Jane Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 to foster research, advocacy, and community-led conservation.

The Jane Goodall Institute’s Gombe Stream Research Center continues her long-term chimpanzee research and is described as the world’s longest-running chimpanzee study.

Goodall founded the youth program Roots & Shoots in 1991 to empower young people to plan and carry out projects that help animals, people, and the environment.

Roots & Shoots now operates internationally, cited as being active in roughly 68 to 70 countries and engaging hundreds of thousands of young people.

Goodall consistently emphasizes hope and practical action, telling audiences not to give up and urging young people to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and take action.

She leverages media and education to reach children, including inspiring and approving the Apple TV+ children’s series "Jane," which premiered on April 14 with ten episodes that highlight endangered species and end with conversations with real animal experts.

Goodall continues to speak on global platforms about biodiversity and climate, warning at international events such as COP15 that failing to act risks a bleak future for children and ecosystems.

She has also been a UN Messenger of Peace and publicly described young people as her "greatest hope" for addressing environmental challenges.

Goodall advocates non-confrontational storytelling and personal engagement as effective ways to persuade people, including examples of influencing business leaders through emotional appeal rather than blame.

She remains an active author and public communicator, publishing works such as The Book of Hope in 2021 and appearing on major TV programs to promote conservation campaigns like the Trillion Trees initiative.

Jane Goodall continues to influence global conservation through the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots, ongoing research at Gombe, public advocacy at international forums, media and educational projects, and youth empowerment that emphasizes hopeful, practical action.

Jane Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 to foster research, advocacy, and community-led conservation.

Title:

Content: ×

The work of legendary ethnobiologist, conservationist and activist Jane Goodall has already inspired people to care for endangered species and the environment for decades — but the doctor’s latest endeavor continues her work in motivating the next generation.

Apple TV+’s mission-driven children’s series “Jane” harnesses the power of TV, with Emmy-winning creator J.J. Johnson (“Endlings,” “Ghostwriter”) using Goodall’s teachings to motivate kids to take a stand for endangered species and care for the environment. “Jane,” from the Jane Goodall Institute and Johnson’s company Sinking Ship Entertainment, premiered on April 14, with 10 episodes now available on Apple TV+.

“Jane” features eager 9-year-old environmentalist Jane Garcia (Ava Louise Murchison) — who is inspired to help save the planet, following in the footsteps of her role model, Goodall — along with her friends David (Mason Blomberg) and a chimpanzee named Greybeard. Each episode focuses on a different endangered species, such as Apis mellifera (Western honey bee) and Panthera tigris (tiger). Blending live action and CGI — and featuring an epic theme song “One Step Closer” written by Diane Warren, and sung by Leona Lewis — the show depicts the friends taking a stand for the species and the environment, and getting into occasional trouble along the way. The episodes all end with the friends video-chatting with real-life animal experts, particularly highlighting women and people of color.

While Goodall’s years of dedication to great apes research and advocacy have made her a household name in the 21st century, she began her work at age 26 in 1960 studying chimpanzees. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, which fosters research, advocacy as well as community-led conservation, and it empowers children — particularly through its youth program Roots and Shoots, which was founded in 1991.

A United Nations Messenger of Peace and a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), Goodall’s research on chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania helped change scientists’ understanding of humans’ relationship to animals. The research continues in Tanzania through the Jane Goodall Institute Gombe Stream Research Center, and it is the world’s longest-running chimpanzee study.

Also a prolific author, Goodall has adult and children’s literary works such as “The Book of Hope,” “In the Shadow of Man” and “Rickie and Henri: A True Story.”

Goodall is no stranger to the screen, however, as the subject of dozens of films including “Chimps, So Like Us,” “Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees” and “Jane Goodall: The Hope” — as well as Brett Morgen’s 2017 Emmy-nominated documentary, also called “Jane.” While Goodall did not create this “Jane” for Apple TV+, her life’s work and teachings inspire the show’s protagonist who idolizes her, and if Goodall had not approved the show’s concept when it was in development, it would not have moved forward.

Goodall, who turned 89 earlier this month, spoke with Variety over Zoom about how she hopes “Jane” inspires the youngest generation, and what she hopes to accomplish next in her career.

How do you hope viewers, especially children, react when they see “Jane”?

I hope that it will encourage them to actually think more about endangered species — to think about the fact that if we’re not careful, many of these species will disappear. I hope it also will encourage young people to join our Roots and Shoots program, which is in 68 countries. It’s about young people choosing projects to help — animals, people and the environment — deciding what they want to do, working out what they can do, rolling up their sleeves and taking action.

So if this Jane Garcia encourages real-life activities, it’ll be great. I hope it will encourage young people to join in the effort to make this a better world, to choose projects that will help to save the environment before it’s too late.

Talk about environmental issues often creates anxiety in children and young adults, but it is still obviously important to learn about — how do you, through this show or beyond, hope to inspire the next generation without causing anxiety?

That’s my entire program Roots and Shoots, it’s all about taking action. If young people get together and work on projects, which is the same sort of thing with Sinking Ship Entertainment, then it’s all about positive change. We need to know that many species are close to extinction, but that we have to stop that from happening. And therefore we have to work together to find out ways of saving the animals that are moving toward extinction. We need to know about the doom and gloom — I talk about it all the time. But at the same time, it’s desperately important to give people hope, especially young people, because, yes, we can make a difference.

So “Jane” shows young people how they can get together and solve the “doom and gloom” effectively?

Yeah, hopefully. The goal is to try and get young people involved and taking action, and stepping on beyond that to do more. It’s young people getting really worried, but then working together with older people who are also wanting to try to save the species. So it’s a complete mixture.

How do we inspire the next generation to create change, without placing blame on children for a situation they didn’t create?

There are major problems and, yes, all sorts of things have led to unfortunate decreases in numbers of endangered species. But the whole emphasis is on working together to create change. Let’s get young people involved, talk about what can be done to make a difference and then, as I say, roll up their sleeves and work out what they can do. And taking action is going to be different with different species. And, basically, I hope that this program will have enough fun in it, as well as understanding the problem, that young people will be pushing toward saving a lot of these animals. Many animals on the very brink of extinction have been given another chance.

What’s an example of a species that was pushed toward extinction, but human intervention reversed the course?

My favorite one is that little black robin that was reduced to just two individuals, one male and one female. That was it. And through some very clever work, there are now about 500 of them. They’re all genetically identical, of course, but they’re being spread into four different islands. So, hopefully, there will be some genetic change so they’re not all identical, since that’s not very healthy. There are many, many stories like that.

What message do you have for people who feel hopeless, or that they alone cannot make a difference?

People have to realize that every single one of us can make a difference. We could just say, “Oh well, I know that animals are becoming extinct. There’s nothing I can do about it.” That’s really going to be the end of us. But if you decide, “I will try and make a difference, I will do something every single day,” then we can make a difference. We can choose what we can do: Some of us can help animals, some of us can help planting trees, some of us can help whatever it is that we care about. And if we all choose projects to make the world better, then it’s going to make a major difference. We don’t all give up and say, “Well, it’s just me, there’s nothing I can do.” If we give up, then the future is not very good, is it? We all have to do our bit to try and persuade other people. We’re in the middle of a pretty bad, dark space. So for young people to join in and feel, “Gosh, if I do this, I will be making the world a better place,” that’s really important.

You’ve done so much in your life and in your career — what else do you look forward to accomplishing?

I want our Roots and Shoots program to be in every school in every country. But I always say, “If you try and aim for the stars, you might reach the moon. If you aim for the moon, you might reach the head of Mount Everest,” for example. So that’s the same for the stars — and at least we can reach the moon and help to protect the various animals and plants that are facing tremendous danger. The young and old alike in different countries need to really, really work hard to save these creatures. We’ve got to do it now.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The Jane Goodall Institute’s Gombe Stream Research Center continues her long-term chimpanzee research and is described as the world’s longest-running chimpanzee study.

Goodall founded the youth program Roots & Shoots in 1991 to empower young people to plan and carry out projects that help animals, people, and the environment.

Title:

Content: World-famous for her research with chimpanzees, Jane Goodall now focuses on the human condition

Apr 21, 2024 | 0 comments

By Michelle Cohan

In 1960, on the banks of Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania, one young British woman would set out to change what we know about primates forever.

Jane Goodall, in 1960, searching an African forest for chimpanzees.

Jane Goodall defied conventional scientific methods by immersing herself in the jungle, which led to groundbreaking discoveries about chimpanzees; most notably that they use tools, are omnivores and that they are socially complex beings.

More than six decades later, her unorthodox field work – and her conservation efforts – are still celebrated around the world.

Today, the recently-turned 90-year-old’s work looks a little different – taking place mostly indoors, and with a different crowd. Through her program called “Roots & Shoots,” Goodall empowers young people to create change within their communities. And for her, this work is just as significant.

CNN spoke with Goodall recently during a trip to South Africa, where she observed some of the projects local Johannesburg students are heading up as part of Roots & Shoots.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CNN: The younger generation has so much they can learn from elders. Who made an impact on your life?

Goodall: I think it’s really important, this exchange of information from the elders to the youngers. I was really lucky; I had an amazing mother. I was born loving animals, and she supported that love of animals. I was one-and-a-half years old, and she came into my room and she found I’d taken a whole handful of wriggling earthworms into my bed. Most mothers would’ve [said], ‘Oh, throw these dirty things [away].’ She just said, ‘Jane, I think they might die without the Earth, you better take them into the garden.’ And so she nurtured this inherent love I had … in all the insects, the birds, the animals, everybody around me.

Jane Goodall

CNN: Roots & Shoots is active in 70 countries, where hundreds of thousands of young people are making an impact within their communities. How did the program come about?

Goodall: When I began Roots & Shoots in Tanzania in 1991, it was because I was meeting young people then who had lost hope. Young people who felt we’d compromised their future. And the reason they’re losing hope, it’s obvious: climate change, loss of biodiversity. I could go on listing, listing, listing … but when they said there was nothing they could do about it, then I thought, ‘No, that’s not true.’

We worked out that Roots & Shoots’ main message [would be that] every individual has a role to play. And that we needed to think holistically in terms of helping the environment, people and animals, because we are all interrelated. That’s where it began.

CNN: What is the most important message to convey to the younger generation?

Goodall: The goal that I have is helping young people understand that there is a window of time [to save the planet]. Unfortunately, today I [still] meet more and more people who are losing hope. So many people feel helpless and hopeless because [they question] what can they can do as an individual.

But what people have to understand is when it’s 2 million, 1 billion, 2 billion, 3 billion, all taking small actions to make the world a better place, that is changing the world. What matters is people understanding that as an individual, what they do makes a difference. Not because it’s just them, but because they are not alone.

CNN: Does climate innovation and technology give you hope?

Goodall: Yeah, I think that if we look around at what’s happening to the planet, we need to grab onto every single thing we can that will help us to move forward out of the disaster that we have created. And if we look at solar energy, if we look at wind energy and the power of tide energy, then these things are good.

The problem has been to get government support. So governments tend to put money into the fossil fuel industry, rather than to support the new emerging technologies that will enable us to live in a more harmonious way with the natural world. If we don’t do that, our future is doomed. And unfortunately, it’s not only our future, but so many of the other animals that so many of us love. We have to take action now.

CNN: What message do you have for the world?

Goodall: A message to the world would be, don’t forget that you as an individual make an impact on the environment every single day. And it’s up to you to choose what sort of impact you make. I think once everybody understands the role that they play, whoever they are, is so desperately important, then we move towards a better world.

Editor’s note: At one of Goodall’s recent presentations in California, 93-year-old movie actor and director Clint Eastwood was in the audience. Asked why he was there, Eastwood said he supported Goodall’s work and added that he was a big fan of 90-year-olds.
_________________

Credit: CNN

CuencaHighLife

Dani News

Google ad

Google ad

Thai Lotus News

Fund Grace News

The Cuenca Dispatch

Week of April 14

Trial of Carlos Pólit: First Week of Revelations Sheds Light on Corruption in Correista Regime.

Read more

Insecurity affects tourism in Manabí as nine cruise ships canceled their arrival in Manta.

Read more

Ecuador Gains Ground with Palm Heart, Secures 75% of the Global Market.

Read more

Country living News

Gran Colombia Suites News

Quinta Maria News

What would letting children get close to nature help cultivate?

What would letting children get close to nature help cultivate?

Roots & Shoots now operates internationally, cited as being active in roughly 68 to 70 countries and engaging hundreds of thousands of young people.

Goodall consistently emphasizes hope and practical action, telling audiences not to give up and urging young people to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and take action.

Title:

Content: Jane Goodall wants University of Wisconsin-Madison students to walk away with one message Sunday: Do not give up hope.

It’s a strategy the world-renowned ethologist and conservationist has found effective in spurring action, even as headlines catastrophizing climate change inundate people with a sense of doom.

“I don't agree with scientists who say the tipping point has already reached the point of no return with climate change and loss of biodiversity,” Goodall told the Cap Times. “We still have a window of time. But if we lose hope, fall into apathy and don't take action, then we're doomed.”

Goodall is best known for her groundbreaking work in the early ‘60s as a primatologist. At 26, she began studying chimpanzees in Tanzania, becoming the first to observe that the animals make and use tools. Now part of the world’s longest-running study of wild chimpanzees, her findings have forever changed scientific understanding of primates and humans’ relationship to them.

Goodall’s legacy also endures through her activism. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, a global conservation nonprofit. One of the organization’s programs, Roots & Shoots, educates young people in over 60 countries to work on environmental, conservation and humanitarian issues.

In 2021, Goodall additionally published “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” which details her hope in the world’s ability to make change despite its environmental challenges.

Goodall will speak Sunday at 7 p.m. in UW-Madison’s Memorial Union for the Wisconsin Union’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Tickets for the event sold out among students within 90 minutes, but the public can still register to watch the online livestream.

In a virtual interview with the Cap Times, Goodall spoke from the Edgewater Hotel about climate deniers, how she remains optimistic and what the audience can expect from her on Sunday.

Will you have time to explore Madison this weekend, or will you mostly be working?

It’s all working. Not mostly — all. But the hotel has a lovely view overlooking the lake with all the ice. My life turns out to be work, meeting lovely people and just having an occasional moment to walk in a bit of nature.

What can people expect to learn from you on Sunday?

I hope they take away the message that every single one of them makes a difference every single day of their lives, and they can choose what sort of difference they make. I think that’s the most important message that anybody can have — that they, as an individual, matter and have a role to play.

Your platform revolves around this message of hope. What might be the harm in catastrophizing?

It makes people lose hope. If you’re told that nothing you can do will avert the planet heating up to a point where life is no longer possible and that we’re destroying the ecosystems on which we depend, then why bother doing anything?

The important thing is to realize we still have time, but we have to take action. We have to each do our bit. It may seem small, but billions of small, ethical actions make change.

Much of your work focuses on involving young people within conservation efforts. What inspires you about the attitudes of younger generations toward animals and the environment?

They are much more aware, which isn’t surprising. When I was young, "environmentalism" wasn’t even a word.

Young people are surrounded by doom and gloom. The radio’s full of it, the internet's full of it, the television's full of it, the press is full of it, and so they're much more aware. Fortunately, there are enough people saying it's not too late, and that inspires them and galvanizes them into action.

Do you think those attitudes are much different from older generations?

They are different because older generations either didn't understand what was happening because of ignorance, or they don't want to understand because they want to carry on with business as usual. They want to go on making money in the short term at the expense of future generations.

Sometimes I don’t think they’re thinking like that. I don't think they're deliberately understanding that they're harming the future for their children and grandchildren. But they're simply not thinking in the way that we should be thinking today.

Is it still worth trying to change their minds?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! How to change the minds of the older people? Through storytelling, not through pointing fingers, not through making people angry, not by telling them they're bad, but by reaching into the heart. I’ll give you one example.

This CEO of a huge international corporation told me he was working to get his company ethical for three reasons. One, because we're using our nature's finite natural resources faster than nature can replenish them. Second, consumer pressure — people are beginning to demand ethically produced products.

But what really tipped the balance, he said, was his little girl of 8. She came back from school one day and said, “Daddy, they're telling me that what you're doing is hurting the planet. That's not true, is it, Daddy? Because it's my planet.” That reached his heart. That's the way you change people.

When did you realize this approach of storytelling could persuade people?

I think it was probably part of my nature. I'm not confrontational. I'm fighting for change, yes, but not by confronting. People must change from within. I don't believe you can change them by hammering them with facts that they don't want to listen to.

When I first went to the medical research labs where the scientists kept chimps in 5-foot by 5-foot cages, it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I came out shaken, trying not to cry. I was taken into a room with the top people from the National Institute of Health in the department of animal experimentation. I realized they were waiting for me to speak.

I said, “I imagine all of you are caring and compassionate people, and maybe feel just as I did about what's going on in there.” When you think of it, that was very clever. They couldn’t admit they weren’t caring and compassionate, could they?

Instead of telling them they were bad people, I showed them pictures of the chimpanzees in the wild, making their nests, playing, lying around. In their minds, they could contrast it with the cages where these very social beings were kept for 30 to 40 years. I know it did get into some of their hearts because they told me so. It made some labs completely change the way that they operated.

When you meet somebody, or a group of people, you may not realize that you've made a difference — but you may have planted seeds that will grow and cause change in some of the hearts.

What mistakes did you make early on in your career that emerging activists and young people can learn from?

I was saved from making mistakes in the early days. Before I went to Africa to study chimps, I was working at London Zoo. The chimps were in terrible conditions. So when I got back from my first stint in Africa, the zoo arranged a press conference. I thought now I could really tell the world how bad the chimps were treated!

I happened to be having dinner that night with a very powerful man that I met in Tanzania, and I told him about my plan with great excitement. There was dead silence. He said, “Do you realize that the head of the London Zoo is Solly Zuckerman, Winston Churchill's wartime adviser? A very, very powerful man. Do you think he's going to take it lying down when you criticize his zoo?”

He said, “Just tell me three things that are the most important to change.” I told him, and within two weeks, they were all done. There was no confrontation. That was a lesson that came just in time for me not to make that mistake.

So it’s about activists getting rid of their own personal egos.

Exactly. What people want is to have their name out there and to say, “I did it. I changed this.” It’s learning to not want to be recognized for change. The main thing is to make the change. Not “me” making the change.

This powerful man obviously didn't want me to say that the chimps were being treated badly. He immediately agreed, but didn’t want it out in the press. Give Solly Zuckerman the credit. That’s fine — as long as it changes.

This is a lesson I talk about with our youth. I tell them not to be confrontational. Your goal: Is it to glorify yourself? To be the champion? Or do you really want change?

What do people still not understand about your work and its relevance today?

Climate change deniers, people who don’t want to make a difference, probably don’t understand. What they really think is hard to tell. But are there really people who deny that climate change is happening? Probably not. When they admit it’s real, they say it’s natural and that it’s not manmade. Do they really believe that? I can’t believe they do — but that’s what they say. They don’t want to lose face, and making people lose face isn’t a good way to make change.

What makes you think they don’t really believe what they’re saying?

Well, I can't think of anybody with any ounce of intelligence could believe it. That's why.

How often do you come across those kinds of people?

Not very often. They tend to avoid me.

Kayla Huynh joined the Cap Times in 2021 and covers higher education. She graduated from Northwestern University with a master's degree in journalism after attending UW-Madison.

Support Kayla's work and local journalism by becoming a Cap Times member.

To comment on this story, submit a letter to the editor.

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?

What does Dr. Goodall hope the Jane Goodall Barbie doll will encourage?

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?

What does Dr. Goodall hope the Jane Goodall Barbie doll will encourage?

She leverages media and education to reach children, including inspiring and approving the Apple TV+ children’s series "Jane," which premiered on April 14 with ten episodes that highlight endangered species and end with conversations with real animal experts.

Dr. Goodall believed what steps would slow population growth?

What difference does Dr. Goodall believe every individual is capable of?

What does Dr. Goodall hope the the Apple TV series "Jane" will do for people?

Goodall continues to speak on global platforms about biodiversity and climate, warning at international events such as COP15 that failing to act risks a bleak future for children and ecosystems.

Title:

Content: Leading conservationist Dr Jane Goodall warns next generation faces a 'bleak future' without action

COP15, the once-in-decade global biodiversity summit, began in Montreal on Wednesday. Ahead of the conference, ITV News spoke to one of the world's most famous and inspiring conservationists, Dr Jane Goodall.

With an estimated one million plant and animal species facing extinction, the scale of the issues being grappled with by nations at COP15 in Montreal could hardly be greater.

Entire ecosystems face collapse if we do not act, so how best to overcome this challenge?

Dr Jane Goodall has spent a lifetime trying to understand, protect and educate others about the natural world. She’s witnessed devastating habitat loss but also examples of where, given time, nature returns.

She paints a dark picture of what happens if politicians fail to rise to the occasion, saying the “price of failure is condemning our children, our children's children, to a very, very bleak and grim future.”

Talking to ITV News in Parliament, where she was marking a significant moment in the campaign to ban trophy hunting, she explains how we need to view nature.

“I would say how important it is to realise that we are actually not separate from the natural world. We are part of it and more than that we depend on it. We depend on it for food, water, everything," she said.

"We depend on healthy ecosystems. An ecosystem is made up of an interrelated mix of animal and plant species living in that ecosystem. And as more and more animals and plants become extinct in that area, so the ecosystem eventually will collapse.”

Decades of witnessing animals, such as primates, up close has forged her understanding of our world. It was notable in a room full of animal welfare campaigners just how quiet it was when she spoke.

In Montreal, the world faces a choice but it’s complicated. Delivering change includes finding a way of maintaining wealth. Making people poorer while saving plants and animals won’t work, but Dr Jane Goodall sees options that will.

She concluded: “We need nature for our own physical and psychological well-being. That's proven again and again. We must not let these ecosystems collapse, we have this window of time, we have the tools, we know how we can do things. But will we?”

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know

She has also been a UN Messenger of Peace and publicly described young people as her "greatest hope" for addressing environmental challenges.

Title:

Content:

Counting on youth, for an ‘equitable and sustainable world for all’

17 September 2021

At a virtual event on Friday commemorating the International Day of Peace, the UN chief saluted the “voices, vision and commitment of young people in shaping a more peaceful world”.

You are leaders, changemakers and advocates in our societies”, he told assembled youth online, “speaking out against violence, discrimination and inequalities” and calling for an end to conflicts worldwide, while also “leading the charge for urgent action on climate”.

Secretary-General António Guterres was attending the virtual 2021 Youth Observance, on the theme of Recovering Better for a Sustainable and Equitable World.

The UN’s asks

Mr. Guterres asked young people to support the UN’s call for a global 24-hour ceasefire, “and for all parties to conflict to commit to a lasting, sustainable peace”.

He also urged youth to “keep pushing governments and other leaders to close the vaccine gap between rich and poor countries”.

And finally, to keep sounding the alarm on the climate emergency engulfing our planet.

“As we seek peace among and within nations, we need to seek peace with our planet, too”, he said. “Extreme weather, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and polluted air and water threaten our very existence”.

In closing he asked for young people to help the world “recover better and stronger”.

“Thank you for celebrating peace with us today, and every day. I count on your continued support as we work together to build a more equitable and sustainable world for all”, concluded the UN chief.

Voices of youth

After delivering his message, Mr. Guterres spoke online to youngsters from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States and Central African Republic (CAR).

Dyuthi Vasupal, from the UAE, noted the negative repercussions that COVID has had for education, especially for girls, and asked how school systems can bridge the many challenges still being faced, and help young people with “the means, access and opportunities”, to create an equitable society.

Mr. Guterres answered that because education is “the most important equalizer” in the world, it must be a priority for all governments and international organizations and that schools must be able to “adapt, to be able to change and be successful in a world that is in constant progress”.

Messengers of Peace

UN Messengers of Peace took the floor, including celebrated Japanese American violinist Midori, and students from the Chamber Music Institute performed a stirring rendition of Vivaldi’s “Spring” from the Four Seasons.

Award-winning Brazilian author Paulo Coelho emphasized that “respect is the most important thing that we have”. In an upbeat assessment, he acknowledged that while the world “cannot change overnight…little by little” it will get back on track.

British conservationist and ground-anthropologist, Jane Goodall, said that in a world full of conflict and suffering, young people are her “greatest hope”.

“They understand that nature is suffering, that we must find ways to protect forests and other ecosystems…to ban wildlife trafficking…reduce the unsustainable lifestyles of the wealthy and alleviate”, she said.

Ms. Goodall maintained that when millions of people make even small ethical choices in how they live every day, this cumulatively moves us towards a better world.

“We are all part of one human family…We need to get together and take action now, before it’s too late”, she added.

Crisis point for humanity

In a broader message marking the International Day of Peace, Mr. Guterres warned that humankind faces “a stark choice between peace and perpetual peril”, saying “we must choose peace”.

He painted a grim picture of COVID-19 turning the world “upside-down” and conflicts “spinning out of control” amidst a worsening climate emergency and deepening inequality and poverty.

The UN chief upheld however, that the world can tackle these issues “by working in solidarity for a lasting, sustainable peace every day”.

We need peace to level the playing field and reduce inequalities…to renew trust in one another — and faith in facts and science – and we need to make peace with nature to heal our planet, build a green economy, and achieve our net-zero targets”, he spelled out.

The Secretary-General said that “peace is not a naïve dream” but “a light in the darkness”, guiding us to “the only pathway to a better future for humanity”.

Let’s walk the pathway of peace as if our lives depended on it. Because they do”, he added.

♦ Receive daily updates directly in your inbox - Subscribe here to a topic.
♦ Download the UN News app for your iOS or Android devices.

In addition to founding the Jane Goodall Institute, what other role has Dr. Goodall earned?

In addition to founding the Jane Goodall Institute, what other role has Dr. Goodall earned?

Goodall advocates non-confrontational storytelling and personal engagement as effective ways to persuade people, including examples of influencing business leaders through emotional appeal rather than blame.

What was Dr. Goodall's approach when she spoke to the scientists at NIH regarding their holding chimps in small cages?

She treated them as caring and compassionate

She remains an active author and public communicator, publishing works such as The Book of Hope in 2021 and appearing on major TV programs to promote conservation campaigns like the Trillion Trees initiative.

Title:

Content: “You Can’t Change the Channel.” Late Night TV Show Hosts Take on Climate Change.

Sierra’s rundown of the good, the bad, and the surprisingly funny

By SIERRA Staff

September 23, 2021

Photo by Jon Jones/Relation Agency

The looming existential threat of climate change is not exactly great material for jokes, but on Wednesday night, TV’s late-night hosts gave it a try. In conjunction with Climate Week NYC—a weeklong summit dedicated to promoting solutions to the climate crisis—all seven shows had segments on climate change. Not all of the jokes landed with a punch. (Really, Colbert? An interview with an animated Mother Earth?) But Sierra applauds the effort to put this incredibly pressing issue in front of a larger audience, and in a way that may be more accessible than, say, the latest IPCC report. Here’s a rundown of the good, the bad, and the outright funny.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on CBS

Colbert devoted much of The Late Show to the topic of climate change. The episode begins with a faux commercial for a special brand of condoms called “Trojan Buzzkill.” In the mood? Open up a packet to find a startling fact about climate change—for example, “July 2021 was the hottest month ever.” Only Colbert could get a chuckle out of the fact that one-third of Americans 45 and under are too worried about the future of the planet to reproduce.

In his long opening monologue, Colbert offers up an impressive overview of the crisis while peppering the bad news with hilarious one-liners. When describing how Hurricane Ida dumped so much rain on New York City that sections of the subway flooded, he mimics the dry perfunctory announcements of a train conductor over an intercom, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand clear of the doors and the apocalyptic tidal wave.”

Colbert also touches on a recent dire UN climate report, climate anxiety among the young (56 percent agree with the statement that humanity is doomed), and the broader public’s climate apathy: “Americans treat climate change like soccer. We know it’s out there and that it really matters to the rest of the world, but no one can make us care about it.”

He wraps up the segment talking about the carbon footprint of big oil companies, the fallacy of pinning our hopes on individual actions, and the need to push for systemic change and government intervention (“If the government hadn’t intervened, we’d still be eating lead paint chips!”). Overall, Colbert handles the topic deftly, clearly presenting facts in a relatable way that doesn’t leave the audience curled up in the fetal position, and yes, even makes them laugh. Climate communicators take note! —Wendy Becktold

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee on TBS

At first it seems like Samantha Bee didn’t get the assignment. She starts with a solid summary of what combined sewage is, describes how poorly maintained and outdated the country’s sewer system is, but then digresses into a discussion of fatbergs (a.k.a. those giant sewer-system clogs made of tampon applicators, baby wipes, condoms, and grease—apparently the source of 75 percent of NYC sewage backups in 2018). Vile, sure, but not really connected to climate change.

But then, at minute 3:40, Bee reveals that she has been on course all along. “Even if we stopped clogging our system with rat kings of human grossness,” Bee says, “our sewage infrastructure would still be in trouble because it wasn’t designed for our changing climate. As the planet warms up, heavy storms are producing vastly more rainfall in short periods of time—that’s led to catastrophic flooding and sewage overflows around the country, and not just in the liberal urban hellholes you’d expect, but also in the red states that God doesn’t hate.”

By the time we hit minute five, the segment has dived into environmental racism and infrastructure—specifically in a Black neighborhood in Lowndes County, Alabama, that is getting flooded by an overflowing sewage lagoon that residents don’t even have the privilege of pooping into (the lagoon is for a wealthier neighborhood). By the time we get to the kicker—“Sanitation is a human right! Unless you’re at an outdoor music festival, in which case it is a distant memory!”—Bee has connected politics, science, infrastructure, racism, climate change, and Ashton Kutcher’s parenting skills in a way that should impress anyone who has despaired over how to write about the climate in a way that won’t bore themselves—or anyone else—to tears. —Heather Smith

Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC

Jimmy Kimmel starts his "Climate Change Intervention" with a Greatest Hits reel of climate denial: James Inhofe with his snowball, smarmy Ted Cruz saying "there's never been a day in the history of the world when the climate's not changing," preachers thundering against climate scientists for complaining about God's weather. Kimmel emphasizes that climate change is something no one can escape: "Don't even think of switching to another show; we're all focused on this topic tonight. You can't escape; it's basically an intervention. Our future is in jeopardy. You know that show, Jeopardy, that's all screwed up? This is even worse than that."

Trying to make the stakes clear, Kimmel forecasts a future without beer, coffee, or chocolate. "Imagine a world where you get a carrot cake for your birthday—it's a nightmare." "Climate change could even lead to massive shortages of rosé—I want to see if the white women were listening."

At about eight minutes in, Kimmel says, "We are a bunch of golden retrievers sitting in a hot parking lot right now, and our owners refuse to roll down the windows," which he follows with an extended riff on ConocoPhillips’s plan to refrigerate the Alaskan tundra so it can drill for more oil to warm the planet further. Then he segues into a well-done faux advertisement that starts out with chilling the tundra and goes from there. "When food runs low, we don't quit. We turn to cannibalism, feasting on human flesh to keep on drilling until the earth's destroyed and everyone's dead."

To Kimmel's credit, he ends the 10-minute segment with a plea to do something that matters: Call on Congress to pass President Biden's Build Back Better plan with its funds for a clean-energy infrastructure for the country. "Tell them that if they don't do something about this catastrophe that's coming our way, when the food supply gets low, they're going to be the ones we eat first." —Paul Rauber

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah on Comedy Central

The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah tries a little too hard to be original in his segment on climate change, deciding to focus on the “little weird effects of climate change that nobody sees coming” instead of all the boring stuff like hurricanes, floods, and rampaging wildfires that the show’s writers must have decided everybody already knows about. We learn that climate change threatens the production of coffee, beer, and wine and that on hot days, people have less sex. We also learn that as the atmosphere warms, it thins, causing space junk to hang around longer. Lastly, we find out that the extreme drought caused by climate change proved to be an excellent recruiting tool for the Taliban. Sounds kind of random, but not to Noah. “We could be headed to a future,” he says, in which “your sex-starved husband gets killed by space junk on the way to join the Taliban.”

Noah does display his mastery of the subject when he interviews Greta Thunberg by video, and he even manages to inject some fun with a made-up game in which he forces Thunberg to choose which of two items are worse for the climate: TikTok or Snapchat? The Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty? Dogs or kittens?

Jokes aside, Noah invites Thunberg to make her case for activism: “Fully knowing what [climate change] means makes you want to do things. It makes you active.” —Wendy Becktold

Late Night With Seth Meyers on NBC

Seth Meyers prefers the term “global weirding” to “global warming” during “A Closer Look,” a segment that explores the unusual. Recapping the year’s unprecedented weather events—wildfire smoke extending across the entire continental United States; multiple one-in-500-year rain events occurring in New York City and Philadelphia; extreme cold in Texas—Meyers ventures into bizzaro territory. He assumes the role of a velour tracksuit-clad tornado from New Jersey, pitches a postapocalyptic flick starring Brad Pitt as a depressed marine biologist determined to save the world’s last dolphin, and twice sings a remix of a Billy Joel classic, "Actually, We Did Start the Fire." Ultimately, Meyers makes his way to the Infrastructure Bill, projecting a serious tone and voicing his support for Bernie Sanders and the bill’s backers. “The transition to clean energy is actually cheaper and more cost-effective than fossil fuels,” he says. “We just need it to happen faster before we reach the tipping point of irreversible climate destruction.”

Here are some of the funniest lines:

[On tornados touching down in New Jersey] “New Jersey tornados! New Jersey Tornados sounds like an Arena Football League team.”

[Personifying a tornado with an Italian American accent, stuck in New Jersey Turnpike traffic] “Heyyy, let’s go! Some of us have trees to uproot!”

[On Joe Manchin] “How is it acceptable that the guy writing our climate policy personally profits from coal? It’s like if instead of hiding his gambling, Pete Rose called his bookie from second base.”

[Referring to the rainfall in New York] “It used to be that a once-in-500-year event was the F train arriving on time, or the Jets starting the season 2–0.” —Christian Thorsberg

The Late Late Show With James Corden on CBS

In this episode, James Corden fulfills his obligations to Climate Week, but not much more. With barely a mention of fossil fuels or carbon dioxide, viewers don’t get a clear sense of what climate change actually is or what’s causing it. Reggie Watts, Corden’s bandleader, provides an especially awkward definition: “The burden on the environment from human causation.”

Corden does mention that Lego has plans to make bricks out of recycled plastic bottles. “There’s no word yet as to whether they’ll still hurt just as much when you accidentally kneel down on one,” he says.

He also remembers how, in response to a campaign in the UK to get everyone to stop leaving their TV on standby, he faithfully turned his set off. “And then I went to Vegas and the Strip was just lit up all night, and I remember thinking, ‘I don’t think my TV is going to make a dent here.’”

But the episode does deliver at the end. Corden devotes the entire last segment to climate change and gives his guest Bill Gates plenty of room to talk about solutions: going green in your personal life and keeping up the pressure on politicians for large-scale changes like the infrastructure deal and the budget reconciliation bill. —Abe Musselman

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC

Over at NBC’s The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon and his writers decided to dodge the challenge of making climate change funny. The only scripted joke is a wan one-liner in the opening monologue in which Fallon quips, “Of course, some people are sad that summer’s over. But good news—thanks to climate change, it’s not.”

Instead of attempting to craft some punch lines out of climate chaos, Fallon (who is studiously apolitical compared with the other late-night hosts) made the probably wise choice to just pass the mic to environmental éminence grise Dr. Jane Goodall. During a six-minute segment, Goodall talks briefly about her latest book, The Book of Hope, and plugged the Trillion Trees Campaign to reforest the planet. Goodall makes a lovely plea about humans’ connection to the natural world: “We need it. We’re part of it. We depend on it.” And then gave a shout-out to the youth climate movement: “They’re taking action. And they’re saying, ‘This is our future, and we’re going to do something about it.’”

Fallon then promises that The Tonight Show will also plant a tree, as he plops a tiny sapling on his desk. Though with that smarmy grin of his, it's hard to tell whether he's joking. —Jason Mark

Through what means does Dr. Goodall offer inspiring messages?

What did Dr. Goodall promote on the Jimmy Fallon Tonight show?

Through what means does Dr. Goodall offer inspiring messages?

What did Dr. Goodall promote on the Jimmy Fallon Tonight show?

Jane Goodall continues to influence global conservation through the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots, ongoing research at Gombe, public advocacy at international forums, media and educational projects, and youth empowerment that emphasizes hopeful, practical action.

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?

At the Proctor & Gamble 2022 summit on regional sustainability, what did Dr. Jane Goodall emphasize?