Episode 191

[FOCUS] Initiating Conversations About Climate Change at AfricaNXT in Nigeria

Episode Summary: This episode features a segment from a previous episode where Olabanji shared his experiences hosting a workshop at the AfricaNXT event in Nigeria.

Olabanji provided an introduction to climate change for the audience.

Interestingly, the attendees had not initially signed up for these sessions, and their surprise upon learning about the complexities and causes of climate change was both priceless and enlightening.

It's definitely worth a listen.

You can listen to the full discussion here

About AfricaNXT here

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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!

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Olabanji Stephen Jenn Swanson, Leekei Tang, Rob Slater and Kristina Horning

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.

Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert and podcaster from Paris, France.

Kristina has a background in architecture and engineering. Currently in Prague (that it is where she is originally from) and her base is US. 

Rob is from Birmingham in the UK, he is an orthodontist, triathlete, coach and podcaster.

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Transcript
Speaker:

So the attendance dropped by

a very significant number.

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Perhaps maybe 80, 85% of people

were not able to make it there.

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Um, and that was very, very huge.

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So we didn't get the turnout that we

were expecting as much as, you know,

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as like, you know, but, but it was a

beautiful event, you know, after all,

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um, I remember my session starting

and, , a member of the team went ahead

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to, you know, get people to come.

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to the class.

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, and so we started seeing people

coming into the class and like, oh,

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you're talking about climate change?

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Um, okay, well there's not much

happening around, so maybe I might just

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stick around and, you know, listen.

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And so what happened is all the

people, most of the people that

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registered for the class initial.

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We're not able to make it down there.

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And so the bulk of people that showed

up at the class or you know, during

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the session were not people that were

entirely ready for the class, which

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made it a bit more interesting for me.

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Cause like, I'm like, okay, you guys

didn't know you were coming to, um,

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So a class about climate change, like,

uh, yeah, that's, that's a thing.

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Um, but, but it was interesting

eventually, you know, because the idea

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was not to just like teach the idea was

to have a conversation with these people.

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, and so the short way to answer the

question is that the class was engaging.

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It was interesting and.

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For a lot of people, perhaps everyone that

attended the class was eye-opening, you

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know, because they started to meet with

statistics that they've not seen before.

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Um, they started to see

illustrations that they've not,

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you know, seen as well before.

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And then what perhaps the most, the

best part of it for me was to see.

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About climate change, just developing

them within the 90 minute session.

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They were like, oh yeah,

this is actually a thing.

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Um, and, and that was, that

was a really, really great

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part of, of the session for me.

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So, yeah, it, it was great.

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It was interesting.

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It was engaging and, and I'm

grateful that, that I got to,

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you know, lead the conversation.

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. I have a question, Ji, you said at one

point that it was a 90 minute present.

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That's great.

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90.

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Yeah.

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Is that what you said?

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Wow.

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And that's a big long presentation.

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Yeah.

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90.

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And you said p you saw people transform.

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What, what was, what

was their biggest aha?

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What did you, what did you hear?

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Um, so the, there were lots of moments

where, um, I think the very first moment

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where people were like, oh, this is

interesting, was, I mean, I, I, I think

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it was the part where we started talking

about the natural sources of carbon

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and, and then I was like, okay, so now

that we've talked about the natural

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sources of carbon, what are some of the

unnatural sources of carbon that you know?

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And they started talking about

all the unnatural resources.

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it just kept going.

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The list kept growing.

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It kept growing.

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And then it wasn't so hard for for them

to say, oh, we actually have a problem

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if we have just this natural sauces.

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I mean, that's about four natural sources.

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I think there's, uh, there's

Vulcan, uh, volcanic eruption.

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There is, um, there is.

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You know, breathing, respiration

and, you know, some, two others.

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Um, and then we started looking

at all the unnatural sources,

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cars, you know, transportation

and a lot of, all that stuff.

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And they were like, oh, wow.

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If we're doing this much to

the environment, then, then

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there's actually problem.

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So, yeah, that, that was one

of the, that was one of the.

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Biggest part.

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The other one would be when,

uh, there's a page in, in the

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Almanac that has 10, 10,000 dots.

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And we also went through that illustration

about how if one more dots, if we hit one

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more dots, the entire human civilization

as we know it might actually be wiped out.

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and they were like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

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Gimme a break.

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When, when is that going to happen?

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I'm like, well, , it shouldn't

if, if we prevent it.

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Uh, yeah.

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Cause you're like, well, you know, it

sounded like we have just one lifeline.

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Uh, and uh, yeah.

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Christina has a question for you, Avanti.

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Okay.

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, could you take questions

during your presentation?

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Yeah, I did.

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Oh, great.

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So what was your favorite, like the

one that stood out, I'm curious.

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Hmm.

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Uh, what questions stood out?

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Uh, I think it was about beef.

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Um, yeah.

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Where a lady who is a lover of beef, um,

She wasn't enjoying the conversation until

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we started to talk about beef, and then

I saw the discomfort in her face and I

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was like, , do you have something to say?

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? Oh, . And she went and

she went, no, no, no.

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I can do every other thing, but

there's no way I'm, I'm , I'm

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going to stop eating, you know?

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Well, they're, they're about, I mean,

and, and I started to explain how methane

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is a very dangerous gas and how we

might actually be, you know, 84 times

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worse in the atmosphere than carbon.

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So she was actually struggling at

that point, like, uh, like, okay,

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I want beef, but I don't want the.

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The bad part of cows as well.

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So, and she was like, what do we do?

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I'm like, well, don't, don't

eat beef or at least eat it

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less . You can start from there.

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Yeah, I mean, she didn't

care about concrete.

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She was like, uh, I don't

care, like combustion.

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Well, you know, we can manage that.

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And then it was like, call, but

the moment we talked about cow,

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she was like, Nope, don't go there.

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don't, don't go there.

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Yeah.

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Carbon Almanac

When it comes to the climate, we don’t need more marketing or anxiety. We need established facts and a plan for collective action.

The climate is the fundamental issue of our time, and now we face a critical decision. Whether to be optimistic or fatalistic, whether to profess skepticism or to take action. Yet it seems we can barely agree on what is really going on, let alone what needs to be done. We urgently need facts, not opinions. Insights, not statistics. And a shift from thinking about climate change as a “me” problem to a “we” problem.

The Carbon Almanac is a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between hundreds of writers, researchers, thinkers, and illustrators that focuses on what we know, what has come before, and what might happen next. Drawing on over 1,000 data points, the book uses cartoons, quotes, illustrations, tables, histories, and articles to lay out carbon’s impact on our food system, ocean acidity, agriculture, energy, biodiversity, extreme weather events, the economy, human health, and best and worst-case scenarios. Visually engaging and built to share, The Carbon Almanac is the definitive source for facts and the basis for a global movement to fight climate change.

This isn’t what the oil companies, marketers, activists, or politicians want you to believe. This is what’s really happening, right now. Our planet is in trouble, and no one concerned group, corporation, country, or hemisphere can address this on its own. Self-interest only increases the problem. We are in this together. And it’s not too late to for concerted, collective action for change.