Earth Award at the TIME100 Next Gala.","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-gala-2025/7327402/ayana-elizabeth-johnson-climate-solutions-time-earth-award-speech/","keywords":["sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8612fc323d5718b0/6998cb559fbc7c1d62d9a943/Ayana-Elizabeth-Johnson-T100-Next-Speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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