The big players in the business world aren’t doing enough to help save the natural world, according to polar explorer Pen Hadow.Mr Hadow used his 17 minutes on stage at TEDxBermuda to encourage big-money companies to “unblock the constipation” of environmental research.The explorer, who is the only Briton to have trekked solo to both the North and South Poles, said it was frustrating to know that things were not being done fast enough to save the environment.Calling for change, he said businesses sponsoring research programmes would lead to a “better informed global public”.Mr Hadow urged bosses to dig deep into their pockets to fund projects so that the environment “will win out in a major way”.He said: “There is an absolutely essential need for businesses to partner with natural science programmes addressing the big environmental questions of our time.“Businesses have a major role to play … businesses need to address their responsibilities and get more research done. We need more partnerships between businesses and major research programmes”.Mr Hadow highlighted the Arctic Survey in 2009, which he said showed an enormous audience that the sea-ice would become “a seasonal feature in 20 to 30 years time”.Mr Hadow described himself as “one of a dying breed” of polar explorers, adding that it was now his role to spread the word on “a new chapter of modern exploration”.He said people needed “to manage our relationship with the natural world better” and understand how the processes could work together.Mr Hadow said it was crucial for businesses to help as so many charities were struggling in the economic downturn and could not “deliver the information on the scale we need”.He said: “The scale, number and complexity of issues now facing the natural world is so great.“We’re doing a fantastic job in flagging up what the issues are … but it’s hard work and we’re slipping backwards.“It’s not realistic to leave them to stagger along as another growing burden. We need to do something about them”Mr Hadow told the story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott who died “in utter isolation” on his way back from the South Pole. The last words he wrote in a letter to his wife were about his three-year-old son; he wrote ‘Get the boy interested in the natural world, some see that more important than sports’.Mr Hadow said: “His life was about discovering the natural world and he wanted to pass on that something of supreme importance”.Mr Hadow said: “It really worked” explaining that Captain’s Scott’s son, Sir Peter Scott, went on to set up the world’s largest charity, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).The second TEDxBermuda idea-sharing event at the Fairmont Southampton Resort on Saturday saw ten global and local visionaries sharing their expertise with a crowd of about 200.Documentary filmmaker Mike Ramsdell gave an emotionally powerful speech on people’s response to the civil unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he called “the worst human atrocity since World War Two’.He described how humans were “empathetic creatures” and only connected with a tragedy if there was “an emotional and intellectual understanding”.Mr Ramsdell talked about the use of ‘conflict minerals’ in electronics and the story of Congo resident Rene who lost a child in a fire attack. She had shared her story in the hope that she could start to help rewrite the story of Congo.He said: “In order to change reality, we must first change the stories of us and them, right and wrong, good and evil. We should start to tell stories that empower and engage.“If we continue to passively accept stories of divisional thinking then that’s what world we are going to continue to live in”.Meteorologist Jeff Masters predicted “death and destruction” saying that extreme weather events causing billions of dollars of damage were on their way. He said: “We live on a planet of remarkable natural beauty, but the great storms are incredibly destructive”.Mr Masters, who previously flew with the Hurricane Hunters, said there was a 20 percent chance that New York would be destroyed by storm surge in the next 30 years. He said New York was “very vulnerable” as the 5ft sea wall did little to protect Manhattan and climate change was heating up the oceans and giving them more energy.Mr Masters also discussed the likelihood of a Midwest drought, a Lower Mississippi flood which would knock out New Orleans’ fresh water supply and oil and natural gas refineries, a catastrophic geomagnetic storm and massive nuclear explosion.Dickson Despommier, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, gave an overview of what it would be like to live in a city in 30-50 years time where the challenge would be providing an abundant food supply.He said: “We’re in danger of shooting ourselves in both feet with our own bullets” as urbanisation would see people leaving farmland and moving to the suburbs.Mr Despommier suggested the future of agriculture was indoor farming in modern-style greenhouses and vertical farming to supply year-round crop production. He said: “We have to keep our green and blue planet those two colours”.Tony Ruto, CTO of Within Technologies, talked about the use of 3D printing giving the manufacturing industry greater design freedom. He talked about a range of products from medical implants, to pens and cufflinks, to comfier soles for high-heeled shoes.Mr Ruto described it as “a very powerful concept” and “a revolution happening right now”. He predicted 3D printing bureaus in Bermuda and urged people to “get involved”.Mr Ruto said: “3D printing is offering the world a very interesting and compelling way to design things that previously have only been dreamed about”.Canadian artist Ryan Legassicke spoke about how “our built environment is a reflection of our culture” and “the signs of oppression that exist in our world”.He talked about people taking personal freedom for granted and called the 10ft security fence put up around the centre of Toronto for the G20 Summit “a disastrous moment in the city’s history”.Mr Legassicke also showed the audience plans for his ‘Separation Wall Global Park’ piece of art that shows the effects of fences, boundaries and walls around the world.Associate professor at MIT’s Department of Architecture Larry Sass spoke about his experiences simplifying the construction process by producing a digitally fabricated house. He explained he used a computer to produce a 3D model and put things together “like a layer cake” to build a 15ft by 30ft cabin which had become a museum exhibit.Mr Sass called digital fabrication “the next step of home production” and said he hoped communities could be designed across the globe.The next TEDxBermuda event will be held in about a year’s time and all talks can be viewed at www.tedxbermuda.com