Climate Action Figures
A safe place for youth to share steps they are taking to mitigate climate change.
Climate Action Figures
Season 2, Episode 11: Amara
This episode features Amara discussing her virtual participation in COP29, her climate advocacy work, and the importance of climate education and resilience.
00:00 Introduction to Climate Action Figures Podcast
00:34 Meet Amara: A Young Climate Advocate
00:46 QuickFix: Sustainable Travel Tips
01:19 Amara's Background and Education
02:34 Virtual Participation in COP29
03:38 Key Issues Addressed at COP29
05:36 Challenges and Hopes for Climate Action
10:24 Amara's Personal Motivation and Advocacy
11:49 Involvement with YOUNGO and Other Groups
13:04 Preserve Our Roots: Connecting Culture and Climate Action
18:59 Balancing School and Activism
20:47 Final Thoughts and Hope for the Future
22:07 Conclusion and Call to Action
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https://unfccc.int/topics/action-for-climate-empowerment-children-and-youth/youth/youngo
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Otutoma e hihiyoma ona kachifu. Welcome to the Climate Action Figures podcast. My name is Amara Uneli and I am so happy to be a guest here today.
John:hello and welcome to this week's edition of Climate Action Figures. My name, as always, is John Whidden, and this week on the show, we are continuing our series featuring young guests who were involved in some way with COP29. Today, you get to meet Amara, who was involved in COP29 virtually, and she will tell us all about that. But first, this week's QuickFix, which comes from two of our guests last season, Sophia and her grandmother, Bertha, from Quebec. And they made a list of QuickFixes together and shared this with us about travel: we walk or cycle if possible. We use the smallest vehicle we can. We organize errands to make one trip, we travel together when possible, and we turn off the engine when parked. So thank you very much to you, Bertha and Sophia, for sharing those, and welcome Amara!
Amara:Hello everyone. That QuickFix was quite interesting, especially because we started doing that a long time ago in Lagos after fuel became a very scarce, commodity, but it has been great, not only just saving our time, but also communicating and connecting with others under that shared goal of sustainability. Excited to be here. Excited to see what we talk about today.
John:Well, that's wonderful to have you here. Lagos in Nigeria, correct? And you are a student there, is that right? It looks like you're in a classroom in the background.
Amara:Yeah, I'm dialing in from my school.
John:do you want to just tell us about that, what kind of school it is, and what kind of education you're taking?
Amara:I'm right now in the IB program at Green Springs School. It's a two year program right, filling in with the American Curriculum, but I study a lot of things surrounding my interests, which relates to public policy, international development, and of course, climate advocacy and environmental science, figuring out how we can, you know, heal the world and make it a better place, but just help out wherever we can.
John:Lofty goals to be sure. And now you're in your final year of high school. Is that right?
Amara:Yes, I'm a senior in high school in the American system, but I'm in my last year in IB.
John:Now, Amara, you were in on drafting policy, and so you attended COP 29 in Baku virtually because of your school commitments there. Do you want to tell us a bit about that involvement?
Amara:well, although I had anticipated going there physically, Just circumstances arrived. I wasn't able to go, but despite that, I was able to really support all my different colleagues and our membership cohorts on ground. I'm a part of a few fellowships and just groups like the YOUNGO and the Shoka groups that were really active during COP29. So, we all worked together to draft our global youth statement and really worked a lot on what we, the youth, wanted to advocate for and really push forward at this edition of COP. So that was a great experience, not only beforehand, but during with all the different virtual events and different campaigns that went on. And also now, post COP, we're still figuring out and getting our bearings after the conference to see how we can really push for whatever happened to still continue striving for our goals. So, yeah, I was, I was pretty active even though I was here in Lagos.
John:We'll get to some of those specific groups in just a moment, but before we do, in your mind, what was the most important thing for COP 29 to address?
Amara:Honestly to me, I do understand that people have different priorities, especially when you pertain like where you're coming from your, like, nation's current climate, like, crises and all of that, but I do definitely think a really important key is climate education and climate, resilience, like, how to build back after any climate disaster that happens all over the world now, not just in Lagos with our floods, what we're seeing happen in the U. S., and the Virgin Islands and just all over the world. So just that support for local communities to really resist and also rebuild to ensure that they are climate resilient if things do come. And then that component of climate education, ensuring that we are, you know, building the next generation of climate advocates who create those solutions that we need so that cycle can continue.
John:And do you feel that some of those were successfully addressed at COP29?
Amara:There were pledges made which was a success if you look at it from an optimistic point of view. Pessimistic point of view might say otherwise, especially knowing that what is said does not always translate to what is done, especially with different bureaucracies and Passing down to government level, state level, local level, like the effects or impacts can feel a bit watered down. But I, I do know that we have a lot of youthful energy, so hopefully we can keep on pushing for and like really holding them accountable to what they have said they were going to do. So we're just equipping ourselves, but no, I don't think that everything that we could have achieved was achieved, especially looking at things like COVID 19, where after the pandemic hit, All countries banded together and ensured that this virus was controlled and taken down. And if we really put that same energy, that same zeal into really fighting for climate change, we wouldn't have seen what happened at COP 29.
John:So Amara, do you think COP 29 is going to change things in the world or do we need some other kind of vehicle? To be the main way to address climate change.
Amara:I think there are both benefits and the limitations. The benefits is that it puts people in a space where they are forced to not only participate, attend to get there, but there's like that week or two weeks where they're head-down on, okay, climate change is the priority to fix. It's the main issue at hand. So just being there as a country, as a private organizations, as youth NGOs is an important step in just like ensuring that people care about it. But then all these things can almost become talk shows that people come, they take pictures, they post on Instagram, which is okay now that knowing social media is a big push of information and advocacy, but I think it's really getting to that point where it's, I don't want to say propaganda, but it's, it's really just a habit, habitual, and it's not something that people You need to be scared. You need to figure out that it's not just attending. It's, it's, it's life or death, you know? So just figuring out how we can ensure that what we are actually doing translates to action and how we measure that.
John:And if you We're in charge how would you design something? What's your perfect idea about how we could meet and discuss climate change? What would be different about that?
Amara:That's actually a very good question. Thinking right off the top of my head I'm just looking at all the different China during the Mao Zedong leadership, how there were a lot of just state local run, like cohorts. And getting everyone discussing, not just, you know, the higher, upper classes, but everyone that almost like roots to like ground to forefront. So I would really like, I mean, honing on the access we have right now to technology, to getting everyone out, to almost mandating it, like everyone needs to have a passport. Everyone needs to to be part of this country, you need to have taken a climate course you need that's like almost you know with a vaccine with all those things another requirement is to get that climate education course another requirement maybe is to just like attend those meetings have those pledges almost like a utopia where everyone is coming together to fight this thing. Even if you do not strongly believe in it or you don't want to study environmental science or international development in school, it's still something that is required. That is what I would do as a leader in this world. And hopefully it will come to pass someday.
John:Maybe we can look forward to that. Hey, You mentioned whether people believe it really or not. What's the general feeling in Nigeria about climate change? And maybe you could comment from an adult perspective and from a youth perspective. And is there a big difference?
Amara:I would definitely say that, I mean, first of all, a huge difference with different intergenerational Collaboration now though, there is that growing understanding that climate change does exist. A year ago, two years ago, I would not be saying this, but I feel like not only has the media really put it at the forefront, so wherever in the world you are, we are a connected world, but there is that sense of, you know almost belittling of the issue, knowing that there is so much going on socially, politically in our nation. A lot of people are struggling to even make ends meet. So when I talk about climate change in classes or when I'm on my youth advocacy projects, what are on people's minds, especially when talking to the youth who are from disadvantaged communities are: how am I going to get my next meal? How are my parents going to survive? Or even for the adults, they're thinking: how can I stay afloat? How can I feed my family? Lots of them want to leave the country. So it's not really a priority. And I do know that there is that very scary change, shift in mindset where it's that I'm serving myself now. Like I need to ensure that I can live now. Why am I thinking about a hundred years from now, what is going to happen? And even like all over the world, even in the Western world, with a lot of changing mindsets is that thing of like now. So I think that there is that sense of There was an urgency and there is an urgency when you first hand experience climate change and are aware of it, but there is still that lack of climate education. So the people who really experience the worst: the farmers, the fishermen, everyone who lives in the East or in like, Areas that depend on agriculture. They don't know that it is really climate change. They just know it's bad weather. So there's those two components of a lack of climate, education and lack of prioritization, which is both sad, but I understand where they're coming from. cause I know that I have a privilege of good education, so I can talk about climate change and want to solve it, but people don't even have the chance to start thinking about something that doesn't affect them. Now, you know, they, they need to eat.
John:You're clearly very motivated in this regard. What inspired you to become so involved with this movement?
Amara:the motivation has definitely grown over time. in the beginning. My home was flooded like when I was I think 12, 13 and we had to move out and it was during quarantine and I was very frustrated and I didn't understand what was going on and I felt like almost vulnerable. I didn't know that it was climate change, I didn't really care about it. But then I started hearing a lot. So my parents were in, are still in the agriculture industry. And so all the smallholder farmers that they were working with, they were talking about loss of yield, loss of profit. And I could see the wear that it was having on them. And just knowing that it does not only affect how pretty the world is, like, with no forests, because in Lagos If you look back 40 years ago, we were a full lush green forest. We have amazing biodiverse land really great weather conditions, but now it's a city. I grew up in a concrete jungle and I didn't really have access to spaces, but then when I traveled abroad, I would see the stark difference. I love nature. So those three components just came together. My wants for more in nature and then my parents, just like the effect that it had on my family in both like, Emotional and like tangible ways. And then I just, you know, tried to be proactive and just started doing my thing. And here I am today.
John:Now, as you've become more involved, there are several groups you are connected with now. One is YOUNGO you've mentioned that's kind of a connection between you and our previous two guests. Do you want to just tell us a little bit about YOUNGO?
Amara:it's, it's a, it's a community, like a global network of just activists and really impassioned youth who want to just influence and advocate for the international, like, climate change policies that they believe will benefit them in their future. We're all together working to shape the future we want to see. It's, it's a great community. So some cohorts meet every week, so it's really subdivided into different cohorts, different communities. And I'm a contact point for the YOUNGO Arts, Culture and Heritage Working Group. But I've been part of different ones like Sustainable Cities and the Climate Education Coalition, which have been great communities that I've worked in when I was attending COP 27 and COP 28, and even currently now, you know, just sharing information and. Advice and Mentorship. It's a great network to be part of, and it really just reinforces my, love for this work that I'm currently doing.
John:Well, that's great, and we'll put links to each of these organizations, so if our listeners and viewers want to learn more about these, you'll find those in the show notes. You are the founder of Preserve Our Roots, a youth led organization that's focused on environmental education and climate action. How do the concepts of environmental education and climate action connect with that name Preserve Our Roots? What are the roots and the connection there?
Amara:We were actually initially called Fight Global Warming Nigeria. I think that was the first year where I was just posting on Instagram, making videos, trying to write blogs, because I'm a creative at heart, so I was just trying to push out that message. But I think one thing that really struck me was that my grandfather, who's an Igwe in one of our villages, started talking to me about climate change and asking me to tell him about it. He had seen some videos my dad had sent to him and he was like, I want to learn more about this. And I actually helped him later on draft some policies that were passed in his villages to help with the climate resilience in the Anya Millium local community. And I realized how it was that intergenerational collaboration that really just powered climate action. advocacy and that shift towards sustainable, like a green earth, because we've only been in the world and existing for like a short span of time compared to how long this amazing blue earth that has existed. And so it's just like our roots are deeper than what we know or what is in history books. It gives a sense of responsibility, and I mean my roots are really important to me my heritage, my ancestors, so that type of thing of like, what you're doing is not just for now or for your future, it's also like, respecting your past, and you know, honoring, preserving, preserve our roots and that can come in different facilities, so You don't need to want to learn environmental science in school to really use your voice or your talent or your basketball skills to really advocate for climate change. So it calls for youth everywhere in Nigeria, West Africa, and even the world to use their talents that they currently have, their roots, to really just advocate for climate change in any way that they can.
John:When we were talking before the podcast, you mentioned that your cultural roots are Igbo. And I wonder what connections you've found between caring for the earth, mitigating climate change and that Igbo culture.
Amara:I mean, that's a very interesting question. Also understanding that, I mean, Lagos, where I live is just a melting pot of all the different ethnic groups and cultures. And I think one thing that not only like connects my advocacy work, to my roots and my culture, but connects all the different ethnic groups in Nigeria is that that fact of sacredness and respect and honor that I was talking about before, to 90 percent of our population are really just employed by that agrarian society, that sector. But another important thing is the fact that it has really been passed down from generation to generation. So even now, although I am not planning on studying agriculture, it is something that I'm aware of that has benefited my nation and my people. And especially knowing that we have all these different festivals and rituals and just sacred practices that center around that earth Culture. One of my favorites is the New Yam Festival. And then just hearing all the different stories and the different, like, fables of how important it was, it just makes me see it in a different light, where it's not just, you know, where you're living right now, but it's that sort of, like, deeper connection that will make you more tied, more just feeling responsible for the work that you're doing. It gives me a sense of responsibility just past the climate advocacy work, because a lot of things that we do now as a society is disconnect ourselves from the climate crisis. I mean, we see it on TV, on the news, we post about it, or we build our skyscrapers higher, raise our foundations so it doesn't get flooded. We can do all the things, use our technology to act like it does not exist. But if you know that there's something deeper, you know, your roots, something pulling you to that really responsibility, like you would care for your family, you would care for also the heritage that they brought up. And anytime I talk to my father about his experiences in Lagos before it was built into this concrete jungle, it makes me wish like I was born in the wrong generation. But I can really just, you know, rebuild this nation. I know one thing that Preserve Our Roots and I am really working on is our first sustainable public park in Lagos. So hopefully that will be able to start, you know, creating the future we want to see. That's something that really pulls me is that, like, I need to preserve what my ancestors really built their lives on.
John:Congratulations on the first park. That's fantastic. Now, this ties right in with your deep engagement with Nature Fellowship, and I don't know much about that. Perhaps you could just share a little bit about that organization.
Amara:So it's a, it's called the Nature Fellowship Program and it was really just built to support the development of like leadership among youth who are really just impassioned about environmental activism, helping them, providing that platform for us to advocate for our rights and get our voices heard. So it really just started this year and it's actually a two year fellowship program in partnership with the Alana Organization and Ashoka. So it's great, they helped us participate really actively in COP and then there's some future ones that you can stay tuned for in the Belém Conference, the COP30, and just different events, really just having our youth statement, our youth voice out. And it's a really small cohort of just, I think, four to five other young advocates and activists but there are really amazing, amazing people who have done such great work with organizations from the United Nations to different governments all around the world. They've been cohorts, they've been youth for like the entire Gen Z, Gen Alpha population. So they're great. And it's a great space to be in. We just started the past few months, but so far I've learned a lot and been able to get our voices heard.
John:Wow. You are involved in so many organizations. How do you have time for school?
Amara:I would say that school isn't my, so I, I love learning. But I love the School of Life more. There's this one quote, I read this book called Weapons of Mass Instruction. My godmother recommended it to me, but I never want to let my education get in the way of my learning. I just finished exams, so I have to learn how to prioritize, especially going to senior year, college applications. It's all a lot, but I think this is always something that comes really naturally to me because I'm passionate about it and I've really found a way that I'm able to use my voice. Like, I love speaking. I love writing. I love films. So just doing something that, it doesn't have to be forced. And, I don't know, it's fun. Like, these conversations are very fun. So, I don't know, that's, that's how I balance it.
John:You've shared a lot of amazing things that you're doing. Now you've chosen one particular climate action. What is that action?
Amara:I would say, okay, so I said my climate action, is speaking up. And I think that that for me happens anywhere, in class, If I'm seeing my brother throw away a plastic bottle on the side of a road, and sometimes even on protests, if I want to just go out with my friends and just, you know, speak up about a certain thing that happened, a certain policy that was passed, just showing up, being there, showing that, oh, someone, when people think that it doesn't actually matter, we're there actually reminding them that this policy, these climate events, actually affect people. So I think that's my little climate action showing up, being there, speaking up.
John:For those who are listening to the podcast and not seeing you, I will just tell our. Listeners that you have this vibrancy and this enthusiasm that is amazing. What gives you this hope for the future?
Amara:I think the people that give me the most hope the young people or anyone in general, who, regardless of their circumstance, still shows up and still puts in the work that is required to make sure that this happens. I've seen people in the worst living conditions having the toughest times, but they still have that, like, optimism to show up and do their thing regardless. If you see how there's so much innovation in our, in, in human nature, and I've seen people who are selling on the road or market women or fishermen just different community, even young kids who sell food on the road, the way that they use what they are given; resources that they have to create, something that is worth as much as gold and if we put, on that creativity, that we have that sets us apart from any other species and know that we would be able to use that innovation, to just do something amazing. so I'm just so hopeful for, for what is to come and just for the, the people who are pulling themselves out of the hard situations to, to fight for something else, fight for a future for everyone. And I don't know, they gave me a lot of hope.
John:Your hope and your enthusiasm is contagious, which leads me to believe that you are going to be a leader in the future. I will look forward to hearing about what you do in Nigeria, and thank you so much for taking time to join us today, Amara.
Amara:Thank you for having me. It's just been a pleasure.
John:And thank you, dear listener. If you are intrigued by what you heard today, take a second to think about who else in your life would like to hear Amara's story, and please share this episode with them. Heck, share the whole podcast with them. It makes a great Christmas gift. These are young people whose voices should be heard, and we are going to take a break for a few weeks, but we'll be back with more of those voices later in January to talk with another climate action figure who was involved in COP 29. Until then,
Amara:QuickFix. Wrong word. Go figures! Go figures.