EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
How can we ensure equity across generations, with Indigenous peoples, and with the Global South in the upcoming United Nations COP negotiations with meaningful financial measures attached?
About Global Goals:
Global Goals explores the intersectionality of the Call to Action launched at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity in September 2020 by twenty five of the world’s largest environment development NGOs, foundations, as well as several UN organisations and representatives of youth, Indigenous peoples, local communities and the business sector. On the road to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP-15 and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP-26, it is time to unite nature, climate and equity as part a successful 21st century.
EarthX
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia
How to watch:
United States:
- Spectrum
- AT&T U-verse (1267)
- DIRECTV (267)
- Philo
- FuboTV
- Plex
- Fire TV
#EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX
How can we ensure equity across generations, with Indigenous peoples, and with the Global South in the upcoming United Nations COP negotiations with meaningful financial measures attached?
About Global Goals:
Global Goals explores the intersectionality of the Call to Action launched at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity in September 2020 by twenty five of the world’s largest environment development NGOs, foundations, as well as several UN organisations and representatives of youth, Indigenous peoples, local communities and the business sector. On the road to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP-15 and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP-26, it is time to unite nature, climate and equity as part a successful 21st century.
EarthX
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia
How to watch:
United States:
- Spectrum
- AT&T U-verse (1267)
- DIRECTV (267)
- Philo
- FuboTV
- Plex
- Fire TV
#EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00:30In this program, we are exploring a bold and hopeful idea for the future, the creation
00:00:40of an equitable, nature-positive, and carbon-neutral world.
00:00:44I am Dr. Harvey Locke, your host for this exploration of ideas on EarthX TV.
00:00:50In this episode, we explore the interplay between nature protection goals and equity.
00:00:56Big problems like climate change, the serious decline of nature, often called biodiversity,
00:01:01and the growing inequalities of our world have created turbulent conditions for this
00:01:06century.
00:01:07The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the sense of uneasiness that many people are feeling.
00:01:14Something is deeply wrong.
00:01:15We are off course.
00:01:18How can we solve these big problems?
00:01:21A wide variety of environment, business, and human development organizations think there
00:01:25is a positive way forward.
00:01:28In this series, we talk with people from around the world about the challenges and the opportunities
00:01:33we face in integrating global goals for climate, for nature, and for human development.
00:01:39We are now going to explore ideas with leading human rights advocates, indigenous people,
00:01:44poverty relief and gender advocates, young people and elders about how we can work together
00:01:49to create an equitable, nature-positive, and carbon-neutral world.
00:01:54But first, let's hear from legendary British television personality, Sir David Attenborough,
00:01:59who has spent his life studying nature and sharing the wonders of the natural world with
00:02:04TV viewers.
00:02:12The living world is a unique and spectacular marvel.
00:02:18Billions of individuals of millions of kinds of plants and animals dazzling in their variety
00:02:25and richness.
00:02:29Working together to benefit from the energy of the sun and the minerals of the earth.
00:02:37Leading lives that interlock in such a way that they sustain each other.
00:02:45We rely entirely on this finely tuned life support machine.
00:02:52And it relies on its biodiversity to run smoothly.
00:03:02Yet the way we humans live on earth now is sending biodiversity into a decline.
00:03:13The natural world is fading.
00:03:16The evidence is all around.
00:03:18It's happened in my lifetime.
00:03:19I've seen it with my own eyes.
00:03:23This film is my witness statement and my vision for the future.
00:03:28The story of how we came to make this our greatest mistake and how, if we act now, we
00:03:34can yet put it right.
00:03:42The natural world is in trouble.
00:03:44That means we humans are in trouble too.
00:03:47But we are doing something about it.
00:03:49There are well-known goals for the climate and for human development.
00:03:53For the climate, the Paris Agreement sets the goal for carbon neutrality or net zero
00:03:57carbon by 2050 to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees.
00:04:02If we meet this goal, we will still have a stable climate system to live in.
00:04:06For human development, all the countries of the UN have embraced the sustainable development
00:04:11goals.
00:04:12These are 17 goals designed to empower people, lift the poor out of poverty, and create an
00:04:17equitable world where everyone can live with dignity and have their basic needs secured.
00:04:23If we meet them, the world will be a fairer, happier, and healthier place.
00:04:28To meet these goals depends on nature continuing to function.
00:04:33All human life depends on nature.
00:04:35All human activity occurs within nature.
00:04:39Nature literally creates the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
00:04:44But until now, there has not been a global goal for nature.
00:04:49And nature is declining in ways that are harmful to people and the rest of life.
00:04:54So now there is a call for a global goal for nature that is nature-positive, that can be
00:04:59integrated with the goals for the climate and for human development.
00:05:03How can we achieve goals for nature and the climate in a way that is fair and equitable,
00:05:08that supports human development goals, and respects human diversity?
00:05:13We will explore ideas such as the right to a healthy environment, traditional Indigenous
00:05:17perspectives on our relationship with nature, and the reciprocal concept of rights and responsibilities,
00:05:24and how empowering women and children can make a profound difference.
00:05:28We will also consider intergenerational fairness and the role of young people as both inheritors
00:05:34and shapers of the future.
00:05:36Melina Sakayama, co-founder of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, will co-host this
00:05:41episode with me.
00:05:43Our guests join us from all over the world.
00:05:46We will begin with a discussion of a key question.
00:05:49Should all people everywhere have the right to a healthy environment?
00:05:52I'm pleased to have with us now Dr. David Boyd and Dr. Eliane Upilaj-Jouro.
00:06:08David is the UN Special Rapporteur on Environment and Human Rights.
00:06:13He's an environmental law expert known worldwide for his work in this field.
00:06:20He is widely published academically, but also is a fine novelist.
00:06:25He's explored the challenges of being an activist for the environment, for human development
00:06:31in our very complex world.
00:06:34Dr. Eliane Upilaj-Jouro is a professor at McGill University, Institute for the Study
00:06:41of International Development.
00:06:43She's also Executive Director of Sustainability in the Digital Age, and Global Hub Director
00:06:48in Canada for Future Earth.
00:06:52She's also served on the President of Rwanda's Presidential Advisory Council for 14 years,
00:06:58and is a member of the African Development Bank's expert group on COVID-19 response strategies
00:07:04for Africa.
00:07:05Welcome, David and Eliane.
00:07:08So this series, we're exploring the idea of a bold new vision for humanity and nature
00:07:15of an equitable, nature-positive, carbon-neutral future.
00:07:19And we wanted to delve right into the idea of how human rights and rights to a healthy
00:07:24environment might play in that context of this integrated vision of a healthy, prosperous
00:07:31world instead of one that's falling apart, which is unfortunately the trajectory we're
00:07:35on now.
00:07:36So, David, could you just explain what this idea of a right to a healthy environment and
00:07:40human rights in relation to the environment is all about?
00:07:43Yeah, absolutely, Harvey.
00:07:45And you're right, you know, we're in this unprecedented global environmental emergency
00:07:49where we've got climate change, the collapse of biodiversity, pervasive pollution that's
00:07:53killing millions of people every year, and these emerging zoonotic diseases.
00:07:58And so scientists are telling us we need rapid, systemic, and transformative changes.
00:08:03And that's where human rights enter the picture, because if we look back over centuries of
00:08:06human history, we can see that human rights have been such a catalyst for transformative
00:08:11changes in terms of ending slavery, in terms of women's equality, in terms of ending apartheid.
00:08:17And in light of this global environmental crisis, it's just the time is now to recognize
00:08:24that everyone everywhere has the right to live in a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable
00:08:30environment.
00:08:31And that includes clean air to breathe, safe and sufficient water to drink and operate
00:08:36your household, healthy and sustainably produced food, a safe climate, toxic-free places in
00:08:41which people can live, work, study, and play, and of course, healthy ecosystems and healthy
00:08:46biodiversity.
00:08:47Because ultimately, on this beautiful blue-green planet, all human rights depend on a healthy
00:08:52biosphere.
00:08:53And the right to a healthy environment also comes with a toolbox that people can use to
00:08:57protect their rights, and that's access to information, public participation in decision-making,
00:09:02and access to justice when people's rights are being threatened or violated.
00:09:06Thanks, David.
00:09:08Eliane, can you ground us in Africa with this, you know, these questions have to come to
00:09:14ground somewhere, and no place is this conversation perhaps more pressing than in an African context.
00:09:21Africa has a very young population and is set to reach about over 2.5 billion people
00:09:27by 2050.
00:09:29By 2035, half of the working population in the world will be African.
00:09:34So it's really important that how Africa develops really is in harmony with nature and that
00:09:41the rights of human beings are central to how we're relating to nature and how this
00:09:46economic growth happens in terms of ensuring those human rights and basic rights.
00:09:53And so it's very important for me that economic growth in Africa is green growth and that
00:09:59it really allows us to bring back more biodiversity, ensure greater clean energy use, clean water
00:10:05for all, and really participation of youth and women in this space.
00:10:10So those are things that I see are very critical.
00:10:13David, could you drill in a little bit more about, you ended your comment with, you know,
00:10:19ecosystems and the healthy biosphere are really the context for the human drama, if you will,
00:10:26and for the human rights.
00:10:28How do you see that all comes together?
00:10:31Yeah, great question, Harvey.
00:10:33And so, you know, we live in a world where it's absolutely imperative that we take more
00:10:37action to protect nature.
00:10:40And countries are doing that.
00:10:41You know, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People aiming to protect 30 percent
00:10:45of this planet's lands and waters by 2030, that would be a fantastic step forward.
00:10:50But it has to be done in a way that's consistent with human rights, because in the past, we've
00:10:55seen governments create protected areas and parks by evicting the indigenous peoples and
00:11:00local communities who have lived there for thousands of years.
00:11:03And that is a that is a terrible transgression of those people's human rights.
00:11:08So as we move forward, we have to work with indigenous peoples, local communities and
00:11:12respect their rights going forward and make them full partners in the conservation of
00:11:17the beautiful waters and lands of this planet.
00:11:20And the great thing is that if we do that, we know from clear scientific evidence that
00:11:24indigenous peoples and local communities are the best stewards of land.
00:11:28Lands that are owned and managed by indigenous peoples and local communities have higher
00:11:33levels of biodiversity, higher levels of carbon storage and are providing social and
00:11:39economic opportunities for those people.
00:11:41So it's really a win win solution.
00:11:43And there's countries all over the world that are pioneers in demonstrating that from
00:11:47Costa Rica to Croatia, the Seychelles, Namibia and many others.
00:11:54Eliane, you have a special connection to Rwanda, and Rwanda, of course, is is both
00:12:00incredibly fertile.
00:12:02Also, very densely populated, very small, has many challenges related to biodiversity,
00:12:10but also has a superb national park system.
00:12:13How does this all play out there?
00:12:16Well, one of the things that's really important in Rwanda, it's our value systems in
00:12:21terms of how we value life, how we value human life and how we value nature.
00:12:25And so economic development in Rwanda for the last 25, 26 years, I would say, has really
00:12:32been how do we combine the beauty of that natural environment that Rwanda has had the
00:12:42opportunity to be in and also bring in what our cultural legacies, promoting women's
00:12:49role in government, in environment has been central to how we have been looking at this
00:12:55and the importance of how do we ensure that nature gives back to us?
00:13:00If we value nature, nature will give us what we need.
00:13:03So part of one of the things that's been really important is the preserving these parks
00:13:08is important to having water systems that function well, that having water tables that
00:13:14allow us to do agriculture, that allow us to grow our cities.
00:13:17So having these parks is really critical to economic growth and to sustaining the rights
00:13:23of people for good quality air, good quality water, having healthy soils that allow us
00:13:28to produce enough food for everyone and also living in harmony with wildlife.
00:13:33So this is also really important in terms of Rwanda having, being a small country, but
00:13:38having very different ecological zones.
00:13:42It's how do we preserve that beauty and the diversity of that beauty with the legacy of
00:13:47where we're coming from?
00:13:48And really for us, taking care of nature is also part of the peace building process of
00:13:54how do we move forward and ensuring that even though we're a highly densely populated
00:13:59country, that doesn't mean that we cannot find solutions that allow us to live in
00:14:04harmony with nature.
00:14:06Maybe I could just nudge you a little bit on that.
00:14:08There's some traditional African values that you're sort of underlie.
00:14:13You know, the most famous phrase that the rest of the world tends to know about is the
00:14:16South African version, which is Ubuntu, which is I am because you are.
00:14:20And scholars are thinking about how that relates to not only as it relates to you and me,
00:14:26but as it relates to me and the rest of life, the whole earth ecosystem.
00:14:31Could I ask you to just comment on that, the sort of deeper set of values?
00:14:35Absolutely. And I think what's really important is to realize that COVID-19 has really
00:14:39been an opportunity for humanity to reset our value systems.
00:14:43And in terms of value systems that are critical to Africans, of course, there's Ubuntu,
00:14:49Yoruba, there's Iwa, the Akan have Suban, and all of them point to this idea of what is
00:14:55the quality of human character and interrelationship that we bring to our relationship
00:15:00with each other and to Mother Earth.
00:15:03And those are really important elements to reclaim.
00:15:06David earlier was talking about colonization and slavery.
00:15:09So part of it is the healing of the earth is also the healing of intergenerational trauma
00:15:15over time and the recapturing of a value system that has been in Africa for millennia.
00:15:23And so these are really important elements in terms of how do we take culture and bring
00:15:28it to help us align the human rights that are critical to every human being.
00:15:33And so if we're able to have these shared values really be central to how Africa
00:15:39develops, then the dignity of each person is also linked to the dignity and care we
00:15:46bring to nature. And so for me, these are very critical elements of how we're bringing
00:15:50all Africans together, how we build peace and how we live in harmony with nature.
00:15:55David, you're interested in how you make those marvelous ideas come to ground in legal
00:16:00frameworks. And you've been talking about this for many years, you're widely published
00:16:06on it. Can you give some examples of countries that have sort of taken their own value
00:16:11systems and turned them into laws that sort of basically say, I want to write to a
00:16:16healthy environment?
00:16:18Yeah, sure, Harvey. So at this point in time, there's actually more than 150 countries
00:16:22around the world that recognize in law their citizens' right to live in a healthy
00:16:26environment. And I think one of the acknowledged global leaders is Costa Rica, a small
00:16:31Latin American country with huge biological diversity.
00:16:35And Costa Rica added the right to a healthy environment to its constitution in the early
00:16:391990s. And since that time has just achieved remarkable progress on a number of fronts.
00:16:44They have reversed the process of deforestation.
00:16:47So in 1990, they were down to about 25 percent forest cover.
00:16:51They're now over 50 percent forest cover.
00:16:53They have protected almost 30 percent of the lands and waters of Costa Rica.
00:16:58They are protecting species at risk.
00:17:01And the right to a healthy environment is being used by communities and environmental
00:17:05organizations to hold the government accountable for protecting the environment.
00:17:09They also generate over 98 percent of their electricity from renewable sources of energy
00:17:15like solar, wind and geothermal.
00:17:17They also have a carbon tax that is the revenue from which is used to pay indigenous
00:17:22peoples and farmers to protect and conserve forests.
00:17:26So Costa Rica is a great example.
00:17:28In Africa, you have Namibia, where back in the 1990s, they passed legislation creating
00:17:33opportunities for communities to create community conservancies.
00:17:37And over the past three decades, those community conservancies have been enormously
00:17:41successful in creating economic opportunities, in enabling communities to have
00:17:46stewardship of their lands and in producing recoveries of iconic African wildlife
00:17:51species such as elephants.
00:17:53So that's just a couple of examples from around the world.
00:17:56But really, the law, the concept of the human right to a healthy environment is so
00:18:02powerful that it has both legal implications and cultural implications.
00:18:07Because as Eliane was saying, the reality is that nature is not just a warehouse of
00:18:12commodities for humans to exploit.
00:18:15It's a community that we are so blessed to belong to.
00:18:19You know, this is the only planet in the universe that's known to support life.
00:18:23So it's time that we started to treat this beautiful blue-green Earth with the respect
00:18:28that it deserves.
00:18:29You know, one of the central points of this equitable, nature-positive, carbon-neutral
00:18:34future is that we need to remember that we live on planet Earth and that inside that is
00:18:40all life, including human life.
00:18:42And then inside that is human society.
00:18:45And then the economy is inside human society.
00:18:48We have to get away from the idea of competing interests rather to a set of
00:18:52hierarchical nested interests, with nature as the context and the human development
00:18:56being the objective of the economy, not the economy having some life of its own.
00:19:00So this has been a marvelous conversation.
00:19:03Thank you both so very much.
00:19:05And I'd like to just make the comment that arises is David mentioned all the countries
00:19:11in the world doing the right to a healthy environment.
00:19:14Neither North American country, which is so prosperous and wealthy, has managed to do
00:19:20that yet. So part of the fun thing about doing global work is learning that we have a
00:19:24lot to learn from the rest of the world as well as share ideas with the broader world.
00:19:29So thank you so very much for this session, both of you.
00:19:34Thanks, Harvey. Thanks.
00:19:35Thank you, Harvey. Thank you, David.
00:19:40People involved in international development and environmental work often refer to
00:19:45international treaties negotiated through the United Nations.
00:19:49We frequently use abbreviations such as CBD, SDGs, Paris Agreement and COPS.
00:19:57COPS is shorthand for the Conference of the Parties.
00:20:00Every year or two, all the countries who have signed the treaties meet at COPS to set
00:20:05goals. These are huge meetings involving thousands of people.
00:20:11CBD is shorthand for the Convention on Biological Diversity, the major convention on
00:20:17the protection of nature, its wise use and benefit sharing.
00:20:22It has its major meeting or COP in Kunming, China, this October.
00:20:27Its current strategic plan has targets referred to as the Aichi targets for the place they
00:20:32were negotiated in Japan 10 years ago.
00:20:35New targets will be set at this year's COP in Kunming.
00:20:41Paris Agreement is a reference to the international climate agreement negotiated in
00:20:45Paris in 2015 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or the
00:20:52UNFCCC.
00:20:53It has its COP in Glasgow, Scotland, in November this year.
00:20:57The plan is for nature to be at the centre of the discussion of the climate at this COP.
00:21:04SDGs is a reference to the sustainable development goals, which are agreed to by all
00:21:10United Nations country in 2012.
00:21:13Nature is the underlying context for all of them, as can be seen in this graphic.
00:21:17There are 17 goals that are intended to be interconnected, meaning success in one
00:21:23affects success for the others.
00:21:26Achieving gender equality or better health helps eradicate poverty.
00:21:31And fostering peace and inclusive societies will reduce inequalities and help economies
00:21:36prosper.
00:21:38All of these human endeavours depend on a foundation of a healthy, natural world.
00:21:43The international agreements may seem far away from our daily lives, but they are not.
00:21:49Nature knows no borders.
00:21:52Carbon dioxide emissions go into the global atmosphere and affect our climate at home.
00:21:59Refugees seeking to cross borders are often fleeing environmental degradation at their
00:22:05homes.
00:22:06We are the ones who are affected by climate change.
00:22:09Our next panel will explore how improving outcomes on poverty and gender not only depends
00:22:14on the health of the natural world, but can also help improve the health of nature on
00:22:19which all human development depends.
00:22:24Melina Sakayama is the host, a Brazilian biologist and environmental justice advocate for the
00:22:30past 10 years.
00:22:32She has been a key player in the development of climate change in Brazil and in the US.
00:22:37As a biologist and environmental justice advocate for the past 10 years, Melina has been a
00:22:42driving force behind creating the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, which has 1.2 million
00:22:48members in 145 countries.
00:22:56Hello, everyone, this is Melina Sakayama from Brazil, from the Global Youth Biodiversity
00:23:02Network. I'm here today to have a very special conversation with two very special women.
00:23:07Sofia Esfrahman, the Secretary General for CARE International from Uruguay.
00:23:14She has been leading the organization fighting poverty and inequality and also working a
00:23:20lot with gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals.
00:23:24And Hindu Omaru from the Umbororo Pastoralist People in Chad and representing the
00:23:32Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad and has been working a lot with
00:23:37climate change, biodiversity and equity issues.
00:23:41So thank you so much for today and welcome to this conversation.
00:23:45So we are all sort of like witnessing the collapse of our natural systems, the climate
00:23:51crisis, the biodiversity crisis, the pandemics and like all of that has been interlinked
00:23:59through like a social crisis, right?
00:24:02Like inequality rates are skyrocketing at the moment.
00:24:06And I think the pandemic is sort of like showing to us the deficiencies of our societies in
00:24:12that and and like how we somehow fail to cover like inequality and poverty issues.
00:24:19And now we are seeing it through the pandemics.
00:24:22So in this sort of like a little bit green context, I would like to understand from your
00:24:29experiences, like this connection between like the natural system, biodiversity and like
00:24:37like the human needs.
00:24:39So like right now, we are talking a lot in terms of like nature contributions to people.
00:24:44And I would like to understand a little bit more from your experiences, how these two
00:24:49worlds are interconnected and how we can work together so that we can like achieve both
00:24:57like biodiversity protection goals together with poverty alleviation and the fight against
00:25:04inequality goals.
00:25:08Shall we start with you, Hindu?
00:25:11Thank you so much, Malina.
00:25:12It's really a great pleasure to be with Sophia in these discussions.
00:25:18Of course, Malina, as you said, biodiversity loss, climate change, it's so quite linked
00:25:24with human life and especially with the poverty.
00:25:28Let me start firstly, when we talk about global poverty, the World Bank say the peoples who
00:25:35are poor are the peoples who have under one dollar or two dollars a day.
00:25:41So this is the definition for them.
00:25:44As an indigenous person, as I'm coming from the indigenous communities, we are living
00:25:49and depending from the nature.
00:25:50It doesn't matter how much cash you got in your pocket if you cannot buy the food that
00:25:56you want. So you are calling the poor person.
00:25:59But if you have access and right to the land, you have right to your territory, you have
00:26:06access to the resources and you are not calling poor because for us, you cannot go and buy
00:26:12the food with your cash.
00:26:14And we saw the examples during this COVID time, even in the US, which is the bigger,
00:26:20richer country of the world.
00:26:22Peoples got them cash.
00:26:23They went to the supermarket fighting.
00:26:25They didn't get the food to buy.
00:26:27Are we calling them poor or calling them those peoples are rich?
00:26:32So I think it's really relative.
00:26:34We can be rich if we protect our nature.
00:26:37We can be rich if we protect our ecosystem and if we can protect our identity.
00:26:43That's what indigenous peoples have around all the world.
00:26:46From my peoples that come in the Sahel regions who are cattle herders nomadic or from my
00:26:52brothers and sisters who are actually in your regions in Latin America, in Brazil, all the
00:26:57indigenous peoples there or from Asia, those who are in the islands.
00:27:02If we do not have access to our resources, to our land territories, we are still poor.
00:27:08That's why the consequence of the loss of the biodiversity our world is facing with
00:27:13the climate change impact.
00:27:15So all the peoples are becoming more poor.
00:27:18It doesn't matter if you are from developed or developing countries.
00:27:21That's why we have to fight that and we have to protect our biodiversity and combat climate
00:27:27change and indigenous peoples are the right peoples who can give the examples on how we
00:27:32can lead this fight.
00:27:34Let me add maybe that, you know, around 80% of the world's extreme poor actually live
00:27:39in rural areas and developing countries and rural people are often more isolated from
00:27:44other opportunities and have less access to basic social services.
00:27:49Also, therefore, they rely more heavily on goods and services that derive from biodiversity
00:27:55and ecosystems.
00:27:56And because poorer people disproportionately rely on these goods and services provided
00:28:03by the natural world for food, water, medicine, and fuel, they're also heavily affected by
00:28:09the loss of such resources.
00:28:1170% of the world's poorest also, and let me stress that, let me bring in the angle of
00:28:16gender, are also women.
00:28:18And they tend to use biodiversity in different ways to men.
00:28:22And when those resources are depleted, women can often be left even more vulnerable than
00:28:28men.
00:28:30Biodiversity loss and those degraded ecosystems can therefore also perpetuate gender inequalities
00:28:38by increasing the time spent by women and children in performing certain tasks, such
00:28:43as collecting fuel, food, and water, and reducing, therefore, also time for education and income
00:28:51generating activities.
00:28:53And also, men and women are often treated quite differently under legal, political,
00:28:58and social structures.
00:29:00And such treatment, of course, has huge implications for their ability to manage resources
00:29:07then effectively.
00:29:08And despite of this, rural women play a vital role in managing biological resources and
00:29:15often have actually specialized knowledge in different areas of biodiversity.
00:29:20But their specific knowledge and needs are frequently ignored due to often their invisible
00:29:27roles in some communities, which also lead to assumptions that their needs are the same
00:29:34as those of men.
00:29:35And of course, they're not.
00:29:37So because of this inherent connectedness and relationship between poverty, biodiversity,
00:29:44youth, and gender, and how they mutually self-reinforce, I think that addressing rural
00:29:53poverty and environmental degradation requires this more holistic and multidisciplinary
00:30:01approach.
00:30:02And really, foremost, and really critically, an understanding of gender norms and barriers
00:30:11in order to achieve the sustainable results and the protection results we seek.
00:30:16There is an initiative called the Global Goals for Nature.
00:30:20And they are seeking for bringing more visibility, more political commitment from decision
00:30:27makers.
00:30:28And I'm hearing from both of you that defending the rights, the land rights for Indigenous
00:30:34people, local communities, gender inequality.
00:30:38So it's all these issues of intersectionality are really important.
00:30:42So do you have any other more concrete also measures in how this Global Goals for Nature
00:30:48or how any global biodiversity framework?
00:30:52Because sometimes they are so much more focused on the land that are protected or the ecosystems
00:31:00or the species.
00:31:02And sometimes this intersectional issues and the participation and so on gets a little
00:31:10bit in the shadows.
00:31:12So how can we work together?
00:31:14What are the measures that you can see that we can ensure that all those measures are
00:31:20inclusive and participatory?
00:31:23Let me start firstly by SDGs, because these are the platform where all the world agree.
00:31:31And SDGs, which are the Sustainable Development Goals, include the protection of the biodiversity,
00:31:38land, water, job.
00:31:41And the first one is ending poverty.
00:31:44So how we can combine all the 17 goals together.
00:31:48And coming to your cautions, the goal number 17, which is partnership.
00:31:53This is the one who can combine all the rest and make the address.
00:31:58Let me give you some examples.
00:32:00You know, for Indigenous communities, participation is the one who can make our voices to hear,
00:32:09to be heard.
00:32:10So if we can participate, we are always asking for full and effective participation.
00:32:17What is the meaning?
00:32:18It is not only saying that we invited Indigenous peoples who can come in the room, we can count
00:32:23them, or we invited women who can be in the round tables and we can have the numbers and
00:32:28we say like, OK, we have 50 and 50.
00:32:30What we are asking for full and effective participation, it is sitting in the tables
00:32:36and taking the decision together.
00:32:38And we can do that because it's already there at the international agreements.
00:32:44When the Biodiversity Convention recognized the Indigenous peoples and the role that
00:32:50Indigenous peoples play and the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples that can
00:32:55contribute to protect the biodiversity, to restore it, to maintain what exists.
00:33:00And of course, the Climate Change Convention is the same, recognize their role and rights
00:33:06and the knowledge of Indigenous peoples.
00:33:08The SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals, have six references also of Indigenous peoples.
00:33:13So how they can make it into the practical way and how Indigenous peoples can sit in
00:33:18the tables and take the decisions when we say we are protecting 80 percent of the world
00:33:24biodiversity.
00:33:26So why we cannot be sitting in the tables and taking the decisions?
00:33:29If we wanted to have the equity, so it means if we have 100 people participating in the
00:33:36decision making, 80 of them must be Indigenous peoples and 20 from the rest of the world.
00:33:44And we can take the equitable decisions.
00:33:47But that is not happening.
00:33:48We are just requesting at least we can have one voice in each decision making.
00:33:53And we have to beg, but we still do not sit in the tables.
00:33:57So we wanted our voices to be here.
00:34:00We wanted to gender who are more than now 50, we have 51 percent of the women.
00:34:06We need the voices to be in the tables and sitting.
00:34:09And we need also the developing countries to have a right to sit in the tables.
00:34:15And lastly, when it comes to the restoration and all, as you said also, Malina, they are
00:34:20thinking about the big ideas.
00:34:22Let us make all the conservation, the protected areas, they forget who are living in those
00:34:30areas.
00:34:31Just talking about the species, as human species is not part of the nature.
00:34:36So we wanted them to think about as human beings, we are part of the nature, we are
00:34:41one species.
00:34:42So we need also to consider the life of the human who are in all those ecosystems and
00:34:48how we are protecting those ecosystems in a better way and make the justice and equity.
00:34:53And that's how we can end the poverty and protect our ecosystems.
00:34:59I couldn't agree more.
00:35:00We are one and we are one of the species and all of this belongs together.
00:35:05And therefore, I think that biodiversity policy and programming are really critical, actually,
00:35:12and important points for the empowerment of women, because where women are supported to
00:35:16overcome these gender gaps and fulfill their potential, when we achieve that, it can also
00:35:25promote biodiversity goals.
00:35:27I think, you know, and one critical area for this, which I want to stress, is actually
00:35:32ensuring equal rights to land, inheritance and natural resources, because this will support
00:35:40and enable women to promote sustainable agriculture and land management, especially as women
00:35:47often become in many parts of the world increasingly responsible in agricultural due to male urban
00:35:52migration.
00:35:54And I think this is actually still a challenge.
00:35:57It sounds easy, but it's a huge challenge, since in almost one third of countries, there
00:36:04is restrictions to women equal legal rights to property and other non-land assets after
00:36:10divorce and separation.
00:36:12So we know that there is a long way to go.
00:36:17But we also know that when women are systematically denied access to the means of production,
00:36:24including biodiversity, this has a profound impact on their health and the health of their
00:36:30children.
00:36:31And conversely, our programs at CARE also show that if women farmers had access to the
00:36:38same resources as men, we could feed another 100 million to 150 million people.
00:36:44So our experience shows that women's empowerment work is truly a catalyst for many changes
00:36:52that result in keeping girls longer in school, improved nutrition, increased income.
00:36:59And for every dollar women earn, 80 cents go back into the family, compared with 30
00:37:04cents of every dollar that men earn.
00:37:07So we must also, of course, and it's not to be forgotten, also engage men and boys.
00:37:13For example, in Zimbabwe, in a program in which we work, 72% of women in this food security
00:37:20program reported that after engaging men and boys in gender equality, they received more
00:37:27help from their partners, husbands in fetching water, weeding fields, and other tasks.
00:37:34So in summary, if I may say, I really think that without accurately monitoring biodiversity
00:37:44programs so that we ensure that they're also supporting the goal of gender equity, and
00:37:50by understanding the barriers that may exist in one community relating to equity, we cannot
00:37:57know whether inequality is even exacerbated by such interventions in biodiversity.
00:38:04So that could even result even in increased risk for women and even in gender-based violence.
00:38:11So we must, I think, address these gender dimensions.
00:38:16And these are a critical factor for the success and sustainability of the Global Goals for Nature.
00:38:23Thank you so much, Sofia and Hindu, for like your very, very powerful and very inspiring
00:38:29words as well. And to be so sure of this need for this intersectionality and this holistic
00:38:37approach, because we're still seeing the sort of business as usual decision-making process
00:38:42that we have, that all this kind of integrative ways of thinking about these problems or this
00:38:49politics is still very sectoral. They are still not having this dialogue. So it's really,
00:38:56really great to hear so much confidence and it's so reassuring for me as a young woman also in this
00:39:06fight. So thank you so much. We will be wrapping up, but I can't wait for the time where we can
00:39:13all see each other and then we can talk much more about those issues. Thank you so much.
00:39:19Thank you so much, Martina. And thank you, Sofia, too.
00:39:24Thank you, Hindu. It was just wonderful to hear your very powerful voice.
00:39:31Many countries have populations of Indigenous peoples who have been living in place since
00:39:36long before modern ideas of countries or the United Nations even existed. These peoples
00:39:43have learned to live in harmony with nature because their lives depended on it and were
00:39:49enriched by it. Their cultures are deeply intertwined with nature. A good example of
00:39:54this is the Kayapu people, whose traditional territory is in the Brazilian Amazon.
00:40:20The Kayapu people have been living in harmony with nature since long before modern ideas of
00:40:26countries or the United Nations even existed. Their cultures are deeply intertwined with
00:40:32nature. Their lives depended on it and were enriched by it. A good example of this is the
00:40:39Kayapu people, whose traditional territory is in the Brazilian Amazon. A good example of this is the
00:40:44Kayapu people, whose traditional territory is in the Brazilian Amazon.
00:41:14When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:22I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people. I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:28When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people. I didn't know anything about
00:41:34the Kayapu people. When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:40When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:44When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:48When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:52When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:41:56When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:42:00When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:42:06When I first came to Brazil, I didn't know anything about the Kayapu people.
00:42:12Recognition of the deep connection that Indigenous peoples have to their homelands gave rise to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
00:42:40But the concept of rights in the Western sense is often accompanied by a sense of entitlement.
00:42:48To the traditional Indigenous person, their relationship with nature is about reciprocal responsibilities to the rest of life,
00:42:56not just the right to share to a piece of the action in competition with everyone else as we rush to exploit the natural world for personal gain.
00:43:05The traditional worldview is about relationship with the natural world and a mutually interdependent coexistence.
00:43:13We are part of nature, not above it, and we have special responsibilities towards nature.
00:43:19I explore these ideas with two highly accomplished Indigenous people.
00:43:23Dr. Leroy Little Bear is a renowned Indigenous lawyer, scholar, and thinker.
00:43:35For 21 years, he chaired the Native American Studies program at the University of Lethbridge.
00:43:42He was also founding director of Harvard University's Native American program.
00:43:49He was one of the key people who initiated the process that led to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, or UNDRIP.
00:43:59He is also a key organizer of the Buffalo Treaty, which is a treaty among Plains, First Nations, and Native Americans from both sides of the Canada and U.S. border
00:44:11dedicated to bringing back the buffalo or bison to the lives of Indigenous people and to the landscape as a whole.
00:44:20Dr. Gana Gurung is country representative for WWF Nepal.
00:44:27Over his distinguished career, he has led effective efforts to reduce rhinoceros poaching
00:44:33and to protect tigers by engaging community-based institutions as local stewards of nature conservation.
00:44:41Dr. Gurung was born and raised in a remote Indigenous community in the Mustang area of the high Himalayas of Nepal.
00:44:50He learned about living with snow leopards, a species he now works tirelessly to protect.
00:44:56He is nationally known as the Shepherd of Snow Leopards, and he is WWF International's Snow Leopard Champion.
00:45:07Welcome, gentlemen.
00:45:12Leroy, I'd like to start with you.
00:45:14You're a member of the Kainai Tri of the Blackfoot Confederacy, which is a Plains Indigenous group.
00:45:22What does the bison mean to your culture, to all dimensions of life as a Plains person?
00:45:30Thanks very much for asking me that question.
00:45:33It's a very important question to answer.
00:45:40The bison, we refer to it in more common language, the buffalo,
00:45:48is a very important animal to us, not only for subsistence, sustenance purposes,
00:45:59but the buffalo, the bison, is very, very important to the land.
00:46:07It's a superstar.
00:46:10If you can think of a professional sports team, they usually have a superstar around which the team is built around.
00:46:23And if you were to remove that superstar, usually that team falls apart.
00:46:30Well, that's the role that the buffalo plays.
00:46:35It's a superstar for the environment, for bringing about eco and biodiversity.
00:46:44Well, it's also a superstar to our people culturally, because our songs, our stories, our ceremonies are connected to that animal.
00:47:01So it's come to be one of us, and we've become part of it.
00:47:08And so we have this symbiotic relationship with the buffalo, the bison.
00:47:16So that's its importance in our life.
00:47:22What does it mean if it's missing?
00:47:25Well, if you were to remove the buffalo, hey, it's kind of like if you are a Christian.
00:47:36And hey, if you don't see that church on the street corner, if you don't see crosses and so on, hey, there's no connection.
00:47:49You could still have all the beliefs and so on.
00:47:53Well, that's what happened.
00:47:56We still have all our belief systems.
00:47:59We still have all our ceremonies and so on.
00:48:03But we don't see that buffalo.
00:48:07But now we're in the process through this buffalo treaty, buffalo restoration activities, where we're bringing that buffalo back.
00:48:19And along with it, we're bringing our language, our ceremonies are being revitalized, and so on.
00:48:29And our youth are being steeped in our culture, which would not otherwise happen if that buffalo was not coming back.
00:48:45Ghana, can I turn to you, please?
00:48:48What was it like to grow up in a remote village in the high Himalayas and to be out in the landscape with animals like snow leopards and living there right on the edge of surviving with the rest of life around you?
00:49:03And how has that influenced you?
00:49:05And how has that taken your life forward to your current role at World Wildlife Fund?
00:49:12Thanks, Harvey, for the question.
00:49:14Growing up in one of the remotest parts of the Himalayas as an indigenous little boy who was introduced to Buddhism at a very young age of five.
00:49:28And while studying your own traditions, cultures, and then you're herding your own livelihood, cash in the bank, which is goats and sheeps and yaks.
00:49:40And then going along with that, the snow leopards are coming so close to you, wherever you went, and they're coming to you.
00:49:46And they're going to follow your lifestyle.
00:49:48So it's kind of a look at that.
00:49:51It is a very harsh climatic conditions and limited resources that you're going to work with it.
00:50:00And you've got to work on every aspect of your life to make your life a bit comfortable and make your family's life a bit more comfortable with limited resources that you have.
00:50:12When you look back now, I think that would have been the best part of my life.
00:50:19Because you grew up with your family, you grew up with your tradition, you grew up with your own domestic lifestyle.
00:50:26You grew up with all the wildlife and the snow leopards, its meat, and it has a lot of other species that go along with it.
00:50:33And growing the snow leopard was most painful as a young boy because it killed my sheep and goat.
00:50:42It's not once and two, it killed dozens and dozens.
00:50:46And a few times, occasions, I really cried a lot.
00:50:50A young boy, a snow leopard doesn't bother at all.
00:50:54They come to us and they kill and we try to chase away a little young boy.
00:50:58I can't do that.
00:51:00And it was very much losing livestock, losing our economy, which I understood very little.
00:51:06But as a young boy, losing a little sheep or goat that you try to raise, you have so much emotional connection.
00:51:14And then it's being taken away and getting killed.
00:51:17It was so much painful.
00:51:19And that's how I can reflect on that.
00:51:22And you said, how did I come back to work on this particular species?
00:51:28After that, I went to study in New Zealand.
00:51:32And then I found out snow leopards are very rare, very endangered species, only found in 12 countries.
00:51:42And in the original Asia, Central Asia and the Himalayas is the only range they survived.
00:51:50Then immediately that, that is true pride in me.
00:51:54Because this is called now the ghost of the mountains.
00:51:58We call traditionally is God's pit, a deity of mountains.
00:52:02So that immediately stored pride in me because it was so common then.
00:52:07It was actually globally so uncommon.
00:52:10It is everywhere with me.
00:52:12It's giving me a hell of a trouble.
00:52:15It was called so elusive, you can't see them.
00:52:18It's kind of orthodox that I was really amazed.
00:52:21And then that made me making sure now it has to protect.
00:52:25Because it's my culture, it's my land, it's my pride.
00:52:28And with that only protection, the mountain ecology is secure.
00:52:32And it secures the third pole, the water towers.
00:52:35And the water towers means a security for biodiversity, energy and food for billions and downstream.
00:52:41So I think that's how I come actually, I would say millions and actually in the downstream.
00:52:46So that's how I come back to work on that.
00:52:49And I love it.
00:52:50And I can't think, I don't think there would be any bridge of them.
00:52:53What I could do for the snow leopards and mountain ecology.
00:52:56I'm struck by how you've both spoken about the central role of the animal, not only in your daily lives.
00:53:05But you described the snow leopard as a deity, Ghana.
00:53:10Leroy analogized the presence of the bison or buffalo, which largely disappeared from the lives of Plains Indian people or indigenous people 140 years ago.
00:53:20And are now just coming back in numbers to bring back that sense of having your belief system in front of you.
00:53:28So that's a kind of a deep engagement with these animals.
00:53:33That isn't just pretty to take a picture of or glad to know they're alive.
00:53:38There's something more going on there that's fundamental to who you are as people.
00:53:43Is that a fair statement, gentlemen?
00:53:45Very much so.
00:53:47Very much so.
00:53:48One of the things that we've talked about in this show already is the idea of rights and why they matter to the environment.
00:53:54But you've also talked about the rights are a means to exercise responsibility rather than an entitlement.
00:54:04And could you just explain that very briefly to people, why that responsibilities dimension is so important to the rights question?
00:54:11Well, very important question and something that most people don't realize.
00:54:19And that is most people just think in terms of the entitlement, as you correctly pointed out.
00:54:28And that is in our world view, in our world view, we are a community with the total environment.
00:54:40Human beings are only one part of that community.
00:54:44All the animals, the plants and so on are part of that community.
00:54:52And if we are going to survive, we have to all work together with that environment.
00:55:02In other words, when we talk from a Blackfoot perspective, it's all my relations.
00:55:11All my relations is that total environment.
00:55:15So the buffalo is all part of all my relations.
00:55:19The trees are part of all my relations.
00:55:22And so we have to sit in a circle and talk to all my relations.
00:55:30And so the responsibility is that we all have to do our part.
00:55:39That's where the responsibility comes in.
00:55:43We all have to do our part.
00:55:47If any of us or if a large part of that circle do not do their part, hey, our existence is going to fall by the wayside.
00:56:01See?
00:56:02And that's why we look at it as responsibility and not as rights, not as entitlement.
00:56:14And if we're going to continue to exist, well, we have to think seven generations ahead.
00:56:24Our human species will continue to exist if we look at it as responsibility and not as entitlement.
00:56:38Ghana, does that idea of responsibility being part of the idea of rights sound familiar to you in terms of your cultural traditions and how you see the world?
00:56:51I think that's pretty much so, Harvey.
00:56:55Because in all my studies as introduction at age of five in a cave as Buddhism doctrine and then moving all the way out to modern education and then going on the way to like nationally, I'm known as the shepherd of a snow leopard.
00:57:11That's title given.
00:57:12And internationally, WWF network has given me the responsibility of the snow leopard champion.
00:57:18So we look at that journey.
00:57:21The right is the primary.
00:57:24The responsibility is more important.
00:57:27We have the biggest responsibility to ensure all the species remain interdependent and interconnected.
00:57:35And that means continue to survive in a wave of life together.
00:57:39And we have the biggest responsibility to make that happen.
00:57:44And because of that, we are accountable the things that's going wrong at this stage, particularly the development have messed up so much in the last 40, 50 years since 1970s.
00:57:55The global population of wildlife alone has gone to 68% according to the Living Planet Index.
00:58:02So clearly that's a responsibility is the primarily importance for all of us or any human being to making sure that we are the primarily the most important species in this planet responsible to make sure the others are here to survive and survive together.
00:58:21So we all thrive in a coexistence.
00:58:25This is one of the most fascinating things about people who are grounded in deep cultural traditions and how that can be brought into conservation to support conservation at a fundamental level that also can be very enduring.
00:58:40And has that been the case in your work, Ghana?
00:58:44I think that has been the exactly in the case of my work, because that the work I've been if you look at in a work in Nepal, particularly, we are close to doubling the tigers.
00:58:53We have achieved zero rhino poaching, which no one has dreamed up in the conservation sector.
00:58:58We have increased forest cover. Yet we had a 10 years of insurgency, 10 years of political instability.
00:59:03Still we have an unstable system. Yet we've been able to do that.
00:59:07And the primary reason is people are resilient and because they are grounded in culture, they respect traditional values and systems.
00:59:16And yet they are integrating the modern science, the technologies, the innovations.
00:59:24So basically trying to marry these two together with the strong foundations of traditions and cultures and the background that we are in, the context, socio-economy, the political, all the context.
00:59:37Yet we're trying to bring the best of the other part of it.
00:59:40And that's why I think we have been able to do quite well in conservation.
00:59:45In a larger sense, I think this is the need of the today.
00:59:48When we talk about the one health is basically the health of planet is directly linked with health of us and the health of the environment.
00:59:56It's in totality, it's one health.
00:59:58And that's how we see pretty much from my indigenous cultures perspective that we respect all living beings, not only living beings.
01:00:07We also respect non-living beings.
01:00:09That's what the mountains are deities.
01:00:11They are non-living, but they are deities.
01:00:14So you have a spiritual connection to the living beings and moving beyond that way forward for development.
01:00:21Bringing together is the most powerful realization of even current pandemic.
01:00:29And I believe this is the only way we can be successful human beings living in this planet and continue to coexist with other species.
01:00:39And also without missing the biophysical environment, which are pretty much we are messing up with the polluting.
01:00:45I know you know about climate change, all of that, which is biophysical that we messed it up.
01:00:49And we have the biggest responsibility to repair or rebuild our broken relationship with nature.
01:00:56And that can be done much more strongly.
01:00:58The spiritual realization of the traditions that we stand today.
01:01:03Well, gentlemen, I wish we could talk for another hour.
01:01:06This is so interesting and so rich.
01:01:08Thank you both very much.
01:01:10And I'll end with a funny note that when we were preparing, Gana shared with me.
01:01:14He said, you know, it's interesting, Harvey, you've selected an herbivore and a carnivore for this.
01:01:18Leroy the blackfoot carnivore who likes to eat buffalo and Gana the Buddhist who's a vegetarian.
01:01:24So we have all aspects of the food chain here together.
01:01:28Thank you very much, Harvey.
01:01:32And pleasure meeting you.
01:02:35Equity has two dimensions.
01:02:38How we treat each other in the present is one.
01:02:43The future that young people and the unborn face is another.
01:02:48This is sometimes called intergenerational equity.
01:02:52Someone once said that the job of every generation of parents is to create a better future for their children.
01:02:59If that's our assignment, people my age have to admit that we get a failing grade when it comes to the condition of the world today.
01:03:08Recognizing the seriousness of the present situation, young people are no longer satisfied with having their concerns heard by wise or older generations.
01:03:18While this generation has not been wise in our relationship with nature, young people quite reasonably are demanding a seat at the decision-making table to shape their own destinies in accordance with their values.
01:03:33Melina Sakayama facilitates a dialogue between an experienced elder from India and an engaged young person from North America.
01:03:47I'm delighted to be here today with Alyssa Salons from the IUCN WCPA Beyond the Age Targets Task Force.
01:03:56She's assistant to the chair and she has been also working with environmental education and has been joining several different programs in Canada.
01:04:06So thank you so much for being here, Alyssa.
01:04:09Mr. Bitu Sagal, founder of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation and Kids for Tigers.
01:04:16So he's also been working, I don't know for how many years, with young people and tigers and working for tigers conservation in India.
01:04:26So thank you so much for being here today and it's a pleasure to start this conversation.
01:04:32Why do you think it's important for young people to be part of this process and how they can speak out with regards to this nature climate crisis?
01:04:45Well, I can go first. Melina, I think you summed it up really well.
01:04:49Our planet is on a downward trajectory as it stands right now and that's going to completely change the way that we live.
01:04:56And so, yeah, when you think about the fact that youth under the age of 35 make up about 50 percent of the global population,
01:05:04it makes sense as to why we need to be included in turning that trajectory around.
01:05:10And that's not just because we have a vested interest in the future and the solutions to these environmental problems,
01:05:17but it's because we have this very large collective voice.
01:05:21I know that I've helped facilitate at international environmental conferences for youth through the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
01:05:29And you would just be amazed to see the frontline understanding that youth have about the biodiversity and climate crises.
01:05:38It's just something that is outstanding. And we also have a very strong relationship with place.
01:05:44And I think that makes us excellent advocates for the natural world.
01:05:48You know, we have real ideas and we have real voices.
01:05:52And I think if those can be heard, but also listened to at a local, a national and an international level,
01:05:59we would start to see pretty immediate change towards creating a equitable, carbon neutral and nature positive future.
01:06:09Thank you so much, Alisa. Bitu, would you like to share some thoughts on that as well?
01:06:16Well, I'd like to first say thank you to Alisa for everything she said.
01:06:22And the second thing, perhaps more forcefully, I'd like to apologize for the bad behavior of my generation because they should know better.
01:06:31In fact, they do know better. They just don't want to do the right thing.
01:06:36Most of the people, at least the guys in the driver's seat. So let me put it to you like this.
01:06:40We work, Alisa, with young people like you. And people often ask me that, you know,
01:06:47you cannot put the burden of saving this whole world on young people.
01:06:52They never caused the problem. But you may not have caused the problem, but it's going to be your disaster.
01:06:57So I put it to you like this. For you, Alisa, what I am trying to do is to prevent my generation from colonizing yours.
01:07:07And to your generation, the message that goes out from people like me is to say that, look, all is not lost.
01:07:15Not just because we've got to throw seeds of hope all around. Nature is self-repairing.
01:07:20Nature can fix itself. Not just that. But nature is such a wonderful giving thing.
01:07:27But it can be a very tough taskmaster. And my generation is being sent messages after messages after messages.
01:07:35And we will not be able to do the kind of damage that we are doing today.
01:07:39So you please take it. Take it from me. Take it from a guy who's worked for 40 years that you will win.
01:07:47And you won't necessarily win because all of us, the older guys, suddenly love our children.
01:07:54It may not be because of that. It may just be because the hands are tied.
01:07:57Nature won't let us do the wrong thing. And it'll fix itself and hurry up and grow up and take charge.
01:08:04I'm looking forward to you taking charge. That's what I'd like to say at this moment in time.
01:08:09I'm sure there are many other things to say. But nature will fix itself, Alisa.
01:08:14You're on the winning side.
01:08:17I think Alisa said something really important, that it's not only up to us to speak out.
01:08:23Because I think many of the younger generation, many youth groups are speaking out.
01:08:29But it's a matter of also to be listened to.
01:08:32And I think this is sort of becoming crucial, like how we can be listened to.
01:08:38How young people can make their messages across.
01:08:41How can we reach the older generation and the decision makers and so on.
01:08:47Let me put it like this, that what we advocate and what we know works is that even Alisa,
01:08:55Alisa, you're a little too old, you know, right now.
01:08:58We start with the 10-year-olds, with the 8-year-olds, with the 12-year-olds.
01:09:03And it's not what we tell them. It's what we do, what they see us doing.
01:09:08Children, don't do what you tell them to do. They do what you do.
01:09:12So the best thing that I can do right now is to tell my generation to behave itself and set a good example.
01:09:18But beyond that, beyond that, I have no right to burden you with the psychological trauma of the world is coming to an end.
01:09:28Even if we do have problems. And I'm also sworn to tell you the truth.
01:09:33I can't say, la, la, la, la, la, everything is fine. Don't worry.
01:09:36When I know for a fact that there is a problem.
01:09:39So I would say to you again, that whether it's in India, whether it's in New York, whether it's in Taiwan,
01:09:46whether it's in Pakistan, wherever it is, the elders have got to understand
01:09:52that they have to behave in a way that we have better behaved children than we were when we were kids.
01:10:02I would sum it up in a single sentence.
01:10:05I'd say I don't just want to leave a better planet for our children.
01:10:09I want to leave better children for our planet.
01:10:12And if we if we manage to do that, please believe me, nature will do the rest.
01:10:16We don't have to go around planting trees. We're not very good at that.
01:10:19You know, the bees, the butterflies, the wind, the water.
01:10:24I mean, nature is so damn beautiful.
01:10:28You know, you don't have to do much. You just have to stop doing the damage.
01:10:33That's so well said. And I think I just add to that, too, that in order to be heard as a young person,
01:10:40I think it goes both ways. On the one hand, like Bitu is saying,
01:10:45we need the older generation that is going to support us and listen to us and invite us to be part of the decision making processes.
01:10:54But we also need the younger generations to reach out to the older generations and say, can you support us?
01:11:01Can you come to our table and be part of our grassroots initiatives?
01:11:07And of course, that needs to be done equitably. But I think through that ongoing and meaningful dialogue, we'll be able to see some real change.
01:11:18I couldn't agree more. I put it to you like this, Alisa, you and your generation, you have the legitimacy to demand.
01:11:28You don't have to ask us politely demand that you have a world that is functional.
01:11:34And all these various things that are done, I'll build you a 10 lane highway. I will build you a 50 story hotel.
01:11:41I will do this. What are these things? These infrastructures are merely obliterating the infrastructures upon which the same infrastructures are built.
01:11:49So, again, single line messages. The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.
01:11:58You don't kill the mothership and expect to survive in the middle of the ocean on a small little rocking lifeboat.
01:12:04Thank you so much, both Bitu and Alisa for your remarks.
01:12:08It's really interesting to see both perspectives and how they complement each other.
01:12:14And now I would like to turn more focus into the actual political moment that we are in.
01:12:21Because there is a lot of work and effort towards building up and developing a global biodiversity framework and to set up a global deal for nature and people.
01:12:34And in this context, how do you see this equity between generations?
01:12:39So how can we ensure that intergenerational equity as a principle is going to be reflected in this political framework, in all these political decisions?
01:12:49They are going to decide how society as a whole is going to be taking up this big task of conserving biodiversity, addressing the climate change crisis and so on.
01:13:04So what would be your perspective on this?
01:13:08I have several thoughts on that question because it is such a big question.
01:13:12My first thought is, well, what is intergenerational equity?
01:13:16And to me, that means having everyone at the decision-making table.
01:13:19And so that's not just people across generations.
01:13:22That's people from different parts of the world with different lived experiences, with different abilities.
01:13:28We need to have Indigenous knowledge and the knowledge of people of colour and women.
01:13:32And that in itself is just skimming the surface.
01:13:36I've been to so many environmental rallies and marches.
01:13:40And the ones that I feel the most heard at are the ones where there's people of all ages and all walks of life there.
01:13:48And I think the reason for that is because you have so much knowledge and passion in one place.
01:13:53And as a result, you have this big collective voice.
01:13:57And through this strong collective voice, I think we're going to be able to drive forward the global goal for nature.
01:14:04Because when we think about this political process, it's confusing for youth.
01:14:09It's, you know, especially Bitu, you're talking about we have to involve the young 10-year-old and we do.
01:14:15But at such a high level, it's so confusing.
01:14:17So how can we break it down?
01:14:19And I think the nature-positive target is a really actionable idea that can engage youth in these ideas and make sure that the youth voice is heard.
01:14:31Because to me, nature-positive, this idea of being nature-positive by 2030, it does a couple things.
01:14:38It instills a sense of urgency.
01:14:40It promotes action on the ground.
01:14:42And it also gives us hope.
01:14:44And these are three concepts that youth understand really, really well.
01:14:48In terms of urgency, we know that one million species are on the brink of extinction unless we do something right now.
01:14:57And so that reminds us that there's a deadline here.
01:15:01And nature-positive is also very action-oriented because it sets targets and deadlines.
01:15:07And we've seen youth already rally around the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius and limiting warming to that when we have and continue to have the global climate strikes.
01:15:18And so youth understand targets.
01:15:21And as a result, I think with the nature-positive target, we're going to be able to have that kind of action that we saw in the climate community translate over to biodiversity action too.
01:15:32And then, of course, there's hope.
01:15:34And nature-positive puts a very positive spin on this daunting and overwhelming and terrifying issue of ecosystem and biodiversity collapse.
01:15:45Because it gives us a solution.
01:15:47And that's what we need.
01:15:48And so I think that having a framework that youth can be involved in and youth will understand is so key.
01:15:55Because we'll be able to get more ideas and more voices that span generations at the table.
01:16:03And, you know, it lays a groundwork for how we're going to go about engaging with and protecting the natural world.
01:16:10It's like this, that in terms of what responsibilities one has, the fact is we've been dealt a hand of cards right now.
01:16:19The people who are in the driver's seat have fixed ideas about what they want to do for their children.
01:16:26And they don't quite understand that, A, they didn't manufacture the ecosystems around us.
01:16:32B, if they were chasing money, then we've lost between $20 and $30 trillion with one tiny little virus.
01:16:39COVID-19 has cost that much to the global economy right now.
01:16:43And more is there to be flushed down the toilet.
01:16:46So it makes good economic sense.
01:16:49And I think one of the things that people like me have to do and people like you have to remind people like my generation to do is to say that it's not just penny wise and pound foolish.
01:17:00What you're doing is basically you're unlocking your bank deposits and you're asking that nobody should come in and take them away.
01:17:10We have to protect the germplasm that exists.
01:17:13We have to understand that it's not possible any longer for economists, bankers, developers, politicians, bureaucrats to go around saying we're going to do this and we'll do this in 2040 and we'll do this in 2050.
01:17:27We run a program, as I said, for young people.
01:17:30And at one of these programs, Alisa, one of the young girls, 16 years old, got up when there was a whole panel of ministers and things speaking at the high table.
01:17:39And they said, by 2050, we'll do this.
01:17:41And 2060, we'll do this.
01:17:43And 2040, this was some time ago.
01:17:45So this girl just got up and said, excuse me, sir, I don't want to be rude, but how old will you be in 2050?
01:17:54And I can tell you that the room there was pin drop silence.
01:17:57Look, use your legitimacy.
01:18:01Use emotion.
01:18:03Don't be afraid of using emotion.
01:18:05Don't think that you have to be scientific all the time.
01:18:07If you love something, you'll protect it.
01:18:09And we do love our children.
01:18:11I'd just say to that point that it's great advice to ask youth and encourage youth to use their emotion because it is an emotional issue.
01:18:20The biodiversity and climate crises, they're so intertwined.
01:18:23And they're not always talked about in that way.
01:18:26And so I think to be able to use emotion is such an important tool to have in our back pocket.
01:18:35A wise friend of mine always said, like, decisions are not taken by reason, unfortunately, or fortunately, we don't know.
01:18:43And they are taken by emotions.
01:18:45And I think it's time for us to bring our feelings and emotions into these conversations.
01:18:50Things like just reasoning is not like bringing in the results that we need.
01:18:56So thank you so much for this.
01:18:58We can create an equitable world that is nature positive and carbon neutral.
01:19:04We can be fair to each other and to the rest of life.
01:19:09A hopeful future is within our grasp.
01:19:12It's up to us.
01:19:16We can bring together global goals for the climate, equity, and nature.
01:19:20To weave a strong rope that we can use to swing across the gap between where we are now in our relationship with our beautiful planet and where we need to go.
01:19:30We can rise to the challenge of our times with hope and optimism.
01:19:35Knowing that we can create a bright and hopeful future for each other and for all life on earth.
01:19:42Together, we can create an equitable, nature positive, and carbon neutral world.
01:19:52Thanks for joining us on EarthX TV.
01:20:02Earth is a beautiful, wonderful place for us.
01:20:05In fact, I'd love to see something in nature that you're grateful for.
01:20:10I've seen lots of people in nature, to be honest, and I understand why it's so important to get outside.
01:20:16To breathe, to open your window, to get out in your garden, to feel the sunlight, to feel the wind, to touch the water.
01:20:21It is that connection that humans have with nature that is so important.
01:20:27The trees we plant now will be our grandchildren's shade.
01:20:31We're leaving them the world we made.
01:20:33Taking time to allow our bodies to truly, physically connect with the earth.
01:20:38Looking forward to holding hands together and continuing this movement where science, civil society, business, policy, and citizens across the world
01:20:49increasingly rise to the challenge that we're facing to leave a better planet behind for the next generation.
01:20:58Young people are really the only ones who have ever truly changed the world.
01:21:02I think we can all rebuild a better world.
01:21:05So few places I go in the world do you ever see a place where the rivers are just pouring down and you can see straight through.
01:21:12What better way to express our gratitude than to take care of each other and to take care of this planet that we're on.
01:21:21Thank you so much.