Episode 58

Planting Trees To Graduate, Bhutan's Plan To Stay Carbon Neutral And Emperor Penguins

Episode Summary: In this episode, Jenn, Olanbanji and Leekei took turns sharing wildlife facts and stories

Jenn read that students in the Philippines must have planted 10 trees before graduating from high school

Leekei recently saw a Bhutanese movie ‘Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom’ and marvels at the strategies implemented by the King and Government in Bhutan to become a Carbon Neutral Country and now, the move to adapt to climate change.

Olabanji feels sad that the emperor penguins has been recently classified as an endangered species by the WWF

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Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Jenn Swanson, Olabanji Stephen and Leekei Tang

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. 

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.

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

Transcript
Speaker:

Hi, I'm Emma.

Speaker:

I live in his colon.

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Hi, I'm Jen and I'm from Canada.

Speaker:

Hi,

Speaker:

Oh, I'm leaky and I live in Paris.

Speaker:

Okay.

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I'm Rob I'm from fruit.

Speaker:

Welcome to carbon site.

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A podcast with carbon conversations for every day, with everyone, from

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everywhere in the world, in our conversations, we share ideas,

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perspectives, questions, and things we can actually do to make a difference.

Speaker:

So don't be shy and join our carbon sessions because it's not too late.

JENN:

Hi, I'm Jen

OLABANJI:

Um,

Leekei:

Hi, I am Nikki.

JENN:

Today we're gonna talk about climate change and wildlife facts.

JENN:

So who's got some things to talk about?

Leekei:

Um, I think you should go first because I don't have a lot of facts.

Leekei:

It's actually a story.

Leekei:

It's more story that I have to share.

JENN:

Okay.

JENN:

Well, I just, I have a couple of positive facts.

JENN:

I have some negative facts.

JENN:

I have some weird things and so maybe I'll just, I'll just share two for now

JENN:

and then we can go around and you can tell your story and Aji you can share.

JENN:

How does that sound?

OLABANJI:

Sounds great.

JENN:

Okay, so here's the, here's a positive fact.

JENN:

In the Philippines, there is a law by which all graduating students

JENN:

have to plant 10 trees before they're allowed to graduate.

JENN:

Isn't that cool,

Leekei:

Yeah, it's really cool.

Leekei:

But how do they plant the trees?

JENN:

I don't know.

JENN:

I just read the fact and I thought, ah, that's interesting.

JENN:

They have, they, they are given trees and they have to then decide where to

JENN:

plant them and plant them and prove that they've planted them or else

JENN:

they can't graduate from high school.

Leekei:

If I have to do that, I have no idea where can, I can plant

Leekei:

them because I live in the city, so I'm not going to plant trees

Leekei:

Somewhere , I'm not allowed to do so.

Leekei:

So

JENN:

Well, I'm sure if they're not allowed to graduate, they have a whole

JENN:

system set up so they know where to do it.

JENN:

But, but I thought that was amazing cuz that would be a

JENN:

lot of students, wouldn't it?

Leekei:

Yeah.

Leekei:

Yes.

Leekei:

Wow.

JENN:

I would think

Leekei:

Can, can they do it online?

Leekei:

because there's now there's some websites.

Leekei:

You can plant trees as well.

Leekei:

Can they do it this way?

Leekei:

You don't

JENN:

You mean plant pretend trees?

Leekei:

Yeah.

JENN:

What would be the point?

JENN:

I don't get that

Leekei:

No, no, go online.

Leekei:

Now the websites from, uh, you know, you can plant trees through, there are some

Leekei:

services online where you can plant trees.

Leekei:

So if they have no space near where they live, well they have

Leekei:

no access to land, to plant trees.

Leekei:

Can they do it online and like, you know, make it plant somewhere else?

JENN:

That's

Leekei:

I think we should ask them.

JENN:

we should, if anybody is out there listening and knows if you live

JENN:

in Philippines, then let us know.

JENN:

Um,

Leekei:

Yeah.

JENN:

Do you want, do you want another positive one or

JENN:

a negative one or a weird one?

JENN:

What do you want?

Leekei:

I want a weird one.

Leekei:

I like wi, oh, sorry.

Leekei:

Oh, okay.

Leekei:

Great.

Leekei:

We love weird stuff.

OLABANJI:

we love weird.

JENN:

so, so here's weird.

JENN:

Some warm-blooded animals are experiencing shifts in their body

JENN:

shapes, and they figure it's a response to the pressures of climate change.

JENN:

Um, so some animals are getting larger beaks and longer legs and

JENN:

bigger ears to allow them to regulate body temperature as the planet.

JENN:

Hotter and, uh, and they're talking, uh, in particular about birds.

JENN:

And there was a researcher at, um, at Deacon University in Australia and

JENN:

they've published a, um, uh, a journal called Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

JENN:

And they've got about, uh, there's an Australian parrot that it's

JENN:

beak size has gone from 4% to 10.

JENN:

in size since 1871.

JENN:

This isn't fast, but isn't that interesting,

Leekei:

Yes, it is.

Leekei:

Yeah, it is.

Leekei:

It is.

Leekei:

Yeah.

Leekei:

But you know, I've, that's, um, I've read somewhere that, you know, climate

Leekei:

change is doing all this thing in, um, not only on the body, but also

Leekei:

in the behavior of, of animals.

Leekei:

Like, there's this, um, I've just read an article yesterday.

Leekei:

, Talking about birds on the, on the coast.

Leekei:

And it was very funny.

Leekei:

It was written in a very funny way, is like, you know, um, now that,

Leekei:

um, I think it's seagulls, um, you know, seagulls go to, they, you

Leekei:

know, they eat fish in the oceans.

Leekei:

And because, you know, there's the, the whole, um, problem with, um, with.

Leekei:

Overfishing and they don't have enough fish to eat.

Leekei:

And so now they go to eat in people's plate.

Leekei:

And though these articles say that if you go, you know, there some

Leekei:

places it said, okay, be careful.

Leekei:

You know, when you eat, uh, you need to protect your plate, what's on your

Leekei:

plate, because there will be seagulls coming to, to steal yourself, your food

JENN:

I did a vi,

Leekei:

I mean, it's

JENN:

I I did a video recently where there was a seagull right in front

JENN:

of me as I sat at the beach to eat fish and chips, and it was talking

JENN:

to me and it was doing everything it could do to get the food in my plate.

JENN:

It was right there, but it didn't come and get it.

JENN:

But they're huge.

JENN:

They're so big.

JENN:

They're bigger than a

Leekei:

they are.

Leekei:

Yes, they are.

Leekei:

And actually the scary thing is that I didn't pay attention to it,

Leekei:

but during the lockdown in Paris, In, uh, in 2020 I noticed that

Leekei:

there were love seagulls in Paris.

Leekei:

Inside Paris.

Leekei:

In Paris is like three hours drive from, from the coast, so they're

Leekei:

not supposed to be in Paris.

Leekei:

And then I started researching and I found out it's because there's

Leekei:

not enough food on the coast, so they have to travel all the way to

Leekei:

wear this, more people, more food.

Leekei:

And now they are in Paris.

Leekei:

And so it's a little bit scary.

Leekei:

You.

JENN:

Hmm.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

JENN:

All right.

JENN:

Facts and stories.

JENN:

What have you got?

Leekei:

Um, okay, my story, well, actually, it's not just

Leekei:

a fact, it's a long story.

Leekei:

So can I share it?

Leekei:

Because it's kind of, um, if it's a purpose of the, of this discussion.

Leekei:

So what do you think?

OLABANJI:

I think you should share it.

JENN:

Yeah.

JENN:

Share it.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

Leekei:

so, okay.

Leekei:

Um, the other day I went to the movie and I saw a beautiful or

Leekei:

wonderful movie, which is called, uh, Luna, A Yak in the Classroom,

Leekei:

A Yak in the Classroom, basically.

Leekei:

Have you heard about, have you watched this movie?

Leekei:

It's,

Leekei:

it's a movie that was filmed in Bhutan and.

Leekei:

It's, um, it's the story of, um, teacher a, um, a trainee teacher who's

Leekei:

in Bhutan and, um, his dream is not to teach, but to be a singer in Australia.

Leekei:

And so while he's, you know, getting his training, he was not behaving very well.

Leekei:

So to punish him, the government, uh, decide to send him very,

Leekei:

very far away in the most remote.

Leekei:

In, in the country and probably in the world, and it was very, Very far away

Leekei:

because, uh, um, in the film you see that there's, um, there's like five

Leekei:

days drive and then, uh, 10 days of walking to get there up to the mountains.

Leekei:

And, um, and it's a beautiful, beautiful movie.

Leekei:

I'm, I'm not going to tell you any more of this because, uh,

Leekei:

it's, it's, it is just beautiful.

Leekei:

And I did not realize that Bhutan is a very, very magical country.

Leekei:

So I looked.

Leekei:

I looked up online to see how, how do they do it?

Leekei:

And I've learned things that are fascinating about Bhutan.

Leekei:

, Bhutan is a tiny country and it's actually landlocked between India and China

Leekei:

and particularly, uh, Tibet in China.

Leekei:

And it's a very, very small country of 700,000 inhabitants.

Leekei:

It's in the Himalayas and it's, it's, it's really beautiful.

Leekei:

And then actually, Bhutan is the first carbon negative country in the world.

Leekei:

It means that they, yeah, they act, they work as a carbon sink.

Leekei:

And why do they do this is actually, they, I think it's, um, it's a combination.

Leekei:

Well, actually it's the, it's the leadership I think.

Leekei:

And.

Leekei:

Of the king in the seventies that decided that, okay, uh, we are very blessed

Leekei:

and we live in such a beautiful country and we need to preserve our environment.

Leekei:

So from the seventies, it's.

Leekei:

In the law, in the Constitution that, um, they decided to put the environment

Leekei:

first and, um, and keep, I think 60% of the, uh, land covered forest.

Leekei:

So it's in the constitution that they need to keep at 60% to maintain that.

Leekei:

Today there's 70%, so they're doing even more than that.

Leekei:

Like a lot of countries in Asia at that.

Leekei:

It was a poor country.

Leekei:

It's still, you know, it's still not very well developed.

Leekei:

But also because I think it's somehow they don't want to be developed too much

Leekei:

because, they come up with a new index to measure the progress of a country,

Leekei:

which is the GN Edge, which stands for the Gross National Happiness Index.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

JENN:

Oh, I like that.

Leekei:

so they measure development.

Leekei:

Um, they measure development with values, you know, the, the values and

Leekei:

the values, happiness of the people and, the happiness of the people is how they

Leekei:

enjoy lives and the interactions with each other and nature and, um, and all these.

Leekei:

So this is, um, this is what the decision that they made in the seventies, and

Leekei:

they, it's such a beautiful country.

Leekei:

And so they're carbon neutral.

Leekei:

Well, actually no, they work as a carbon sink, so they absorb, but the, I mean,

Leekei:

the setting is that because it's a very spontaneous, , countries with a lot of,

Leekei:

um, you know, with lot of plus years and rivers, um, climate change hit them

Leekei:

quite badly, very, very badly in fact.

Leekei:

In the Constitution.

Leekei:

They state that they want to have 60% of the, um, of the land covered with forest.

Leekei:

And the other thing is that, um, half of its, uh, land should be dedicated

Leekei:

to, um, to preserve the wildlife.

Leekei:

But it's not only that.

Leekei:

So today there's, more than 50%, um, dedicated to the,

Leekei:

the wildlife conservation.

Leekei:

But what they did is that they decided to develop what they call

Leekei:

the, the biological, uh, corridor.

Leekei:

So all the wildlife, all the, um, all the centuries are connected.

Leekei:

And why they do that?

Leekei:

It's for the animals to go from one, you know, from reserve to another one.

Leekei:

It they have, there are things that are absolutely fabulous that are happening.

Leekei:

They have spotted, , a tiger living in, um, In a like

Leekei:

subtropical, , forest jungle.

Leekei:

And then two years after they found the same tiger up in the mountains at like,

Leekei:

I don't know, 4,000 meters because the tiger has traveled through this corridor.

Leekei:

That's a beautiful place.

Leekei:

That's so amazing, right?

JENN:

that's a really holistic approach.

Leekei:

It is.

Leekei:

Yeah,

OLABANJI:

I'm this, this is so great.

OLABANJI:

I'm glad that you brought it up.

OLABANJI:

I've been reading about this country for a while now, and it just amazes me.

OLABANJI:

Right.

OLABANJI:

I've seen some of the stories about the, the biological corridors as well.

OLABANJI:

Um, it's just great.

OLABANJI:

That's about the example that we need, right?

OLABANJI:

Like, how can a country be so dedicated to.

OLABANJI:

You know, preserving, I mean, when you think about gross

OLABANJI:

national happiness, that's weird.

JENN:

I love it though.

OLABANJI:

right?

OLABANJI:

That's, that's weird.

OLABANJI:

But, but come on, like, that's cool,

OLABANJI:

right?

OLABANJI:

Like, like how, how do you It is just, it's just cool.

JENN:

Well, don't they have something similar leaky in, in the

JENN:

Netherlands with, um, with Huga Huga, I don't know how to say it.

JENN:

H Y Y G

, Leekei:

they might have something similar, but it's quite new.

, Leekei:

Uh, I think it's quite new.

, Leekei:

I think I've read that, something like that.

, Leekei:

Similar in the news like, you know, a couple of weeks or couple of days ago

, Leekei:

but , ] , in Bhutan it's been happening.

, Leekei:

For like, uh, dozens of year.

, Leekei:

But the problem is that because it's a country that is in the Himalayas and uh,

, Leekei:

and because of the melting of the, of the glass years, they lot rivers there.

, Leekei:

, the country is very, very badly hit by climate change because of, you

, Leekei:

know, of the flooding and everything that, um, that destroy everything.

, Leekei:

Uh, when the.

, Leekei:

When the rivers flow over its bed.

, Leekei:

And so then the governments look at, okay, what can we do because, um,

, Leekei:

because they don't have a lot of money because they put happiness first.

, Leekei:

Right?

, Leekei:

\ And so then this decided to create, uh, well actually, um, they look at what

, Leekei:

they needed to be done and they realize that they need, um, it, they, they need

, Leekei:

to do things and, um, and like start implementing and make the infrastructure,

, Leekei:

, stronger, uh, for a minimum of 15 years.

, Leekei:

As the Prime Minister said, we don't have 15 years.

, Leekei:

The world does not have 15 years, so they decide to, yeah.

, Leekei:

So they decide to set up a fund, , in, , conjunction with the, um, ww f the well.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

World Wildlife, um, was Yeah.

OLABANJI:

World Wild.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

World

Leekei:

Yeah.

Leekei:

And so, yeah, so they set up a fund, , to help them fund, , the

Leekei:

infrastructure and everything that needs to be developed in Bhutan to

Leekei:

help them cope with climate change and.

Leekei:

, and, you know, the way they're doing it, it's really amazing, um, because

Leekei:

they're not only doing it in like, you know, uh, re reinforcing the buildings

Leekei:

and everything, but they are really trying to keep them, you know, people

Leekei:

living the same kind of life and enjoying the, uh, the exposure, , with nature.

Leekei:

And so what they're trying to do is to keep these people

Leekei:

living in rural area and,

OLABANJI:

Hmm.

Leekei:

and help them, um, you know, help them in many ways.

Leekei:

Like, you know, providing free electricity so they can, um,

Leekei:

they're not tempted to, to cut wood , and use wood to, to lit fire.

Leekei:

, they also, help them to build, like, you know, to build businesses, like

Leekei:

small businesses there where they live and so they can keep living there.

Leekei:

And also the other beautiful thing, and I think I'm talk too much.

JENN:

It's okay.

JENN:

It's a good story.

JENN:

Keep going.

Leekei:

But the, the other beautiful thing is that, , okay, the

Leekei:

electricity is generated by hydropower because they are a lot dam there.

Leekei:

And so part of the plan is to export electricity.

Leekei:

And so, and this, the money of this fund will be used for that as well.

Leekei:

You know, helping people, helping them build, dams and all that.

Leekei:

And it's, it's quite successful actually.

Leekei:

and then so they model something that is called the Project Finance for Permanence.

Leekei:

This is something I find beautiful.

Leekei:

You know, it's, they model the, the first, the Asia's first

Leekei:

project, finance for Permanence.

Leekei:

The p fp model.

Leekei:

I think it's, I think it's great.

JENN:

That's fantastic.

JENN:

What a, what?

JENN:

A bunch of stuff to figure out.

JENN:

That's amazing.

Leekei:

Yeah.

JENN:

that they've been doing it for so long.

JENN:

Wow.

JENN:

And Ji, you said you've been reading about this country.

JENN:

What?

JENN:

What have you learned?

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Uh, I, I mean, and Linky has mentioned a lot about it.

OLABANJI:

Um, I think like the culture, perhaps that's what amazes me the most, right?

OLABANJI:

How people are able to like, Keep the culture right.

OLABANJI:

A lot of things have happened since the seventies, which like

OLABANJI:

when they started, like there's been technological advancements.

OLABANJI:

There's been a lot of things that, that have happened since then.

OLABANJI:

I, I saw a guy on a TEDx.

OLABANJI:

Uh, talk, you know, and he was dressed in the, I think he was dressed in the,

OLABANJI:

the local attire and they have such like big pockets, um, in, in their dressing.

OLABANJI:

And he was happy to wear that everywhere and talk about their, you know, all

OLABANJI:

the stuff that they're doing and the culture, which is really amazing to me.

OLABANJI:

Right.

OLABANJI:

Like, how do, how do you like be a country in the midst of like, A lot

OLABANJI:

of powerful countries like that, small and be able to maintain a

OLABANJI:

culture for, for more than 50 years.

OLABANJI:

that's, that's really amazing.

OLABANJI:

And, and, and to the fact that he said, uh, I mean, while they

OLABANJI:

were thinking about it and saying like, the, we don't have 15 years.

OLABANJI:

Right.

OLABANJI:

Um, and treating it with that level of urgency, It's very, very needful.

OLABANJI:

Right?

OLABANJI:

And, and that shows that like, hey, we're not here to just like,

OLABANJI:

you know, like it's serious.

OLABANJI:

Um, I think it was the, um, it's probably W W F that published this report as well.

OLABANJI:

Um, and they say, they say that, um, oh, this, this was N ps

OLABANJI:

they estimated that, um, 35% of animals and plants could become.

OLABANJI:

In the wild by 2050 due to, \ , global climate change.

OLABANJI:

And so saying that we don't have 15 years is very spot on because just about, in

OLABANJI:

just about 15 years, we might already be losing about 35% of wildlife in general.

OLABANJI:

Um,

, Leekei:

actually I think we watch the same, , Ted talk.

, Leekei:

The man in the traditional suit is the prime

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

Leekei:

and Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Oh, he is the

OLABANJI:

Prime

OLABANJI:

Minister.

Leekei:

very Yes.

Leekei:

. Yes.

Leekei:

But he said something very, very interesting.

Leekei:

Um, he said

OLABANJI:

Mm.

Leekei:

When they, they have this decided, the country decided to

Leekei:

preserve the environment of the money.

Leekei:

It's because the king at that time had a vision and, um, because it

Leekei:

is a monarchy, still a monarchy.

Leekei:

But in the seventies, the king decided to impose democracy,

Leekei:

, OLABANJI: Yeah.

Leekei:

on, on the country because they didn't have democracy.

Leekei:

He was a, very high powered monarch with no counter power.

Leekei:

And they decided, okay, well if we want to do it, well, if we want to

Leekei:

survive, we need more democracy.

Leekei:

And so he said the constitution.

Leekei:

And in this constitution they describe what they need to live,

Leekei:

you know, for a country to thrive.

Leekei:

And so that's the whole, you know, the whole concept of you know, uh, the,

Leekei:

uh, the G N H and uh, and the 70%, uh, 60% of, forest and everything.

Leekei:

So, yeah.

Leekei:

How did they do it?

Leekei:

I think, you know, people in power had a vision

OLABANJI:

yeah, yeah.

OLABANJI:

And any trickles

JENN:

if they plant trees to graduate

OLABANJI:

And, and that's very similar to what Josh was saying,

OLABANJI:

uh, you know, yesterday, right?

OLABANJI:

Like reaching out to people in position, people in power to like get them to

OLABANJI:

see the need and the urgency, you know, to make this change and influence

OLABANJI:

the people that you know, that fall within their sphere of influence.

OLABANJI:

That it's really interesting.

Leekei:

Yeah, but going back to your remark, , Jen, I don't think

Leekei:

they have to plant trees to graduate because they have enough trees.

Leekei:

They don't need to plant more trees.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

JENN:

that brilliant?

JENN:

Wouldn't that be brilliant to, to be able to say that?

JENN:

We don't need to cuz we have enough already.

JENN:

Oh my goodness.

JENN:

Hashtag goals, people

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

Leekei:

No, really, because the goal, no, the goal is 60% and they are over 70%.

Leekei:

So they'll need to plant more trees.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

So it's doable.

OLABANJI:

It's doable.

OLABANJI:

I, I think this is a matter of priority as well, right?

OLABANJI:

Like for a country to have gross national happiness, right?

OLABANJI:

Like, just, just think about like who sat down and said, Hey guys, we're measuring

OLABANJI:

our success as a country by happiness.

OLABANJI:

It's, it's just like,

JENN:

I gotta do something on this

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Like those, like those are real humans, right?

OLABANJI:

Like, they come together and say, Hey, like

Leekei:

Yes.

OLABANJI:

we, we want to be happy as a people.

OLABANJI:

And that's, that's probably the most mind blowing thing, uh,

Leekei:

Okay.

Leekei:

Okay.

Leekei:

You, sorry,

OLABANJI:

go ahead.

Leekei:

You want more about Bhutan?

Leekei:

Because?

Leekei:

Because I looked it up and thought, okay, well I would love to go.

Leekei:

To this country and visit this country.

Leekei:

And then I research and actually they don't want too many tourists there.

JENN:

I bet they don't.

Leekei:

yeah.

Leekei:

They don't want too many tourists.

Leekei:

And, um, I think that, you need to, I mean, in order to get a visa, \ you

Leekei:

need to spend I think 200 or two or $300 a day per day of stay there.

Leekei:

So that eliminates a whole bunch of people.

OLABANJI:

Wow.

JENN:

Wow.

JENN:

Yeah.

JENN:

Well, tourism brings a lot of, uh, a lot of things into the mix.

JENN:

You know, cruise cruise ships and airplanes and all of those things.

JENN:

Um, . Yeah.

JENN:

It's a big, it's a big consideration.

JENN:

Mm-hmm.

OLABANJI:

Hmm.

OLABANJI:

and and, and more importantly, I think it brings people that do

OLABANJI:

not yet understand the culture

Leekei:

hmm.

JENN:

great.

Leekei:

So for

OLABANJI:

and are likely to pull the environment.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

Leekei:

and for $300 a day, you have to really understand the culture.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

JENN:

Oh, that's amazing.

JENN:

Well, now I have to go find this Ted Talk because now I'm intrigued.

Leekei:

I, I'm going to

Leekei:

share it with you.

Leekei:

Yeah, we're going to share it with you and Ji we've been talking a lot about

Leekei:

Bhutan, so anything you wanna share.

OLABANJI:

Uh uh, okay.

OLABANJI:

I, I have bad news, but I think I'll share the good news.

Leekei:

Well, you can share, if you share bad news, you need to share good news.

Leekei:

So you have to, you need to share two pieces of

Leekei:

news then

OLABANJI:

two pieces of news . Okay.

OLABANJI:

Okay.

OLABANJI:

Um, so first off, the emperor penguin are now an endangered species and they're

OLABANJI:

threatened due to like climate change.

OLABANJI:

And, and this was very recent.

OLABANJI:

, um, because the, the antic eyes is also threatened, so that puts them

OLABANJI:

in like grave danger of survival.

OLABANJI:

Um, that's, that's, that's the bad news.

OLABANJI:

Um, but the good news is I found, I found a guy that has single-handedly

OLABANJI:

with his team planted 5,000.

Leekei:

Wow.

Leekei:

Okay.

OLABANJI:

Yeah, and, and he was recognized by the, the World Economic Forum and they.

OLABANJI:

Um, I think he's won a couple of Sustainability and Environment award,

OLABANJI:

and he was, I wouldn't say I lived close to him, but we were, uh, you

OLABANJI:

know, not so far from each other.

OLABANJI:

And I, and I didn't even know that, that someone around me was going

OLABANJI:

about planting trees with people.

OLABANJI:

Um, sorry, did I say 5,000?

Leekei:

Yes.

OLABANJI:

Oh, actually it's 25,000.

JENN:

Oh my word.

JENN:

That's a lot.

Leekei:

yeah.

Leekei:

That's

Leekei:

lots

OLABANJI:

25,000 trees.

OLABANJI:

And, and I think it, it, it accelerated when he started getting people from

OLABANJI:

other countries to also plant trees.

OLABANJI:

And they, they got together in a community and it got about 5,000 volunteers.

OLABANJI:

Um, and, and they planted 25,000 trees together.

OLABANJI:

Um, and reading that just fueled me with hope, like, oh,

JENN:

The power of what one person could do.

JENN:

Hey,

OLABANJI:

Yeah, I almost feel, I mean, I feel like then, then I felt guilty, right?

OLABANJI:

Like, I mean, I plant trees on IIA every day, but I, I, I think

OLABANJI:

I want go and put some seed.

Leekei:

Yeah.

JENN:

if everyone did something right, if everybody did something, that's

JENN:

why we have these conversations.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

Leekei:

yes.

OLABANJI:

And, and back to the fact that, yeah, it's, it's, I I used to be scared.

OLABANJI:

I'm, I'm less scared now, but like when we, when we read the news, like.

OLABANJI:

It calls for like very, very urgent action.

OLABANJI:

Um, and so as much as we hope, um, we, we have to allow our hope to translate

OLABANJI:

to something that is effective, um, like Bhutan and, and, and do something

OLABANJI:

meaningful for the environment.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

JENN:

Ah,

OLABANJI:

I mean, the, the, the emperor penguins are one of the

OLABANJI:

most beautiful uh, creature that, I mean, they're wonders to see.

OLABANJI:

So knowing that they might not be anymore is, um, we, we need to,

Leekei:

No, I think you, you need to look at the bright side.

Leekei:

, that means that, you know, if this, uh, species has been identified

Leekei:

as an endangered species, uh, people will pay attention.

Leekei:

Uh, it's like the panda.

Leekei:

Panda has been an endangered species.

Leekei:

Uh, For a long time, but it's, I think it has, it has, um, upgraded, like it's

Leekei:

not so endangered now because people have been paying a lot of attention

Leekei:

and really, uh, you know, caring about, you know, preserving, um, this patient.

Leekei:

So don't be too sad.

Leekei:

That's, that's

OLABANJI:

then, then I'm looking on the bright side.

OLABANJI:

Thank you . That, that, that actually helped

Leekei:

No, no.

Leekei:

The right side is that, that it's not, you know, they, they are

Leekei:

specialist That could just disappear without anybody noticing it.

Leekei:

That's very sad.

Leekei:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

Yeah.

OLABANJI:

I've had a lot of fun today.

OLABANJI:

It's been really amazing.

JENN:

Me too.

JENN:

I've learned a lot

Leekei:

Yeah.

Leekei:

Yes.

Leekei:

Thank you.

Leekei:

my

OLABANJI:

and thanks Leaky for,

Leekei:

Sorry,

JENN:

it's great.

JENN:

It was a great story,

OLABANJI:

we enjoyed it.

Leekei:

Okay.

LYNN:

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LYNN:

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LYNN:

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LYNN:

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LYNN:

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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.