Episode 63
Africa NXT and Protecting Africa from the Impact of Climate Change
Episode Summary: In this episode Jenn Swanson, Kristina Horning, Brian Tormey and Olabanji Stephen talk about Olabanji’s opportunity to talk at a conference in Lagos, Nigeria.
They discussed Olabanji’s journey into The Carbon Almanac, his involvement in the project and his decision to apply to speak at Africa NXT and then his surprise when given a slot to speak.
Without delving too much into context, Olabanji discusses what he hopes to achieve when giving the talk and how he will feed back to us afterward.
More about the Africa NXT here
For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac, visit thecarbonalmanac.org
Want to join in the conversation?
Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.
Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!
-----
Olabanji is from Lagos Nigeria, he’s a Creative Director and visual designer that helps brands gain clarity, deliver meaningful experiences and build tribes through Design & Strategy. He founded Jorney - a community designed to help people stay productive, accountable, and do their best work.
From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.
Brian is a Real Estate Title Insurance Professional and Goat Farmer in the US.
Kristina is working on design theory and using design process in everything. With a background in architecture, civil engineering and education, she loves research, play and co-creating. Currently in Prague (that it is where she is originally from) and her base in the U.S.
-----
The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.
Transcript
Hi, I'm Ima.
Speaker:I live in Scotland.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Jen and I'm from Canada.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Ola Vanji and I'm from Nigeria.
Speaker:Hello, I'm Leaky and I live in Paris.
Speaker:Hey, I'm Rod.
Speaker:I'm from Peru.
Speaker:Welcome to Carbon Sessions.
Speaker:A podcast with carbon conversations for every day with everyone
Speaker:from everywhere in the world.
Speaker:In our conversations, we share ideas, perspectives, questions, and things we
Speaker:can actually do to make a difference.
Speaker:So don't be shy.
Speaker:Join our carbon sessions because it's not too late.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Jen.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Brian.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Christina.
Speaker:, hi.
Speaker:I'm Aji
Speaker:It's funny, aji, this is your first time in the hot seat, right?
Speaker:You've been a host of this podcast for so many sessions.
Speaker:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker:Uh, happy to be on the hot seat.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Well, we are very excited to be here today with Ji.
Speaker:and talking about an exciting new, uh, an honor and an
Speaker:adventure he's about to go on.
Speaker:Uh, and really excited to, to learn all about it.
Speaker:Um, and we're here with Christina and Jen.
Speaker:Um, and so je can you, you know, you've been helping us produce this
Speaker:podcast for quite some time now.
Speaker:Tell us about this new adventure that you're about to go on
Speaker:this, this honor that you were.
Speaker:. Uh, yeah, gladly.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Um, so it, you know, it kind of started last year.
Speaker:We were, um, we were.
Speaker:Having a conversation on this podcast and, you know, we're all just talking
Speaker:about our goals, you know, for, for 2023.
Speaker:And, and I remember saying one of my goals was to get the Kabul Naac
Speaker:to more African countries because, you know, in, in the general sense.
Speaker:I think it's, um, , one of the un sub organizations that said like, Africa
Speaker:is the least contributing continent to climate change, but the most vulnerable.
Speaker:And I wanted to be able to, you know, reach out in the way that I
Speaker:could to say, Hey, like there's, it's not a dead end, right?
Speaker:There's stuff we can do to, have this as our fate.
Speaker:And so, you know, Jen was so kind to get me on, you know, start making
Speaker:propositions and how I could like travel around the world and, you know,
Speaker:get the Carbon Almanac as many places.
Speaker:And it was so much fun.
Speaker:And so sometime in December I got a message, message.
Speaker:And long story short, it led to, uh, me having to apply for.
Speaker:, one of the sessions at Africa in XT and Africa in XT is pretty much the largest
Speaker:gathering of innovators in Nigeria and the diaspora generally in Africa.
Speaker:We've got people coming from Ghana, from, you know, other parts of
Speaker:Africa, from Kenya, from South Africa, from a lot, lot of places, and.
Speaker:It's one of the biggest events in Nigeria as far as conferences,
Speaker:um, you know, is concerned.
Speaker:And it holds for a period of like, um, four or five days.
Speaker:and the whole venue is just packed out the entire time.
Speaker:And so I was like, oh, do I really wanna apply for this ? Uh,
Speaker:I mean, but it wouldn't hurt.
Speaker:So I, I put in an application and say, Hey, I wanna talk about climate
Speaker:change, so if you give me a session or masterclass, I can do that.
Speaker:Just recently I got a reply and they say, Hey, your session is approved.
Speaker:I was like, oh.
Speaker:Oh, hold on.
Speaker:Did what, what?
Speaker:My session is approved
Speaker:as we, as we say here, the, the dog who caught the car.
Speaker:, right?
Speaker:. . What do I do with this now?
Speaker:Wait, I got this.
Speaker:Yeah, I, and, and was.
Speaker:. Okay, now I actually have to do it.
Speaker:You know, I applied not thinking that like I was going to have to do it,
Speaker:but now I, I see it and it's like, oh yeah, you are gonna have to do it.
Speaker:So, you know that that's it.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:That's the, that's the, the story of how it started.
Speaker:So I have a question for you.
Speaker:I am wondering what you are looking forward to the most.
Speaker:Um, for yourself in this experience?
Speaker:Um, actually I'm ac I'm looking forward to, um, I'd say like, I'm actually
Speaker:looking forward to an understanding, and it's not even much with me, but with the
Speaker:people that participate in the session.
Speaker:And the idea is, first of all, you need to know that climate change is real.
Speaker:Like a lot of Africans would argue that, ah, we have more important things to do.
Speaker:There's.
Speaker:More, you know, urgent conversations to be had and you know, but first off,
Speaker:it's like, hey, it's actually real.
Speaker:Climate change is a thing.
Speaker:The weather in Central Park is not, is not up for debate like Seth
Speaker:would say, like the flooding by EL and Nigeria is not up for debates.
Speaker:Like some of these things are happening.
Speaker:Um, there's, there's a study that says about is it 30 million people are going
Speaker:into hunger because of the drought in.
Speaker:in some parts of Africa as well.
Speaker:And so like all those things are there.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:And you know, we need to like, first of all come to the realization
Speaker:that, okay, this is a thing.
Speaker:It's actually a thing.
Speaker:It's real, and then it's not too late.
Speaker:We can do something about it.
Speaker:So yeah, that's, that's, um, . That's, that's the short version.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:And how, uh, you know, a quick question for you, olive, Angie.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When is this happening?
Speaker:When is you, when are you going to this conference?
Speaker:Okay it's happening from sixth to 10th of February.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it's happening from sixth to 10th of, of February.
Speaker:So soon.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, 2023.
Speaker:Of course, . That's great.
Speaker:And, and are you, you know, feeling like you're prepared for this?
Speaker:Like, how are you doing on, on your preparation?
Speaker:Is your term paper ready , or are you a person who's gonna like, work
Speaker:on it right , the night before?
Speaker:A actually, um, as far as preparation goes, um, first of, I've gotten a lot
Speaker:of support from the Carbona community.
Speaker:, it's been, I mean it's, it's like overwhelming support
Speaker:when you have so much support.
Speaker:You're like, okay, yeah, this is actually support and.
Speaker:They've helped, you know, to shape, oh, what should your lecture look like?
Speaker:Um, what statistics should go in there?
Speaker:Here are some slides to help.
Speaker:Here are some materials to help.
Speaker:Here are some pages in the carbon noac that, you know, directly speak to what
Speaker:you are going to be talking about.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And so I've, it wasn't, it wasn't a hard thing to do because, I mean, it is me.
Speaker:At some point it was like, okay, I think the, the work I'm doing is gathering
Speaker:resources from all the resources that already exist and all the resource.
Speaker:You know, people in the community are bringing to, um, to my, you
Speaker:know, to my very, um, in, in Nigeria would be like my very before, which,
Speaker:which means like, Right before me.
Speaker:Um, so for the most part, you know, preparing for it or preparing
Speaker:the lecture was, wasn't so hard.
Speaker:It was just like, oh, leaky said this and Jen said this, and you know, Tanya
Speaker:said this and Anna said this and Rob said this, and you know, Brian said this, and,
Speaker:you know, and so putting all those things together, which are actually valued, you
Speaker:know, um, a really interesting point to.
Speaker:um, to talk about, you know, in the lecture.
Speaker:So, um, preparing isn't such a hard, I wouldn't say it was a hard thing.
Speaker:It was just like compiling stuff together and everyone was like
Speaker:diving in at every point saying, Hey, this can be better if you do this.
Speaker:This can be better if you do this.
Speaker:So it's like open source preparation.
Speaker:I have, uh, I'm curious, is there anybody at the conference you're looking forward?
Speaker:Uh, yeah.
Speaker:So there are a lot of people coming to, um, Africa and xt.
Speaker:There's, there's a whole lot of people.
Speaker:I mean, some of Nigeria's biggest names are going to be there and.
Speaker:About 400 speakers in general, um, over that period.
Speaker:And some of the people I'm looking forward to meet would be, um, would be
Speaker:the Honorable Shadi who are pun to be legal state commissioner for education.
Speaker:Um, some of people that fan of like, uh, like Daniel et Eff Young, who is
Speaker:an actor and filmmaker, um, and some.
Speaker:Big CEOs here and there, um, who would be there as well.
Speaker:There's also, MI Mi is one of the biggest rappers in, in
Speaker:Nigeria, generally in Africa.
Speaker:, he's probably the one with the biggest rap deals as far as
Speaker:Nigerian Africa is concerned.
Speaker:So, um, he, he's gonna be there as well.
Speaker:So I'm looking forward to meeting all these really amazing people.
Speaker:This tayo I know, who's a storyteller on YouTube with like, wow.
Speaker:Hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Speaker:And, you know, and I hope I'm.
Speaker:to hand these guys, some of them, uh, a copy of the carbon and I can say,
Speaker:Hey, if you care to have a conversation about this with your platform or
Speaker:with your audience, this is a great tool and somewhere to start from.
Speaker:Oh, sounds great.
Speaker:Yeah, that'd be awesome.
Speaker:I, I really look forward to that.
Speaker:Ji we're gonna have to capture from you some of these artists
Speaker:and people that you're excited to see and, and find links to 'em.
Speaker:Put 'em in our show notes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that our, our listener here.
Speaker:Can go.
Speaker:I, I really want to go listen to that rapper now that, that
Speaker:I don't know that you're saying is, is really big and amazing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I need to go listen.
Speaker:Um, so I, I had a question for you, which is if you can, without telling
Speaker:us your, your whole talk mm-hmm.
Speaker:, um, because I think that's, you know, like I, I, I want us to have the
Speaker:opportunity, hopefully it's gonna be recorded and we can all, uh, witness.
Speaker:After the fact.
Speaker:Um, but without telling us your talk, can you tell us some of the interesting
Speaker:things you've learned about climate change as it relates to Africa that
Speaker:may be influencing, you know, some, some thoughts and perspectives or data
Speaker:points that are gonna be influencing what you are, what you're talking about.
Speaker:That, that's a, that's a great question and perhaps the complex part of it is,
Speaker:without letting go of my lecture right now, but I think some of the, some of
Speaker:the , some of the interesting things I've come to discover is that African might not
Speaker:actually be keeping track of the numbers as much as we should because the numbers.
Speaker:Huge.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:There is, the effects are drastic, like really drastic.
Speaker:The, the effects of climate change are drastic and, and some of them
Speaker:I didn't even know until I like got deeper into preparing this lecture.
Speaker:Um, a good example would be a statistic that says, About 33 million people are
Speaker:experiencing extreme hunger in the Sahel region, and that's because of drought.
Speaker:Um, and, and that, wow, that's according to unicef, uh, by the way.
Speaker:And then there's drought.
Speaker:There's flood, there is, um, you know, the, the one with the ecosystem.
Speaker:There are animals going in extinction.
Speaker:There is.
Speaker:, all those things that Africa might not actually, paying as much attention to.
Speaker:. And so, which, which leads
Speaker:let's fix other things, right?
Speaker:There's a lot of things that Africa needs to do, right?
Speaker:Why should we be worrying about climate change?
Speaker:Um, but then you.
Speaker:Like I said earlier, the whole lecture is pretty much designed
Speaker:to say, Hey, this is where we are.
Speaker:It's actually a thing.
Speaker:, and supporting that argument , with the required numbers from, you know,
Speaker:Trusted sources and saying, we can start having the conversation from this point.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:We are not, we're not saying like, we're gonna stop everything we're
Speaker:doing to focus on climate change.
Speaker:Of course, there's like a lot of problems that need to be solved, and that's not
Speaker:just an Africa thing, that's a, that's a global thing every time there's things
Speaker:fighting to get on top of your list.
Speaker:But if we can at least start to.
Speaker:To the point where we're having conversations about this, perhaps our
Speaker:leaders can start getting into like, okay, if I'm campaigning, then if, you
Speaker:know, when we start having these kinds of conver conversations, uh, they start
Speaker:to see that this is important to us.
Speaker:And so they start to make it a part of their.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, and so as they campaign, if they see that this is going to be one of
Speaker:the bases through which we judge them, if we start to, if our behavior starts
Speaker:to change based on knowledge, and the knowledge is going to come based on
Speaker:the conversations that we're having, then that's like a step forward.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:I, I hope, I hope that answers your question and I hope I, I did my
Speaker:best to not give out my lecture.
Speaker:That was hard.
Speaker:. Yes, I think I did put you in a spot there that wasn't easy, but those
Speaker:were, I don't know your lecture yet, I don't think, but I, those are some
Speaker:really interesting, um, statistics.
Speaker:I, quick side note and then Jen, I know you have a question.
Speaker:I was just chatting with my kids this morning here in New York.
Speaker:We're.
Speaker:we're reaching this point where it's one of the longest periods in recorded
Speaker:history that we haven't had snow in.
Speaker:Central Park in New York City is like a place that has had,
Speaker:has a very long co more than a hundred years of recorded history.
Speaker:And if we make it only a few more days, we will, it will now be the longest
Speaker:time that we haven't had snowfall, um, in over a hundred change years.
Speaker:Um, and it's just sort of like an interesting thing that, and we were
Speaker:talking this morning about snow.
Speaker:In the mountains leading to water over time, leading to like, versus if it's all
Speaker:just rain cause it's too warm, we don't store it up and it all, we've had tons of
Speaker:flooding here and then that leads to, we could have very dry summers, uh, and low
Speaker:rivers and lakes and that kinda stuff.
Speaker:So it's, it's a problem all around.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, okay.
Speaker:Jen, over to you.
Speaker:. Okay.
Speaker:I have two questions now, . The first one is, um, . What's the, is
Speaker:there a theme for the conference?
Speaker:Um, like do they, I just wondered about that.
Speaker:That's the first question.
Speaker:I'll let you answer that and then I have another one.
Speaker:So, um, just if you gimme a second, I can, I can find the theme for the conference.
Speaker:You mean the general conference or the, the topic of, of my.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Of the, of the general conference, like, I'm wondering
Speaker:how your, your thing fits in.
Speaker:So, Africa NXT usually wouldn't have a, a theme because, um, It's,
Speaker:uh, it's generally referred to as the largest gathering of innovators
Speaker:from across Africa and the diaspora.
Speaker:So it's a conference that is designed to enhance connection between people,
Speaker:innovators, um, you know, creators, um, artist, um, business people,
Speaker:startups, and, and the rest of them.
Speaker:So it's like a camp where there's.
Speaker:You know, thousands of people and like you're having, , tens
Speaker:and perhaps you know, hundreds.
Speaker:Well, not up to hundreds, but you have tens of classes going on at the same time.
Speaker:So everyone walks in into the hall and says, oh, I wanna go to this class.
Speaker:And so you, you just have access to as many classes as you
Speaker:registered for, you know, you create a schedule and you do that.
Speaker:So it's generally just referred to as the largest gathering of innovators
Speaker:from across Africa and the Dias.
Speaker:Very cool.
Speaker:And that, my second question is, um, I think you said earlier you, you hope
Speaker:to have conversations with people and we always talk about, you know, having
Speaker:the conversation and it's not too late.
Speaker:And I wondered if you had any plans to record any of that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So first, um, conversations where you can, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:So first of the conference is going to be live, um, based on what
Speaker:the organizers, uh, sent to me.
Speaker:and, uh, yeah, I should be recording.
Speaker:So I'm gonna go with an extra mic and my whole setup, and I hope that works.
Speaker:Um, we've also been assigned like stage managers, although my stage manager
Speaker:hasn't contacted me yet, I was told that, um, whoever it is would contact me.
Speaker:Um, Before probably next week.
Speaker:And so we can start to organize what the actual space should look like
Speaker:and all the things that we need in place to have the, the, um, session.
Speaker:So yeah, I hope to record it.
Speaker:I, I think I was meaning like little conversations afterwards in the hallway.
Speaker:. Well, you know, like, were you planning to record any of that?
Speaker:Yeah, I I can, I can try.
Speaker:Oh, sort of reporter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like reporting that, that would be fun, actually.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:I'm, I'm gonna try that.
Speaker:, I, I wasn't gonna try that, but now I'm gonna try that.
Speaker:The, the Carbon Almanac is gonna have, the Carbon Almanac network is
Speaker:gonna have our man on the ground.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:, let's hear next from all around you.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:Yeah, that's, that's right.
Speaker:Christina.
Speaker:I think you're next.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, I have question.
Speaker:Um, you, when you were talking about the climate change and,
Speaker:uh, Realistically, Africa is not, most of Africa is not the cause.
Speaker:It's the, uh, Europe and, uh, US and all these industrial countries.
Speaker:And it seems like now, and I want to know what you think about, this seems
Speaker:like now that the conversation about climate would bring people together
Speaker:from different countries and it's, and the, the country is helping.
Speaker:The western world to figure this out, even though, uh, they're not
Speaker:the cost and they're as much and, uh, they're not making it happen.
Speaker:So, uh, what's your thought about that?
Speaker:I hope I'm clear.
Speaker:. Okay.
Speaker:Um, I'm not sure I got your question, but let me echo you back
Speaker:and, and tell me if I'm wrong.
Speaker:So, um, so you said.
Speaker:Africa is not generally the, the high contributing, uh,
Speaker:continent to climate change.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, much of Europe and the United States and, you know, the western world is,
Speaker:but since the conference is bringing like a lot of, you know, people, um,
Speaker:from across the continent and, you know, the diaspora together, uh, like are
Speaker:we looking to try to join in solving the problem for the rest of the.
Speaker:is, is that, was that the question?
Speaker:Yeah, that's one part.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yeah, that's one part.
Speaker:And the other part of it was that it's a common thing mm-hmm.
Speaker:, uh, to get together around kind of connecting thing to do.
Speaker:What do you think about that?
Speaker:Yeah, I, I, I think we, we'll be doing a lot of connecting, um, and that
Speaker:is going to bring perspective into.
Speaker:Um, into the situation.
Speaker:So, um, and, and I hope I'm answering your question correctly.
Speaker:Um, one of the things I hope to achieve with, with my session generally is to
Speaker:not talk too much, but actually have the conversations within the session.
Speaker:So have people from all these parts of the world say, give their take and say, oh,
Speaker:this is the point we're at, this is what we're doing, this is what we're not doing.
Speaker:This is how we can, you know, do this in our country.
Speaker:Um, you know, and have people from different countries
Speaker:do pretty much do the same.
Speaker:, , and on the other end, I think like climate change is not, um, and, and this is to
Speaker:answer the first question, right, as much as Africa might be the most vulner.
Speaker:, continent, like it's a global phenomenon.
Speaker:There's no part of the world that is exempted from the whole mix.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:The goal is not to try to say, oh yeah, let's solve the problem for Africa.
Speaker:The goal is to try to actually solve the problem.
Speaker:Like solve the climate change problem.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But bring to cognizance the, the cognizance of Africans that who
Speaker:might not see to be a big deal, that there's actually a global
Speaker:phenomenon and it's the climate change and we're probably the least, I
Speaker:wouldn't say aware, but you know, we.
Speaker:Have more conversations about it.
Speaker:We probably have the least amount of conversations about
Speaker:climate change down here.
Speaker:So, , we wanna do that to get at par so that now we're better positioned
Speaker:to solve the global crisis.
Speaker:. Yeah.
Speaker:Thanks.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Yeah, let's, let's hope we can go solve, solve the global problem.
Speaker:That's, that's what we're all pulling for.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And Ji I can imagine with you on the team pulling for that.
Speaker:We're, we're gonna do greatly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Thanks.
Speaker:Um, hey, I have a question for you.
Speaker:I wanna sort of turn for a second to a little bit of the Oli Bji origin story.
Speaker:and ask you when in your life, if you can tell us, like, when did
Speaker:climate become an important topic and area of like, focus in your life?
Speaker:I, you know, I get to see you in all these parts of the Carbon Almanac
Speaker:invest, you know, selflessly of time and energy and intellect.
Speaker:And I'm curious like, what, what first sort of caught your
Speaker:attention or inspired you to make this a, a big part of your life?
Speaker:Um, well, like most people, , and that's a really great question.
Speaker:Like, like most people, I didn't care that much as well.
Speaker:I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't like a pollutant person in general, but,
Speaker:uh, it wasn't really my thing.
Speaker:Um, I would say that I, I read sets blog every, every other day, and so
Speaker:I got an email that says, Hey, I'm, I'm doing something that's interesting
Speaker:and you might be interested in, in it.
Speaker:And I was like, oh yeah, if sets is interesting, then it's interesting.
Speaker:So I joined and , so I joined and, and at the time I just started writing.
Speaker:So I would read a lot of sets, you know, to, to get me thinking, uh, and.
Speaker:and I just got in the community and I was like, oh, oh, is, is
Speaker:this what sets is interesting?
Speaker:, uh, like, okay, this is a lot.
Speaker:Uh, but slowly I started, like, I, I just read sets, um, emails every day because,
Speaker:um, I mean he's, he's a, he's a maverick.
Speaker:If that makes any sense.
Speaker:So I just got the email that says, Hey, I'm, I'm building something
Speaker:interesting and you might like it, so if, if you're thinking that
Speaker:it's for you, then let's just join.
Speaker:And so I, I joined and then I got on the board and started seeing like
Speaker:a lot of things flying everywhere.
Speaker:I'm like, oh, climate change is here.
Speaker:Climate change is there.
Speaker:This is happening.
Speaker:And that's happening.
Speaker:We're writing a book, we're building.
Speaker:Model.
Speaker:There's this design, there's like charts and like, okay, okay, okay,
Speaker:gimme a break, . And then I, I think I stored for a few days and then I went
Speaker:back in and started like getting in.
Speaker:And that was when I started seeing, you know, how interesting it actually is and
Speaker:how real the situation is and that, oh, there's this community of people that are
Speaker:dedicated, that are caring, that are you.
Speaker:Pushing for, uh, for better.
Speaker:And so I was like, okay, this makes sense.
Speaker:And then I had a call, I think it was the first call I had with,
Speaker:with Jennifer and leaky, and uh, I think Jim was there as well.
Speaker:I can't remember.
Speaker:But we had that call.
Speaker:And then Jennifer, Oh, you have a great voice.
Speaker:Can you record the bumper ? I was like, hold on like this.
Speaker:This is my first call.
Speaker:What do you mean record the bumper . How much of a great voice do I have?
Speaker:You know, uh, okay.
Speaker:And so like, I don't have a mic, I don't have a studio.
Speaker:Like how do I record a bumper ? And so I, I got, I got.
Speaker:I got my iPhone and uh, and Steve was like, here's how you do it.
Speaker:Here are some tips.
Speaker:Like get a, um, a duvet or bedsheet and cover your head and, and lay low under
Speaker:it and record or get in a place that that's like this, or place that's like
Speaker:that, or put the mic at this distance.
Speaker:It was like, Okay, now I'm, now I'm, I'm actually doing this and so I recorded it
Speaker:probably, and, and true story, I probably recorded like 40 times cause I wasn't
Speaker:satisfied with any of , any of the stuff I recorded until Jen was like, this is good.
Speaker:Like, we'll take this.
Speaker:Uh oh.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Recorded a bumper , and slowly, I, I got really into, into it and started,
Speaker:you know, doing my beat to contribute.
Speaker:And I think I was on that call.
Speaker:I remember that you were on the call.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I I have a question.
Speaker:Um, what has being part of this community from that first time
Speaker:that you said yes, I'm gonna check out what Seth is doing here.
Speaker:What has that done as far as your growth and, um, and where
Speaker:you see yourself going next?
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, that's, that's a great question to, to start with.
Speaker:I think the first thing that that has done to me is.
Speaker:just put, put it somewhere in my head that is actually possible to, like, it's
Speaker:possible to, to actually make a change.
Speaker:That there are people that care and they don't just care by, by words.
Speaker:They actually do care and they show that they care and.
Speaker:Caring on, you know, on a level that, I mean, everything gets supported, right?
Speaker:Like the amount of supports, the amount of good energy, the amount of, you know,
Speaker:care and selflessness and leadership that goes on is, is just amazing.
Speaker:I mean, it's incredible that people can get.
Speaker:At this level to, you know, to make this kind of change or for this kind of cause.
Speaker:So that definitely changed something in my mind and say
Speaker:like, actually this, is possible.
Speaker:And if people are doing this with this level of dedication, then um, then
Speaker:that's, that's actually a great thing.
Speaker:And so it fueled me with hope and, you know, generally that okay, things are
Speaker:actually possible and I've learned a lot.
Speaker:That's another thing from everyone and you.
Speaker:Um, with every podcast we record with every, um, with every voice acting
Speaker:that I do with the kids podcast, with every, with everything, there's
Speaker:just always something new to learn.
Speaker:There's always someone new to make friends with, and, and that's really great.
Speaker:. Um, and, and the part, the part where, I mean, I know the second part of your
Speaker:question is like, , where do I see myself, you know, having been a part of
Speaker:the community for, , for a while now.
Speaker:And I think that would be, um, like I, I see myself being an, I mean, there's,
Speaker:there's a lot of things around, around that part, but as far as, you know,
Speaker:this context goes, I see myself being.
Speaker:You know, a better person and someone that, you know, is able
Speaker:to make other people also care.
Speaker:Like, not just me caring, but you know, having to make other people care and start
Speaker:to, you know, take steps that, you know, that help, uh, that help in this regard.
Speaker:So, Which is part of why I wanted to get the carbon amac to as many
Speaker:African countries as as possible.
Speaker:And, um, look where it got me . Wow.
Speaker:Just keep going.
Speaker:Actually said that like, oh, you know, More like this actually got me in trouble.
Speaker:you know, we're cheering you on.
Speaker:Thank you, Ji.
Speaker:I want to ask you, uh, a before question.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:And then aft I want to come after the same question after you've gone
Speaker:to the, to the conference and given your, your presentation and speech.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So the, the question, the same question before today, what are the things,
Speaker:it could be more than one, maybe one, two or three things that you feel.
Speaker:Are the ways that you can contribute best to helping solve this problem, this
Speaker:problem being, you know, sort of our, our larger climate challenge problem.
Speaker:What are the one, two, or three things that you all bji feel like are your
Speaker:most powerful ways of impacting it?
Speaker:And I'm, I'm excited to know if, like this changes after this conference,
Speaker:but what would you say today?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, as far as.
Speaker:as far as that, that goes, I would say one of the tools, so
Speaker:to say, would be actually having conversations, and that's the first one.
Speaker:The second one would be to engage actual polluting industries
Speaker:and the government as well.
Speaker:So that's, that's, you know, engage polluting industries and
Speaker:then, you know, engage in the government will be the third one.
Speaker:Um, Everything is around basically having conversations because
Speaker:engaging, polluting industries is.
Speaker:, you know, is as good as participating in conferences like this because
Speaker:they're going to be there, most of them.
Speaker:And, you know, finding people that might be able to make decisions in these places,
Speaker:or finding people that have links and connections to the people that could
Speaker:actually make decisions and say, Hey, this might be something to consider.
Speaker:What if you stop greenwashing and start, you know, doing this right.
Speaker:And you know, as, as far as, you know, engaging the government goes as well,
Speaker:you know, of which they're going to be there, which is, I mean, one of the
Speaker:persons I'm most, most excited to meet there is the Minister for Education
Speaker:and going to her and say, Hey, like we, have a problem and you actually
Speaker:have a level of power to, you know, to.
Speaker:Started a change to, make a contribution to the problem getting solved.
Speaker:So I think my most powerful tool would be the conversation , and
Speaker:that's for , a single reason.
Speaker:And there's a lot of things that I, I do on a personal level, which
Speaker:is like, hey, do, do plastics.
Speaker:Don't travel too much.
Speaker:And it's, that's like a lot of that.
Speaker:But like Seth said, in this podcast with Rich role, , there is more need for
Speaker:systemic change, um, than personal change.
Speaker:And that's because , we having this problem at this.
Speaker:, right now.
Speaker:So having the conversations that are able to power systemic change is, um,
Speaker:what I would say my, is my greatest tool.
Speaker:Um, that's awesome.
Speaker:And I think that, uh, . I think that that's actually so wonderful that that's
Speaker:one of your most powerful tools and, and, and methods of creating impact.
Speaker:And here you are today, you're our guest, but typically you're one of the
Speaker:hosts leading carbon conversations.
Speaker:Like this is great that you're like, you're living up to sort of this
Speaker:implementation of what could be your, your greatest and best method of impact.
Speaker:And, and personally, I I tend to agree, I think that those two aspects.
Speaker:just general conversations and warm, lovely engagement coupled with some
Speaker:focus conversations with people , in the places that can, whether that's within
Speaker:a company or government or yeah, in some other position that can influence things.
Speaker:I think those, I, I really love both parts of those answers and I can see
Speaker:Christina and Jen, uh, all like nodding their head hardily here along with us.
Speaker:Well, Ola Bji, this has been such a wonderful session.
Speaker:I.
Speaker:I, I, I want to like, sort of give, you know, you one last other opportunity.
Speaker:I mean, you've shared so much with us, but is there any last parting words?
Speaker:You know, we, we are very excited to hear from you after the conference,
Speaker:but any last words or things you wanna share leading into the conference?
Speaker:You know, uh, that maybe anything you've learned, particularly while you've been
Speaker:doing this research that like it's.
Speaker:Blown up your mind or something that you're eagerly anticipating or
Speaker:maybe even something that you're a little bit nervous or scared about.
Speaker:Any, any last little thing that you wanna share with our
Speaker:conversational community here?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, there is definitely, and there's probably two.
Speaker:One of it is like, Again, it will be the date of the conference.
Speaker:And then if you're coming for the conference and listening, I have
Speaker:a couple of, um, complimentary campus badges, which would actually
Speaker:go on sale for probably $30.
Speaker:They're about from.
Speaker:, , from the 25th or so of this month.
Speaker:So you can, you can, , reach out for any of the free campus badges and I'll,
Speaker:and I'll give that to you if you're going to be attending the conference.
Speaker:But the other thing would be the people to look out for.
Speaker:Um, and I, and I learned this from Seth Goodin in, I mean, again, on the
Speaker:same podcast with, with ritual, and.
Speaker:He talked about certain people that amplify our differences and like they're
Speaker:the people to watch out for, right?
Speaker:Like as much as we're watching out for, you know, and trying to get people
Speaker:to have conversations about climate change, there are certain class of
Speaker:people that make a profit from our, from amplifying what makes us different and.
Speaker:That changes the focus from solving the problem to trying to solve our
Speaker:differences before we solve the problem.
Speaker:And like, it doesn't matter if you are white or black or brown or pink or
Speaker:you know, whatever color, it doesn't matter if you are like, we actually
Speaker:have a problem and it's our problem.
Speaker:We don't have to settle our differences before we try to solve the problem.
Speaker:, because we would always be different, would always be different.
Speaker:. I don't know if there's anything that history has taught us is that we
Speaker:actually would always be different.
Speaker:Someone's gonna like something someone else is not going to like, but if there
Speaker:are things and which they are like climate change that actually bring us all
Speaker:together, that that matter to every single one of us, it's actually unimportant to
Speaker:try to solve our differences before we.
Speaker:The climate change problem, right?
Speaker:We don't have to solve opinions about the climate change problem.
Speaker:We have to solve the climate change problem, and I think that it's
Speaker:important that we know when we engage in those kinds of arguments,
Speaker:don't move us forward, that we're.
Speaker:, the people that make a profit from amplifying those arguments are
Speaker:standing in the corner and then they're clapping for us for arguing.
Speaker:Um, it's important that we, we pay attention to what matters most.
Speaker:Um, yeah, those, those would be my last words.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:I, you know, it's funny, I have goosebumps and I see Christina clapping
Speaker:and holding and, and Jen putting her hands over her heart, Oli Manji.
Speaker:That was beautiful.
Speaker:And, and I think, I think extemporaneous and impromptu, but, so I'm getting
Speaker:almost tears in my eyes, so beautifully said, her , it's an honor
Speaker:to get to spend this time with you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Considering that level of sentiment, uh, is so, so precious.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Oh, I don't, I don't want last part session after, like, I, I want more.
Speaker:That was so, that filled my cup, thankfully.
Speaker:I just want more, but I think we're, I think we are at time.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:I wanna be mindful of everyone's, uh, responsibilities.
Speaker:Ji you've got lots to prepare for and pack and, and get ready.
Speaker:So yeah, from Christina and Jen, myself, leaky and everyone here
Speaker:in the Carbon Almanac and, and carbon sessions, uh, listenership.
Speaker:Good luck.
Speaker:You're gonna do great.
Speaker:You're gonna crush it.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:We wish you the best.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:Thank you so, so much.
Speaker:You've been listening to Carbon Sessions, a podcast with carbon
Speaker:conversations for every day with everyone from everywhere in the world.
Speaker:We'd love you to join the Carbon sessions so you too can share your
Speaker:perspectives from wherever you are.
Speaker:This is a great way for our community to learn from your ideas and
Speaker:experiences, connect and take action.
Speaker:If you want to add your voice to the conversation, go to the carbon
Speaker:almanac.org/podcast and sign up to be part of a future episode.
Speaker:This podcast is also part of the Carbon Almanac Network.
Speaker:For more information to sign up for the emails, to join the movement, and to
Speaker:order your copy of the Carbon Alman.
Speaker:Go to the carbon almanac.org.
Speaker:Be sure to subscribe and join us here again, as together
