Without the Amazon, the world as we know it ends. With no hyperbole, it is the churning epicenter of weather systems worldwide. It creates rain. It regulates temperature and humidity. It stores carbon dioxide. It regulates trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean and all the moisture they move. It releases around 20 billion tons of water into the atmosphere every single day. It supports ecosystems not found anywhere else on the planet. And we know next to nothing about most of what lives there. The XPRIZE Rainforest competition’s 2024 winner, Team Limelight, aims to change that, to show all of us that the planet’s greatest buried treasure is worth fighting for. And that the time to fight is now.

In this second installment of a two-part special Rio G20 series, host Tate Chamberlin interviews Team Limelight Rainforest’s Dr. Thomas Walla, Professor of Biology at Colorado Mesa University, and Outreach Robotics Cofounder Guillaume Charon, two among the many creative minds intent on tackling the world’s most pressing concerns in XPRIZE competitions around the globe. Here, they break through the Amazon’s canopy to shed light on the world’s most misunderstood treasure and all the sway it holds over the future of literally everything.

Each year at the G20 Summit, the “Group of 20” heads of state and international governments meet to address issues impacting global economies, politics, and environmental health. This year’s Summit in Rio de Janeiro hosted the XPRIZE Rainforest award ceremony, the culmination of a five-year competition that fueled teams helmed by the best and brightest minds from diverse backgrounds to innovate solutions to imminent concerns endangering the future of rainforest ecosystems and, by extension, the health of the very planet. Tune in to hear XPRIZE Executive Vice President of Biodiversity & Conservation Peter Houlihan describe the advances inspired by the competition, and the profound hope he’s found exploring the planet’s deepest hearts of darkness.

How does ecological data analysis inform financial policies that challenge the status quo to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, thereby addressing the climate crisis and saving the world as we know it? It’s a mix of positioning, ingenuity, investment, and good old-fashioned act-now-and-think-later responsiveness. Simple. For a more detailed accounting, check out the latest episode of the I Am Interchange podcast: Vibrant Data.

In this episode, Tate Chamberlin is joined by esteemed ecologist and data analyst Eric Berlow, venture capitalist and 2050 founder Marie Ekeland, and We Are Human managing partner and Katapult Ocean partner and chair Sindre Østgård. Together, they discuss the critical role of data analysis, fiscal policy, and entrepreneurial innovation in shaping the global response to the climate crisis. As deadlines for achieving these vital goals loom large and remain largely unmet, how do we bridge the gap in both knowledge and action to save a planet on the brink?