Climate Action Figures

Season 2, Episode 15: Iman

• John Whidden

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In this episode of Climate Action Figures, John talks with Iman about her experiences and perspectives on climate challenges in Turkey and Canada. Iman shares her journey into climate action, her work in clean energy banking, and the importance of climate justice and advocacy.

00:00 Introduction and Greetings

00:42 QuickFix: Power Down Tips

01:21 Iman's Perspective on Energy and Climate

02:16 Comparing Climate Challenges: Turkey vs. Canada

04:42 Iman's Environmental Journey

07:25 Clean Energy Banking in Istanbul

10:32 Climate Justice and Education Initiatives

13:03 COP 29 Reflections and Bureaucratic Challenges

17:13 Call to Action and Personal Climate Tips

18:33 Final Thoughts and Hope for the Future

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Iman:

Hello, everyone. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you're tuning in from. My name is Iman Berri, and I am calling in today from Istanbul, Turkey, and you are listening to Climate Action Figures. Welcome.

John:

Hello and welcome to another exciting edition of Climate Action Figures. My name is John Whidden, and this week on the show you get to meet Iman who will share her youthful perspective from the city where East Meets West. For this week's QuickFix, we are going to dip back into the fun box of I Love My Planet cards that Twila so kindly sent us. And this week we have Power Down. It says, Did you know? Switching off the lights helps the environment. It can also help make your light bulbs last longer. Turn off your television, game consoles, anything like that can save electricity. So thanks, Twila, for that, and welcome, Iman.

Iman:

Hi John, thank you so much for having me.

John:

And what do you think about that, QuickFix?

Iman:

I think it's super interesting and I think it's something that we all should remember. So right now I'm actually working in clean energy at a development bank in Istanbul, Turkey. So working in energy, seeing the other side of things really has helped me appreciate how much work and I guess how much money and how much infrastructure goes into actually producing energy. I've gained a whole new appreciation for closing my lights and when my lights are open, having that electricity.

John:

you know what I noticed, Iman, is when I visit friends and family, often the new smart TVs, smart TVs, are on all the time. Like it's got some beautiful scene, but it's on 24 hours a day sometimes. So, you know, I think we need to think about those things. Like, do we really need to have a beautiful beach on our wall all the time?

Iman:

You know what? I totally agree. And it's like, oh, I leave the lights open sometimes at night because I live alone and I'm scared of the dark, I guess. But do I really need to do that? I don't think so.

John:

Iman, you are uniquely positioned in Istanbul for one thing, which is this fabled city where Eastern world meets Western world, but also by the fact that you are Canadian and you're working in Istanbul in Turkey, so does all of that come with a distinct perspective on the climate issues we face today?

Iman:

Yeah, absolutely. I think one thing that living in Istanbul, living in Turkey, in a completely different area of the world has helped me appreciate is The difference that you have growing up in the Global North there are a whole new set of challenges that you face when you grow up in a place like North America or in a Western country, as opposed to a country like Turkey. the whole set of daily challenges that you face is completely different. And then, To add on to that, the climate challenges that you face are also completely different. Um, and that's something that I can touch on if you'd like as well.

John:

Sure, that would be great and maybe you could comment on the differences you see between Turkey and Canada.

Iman:

one of the main differences is the general sentiment around climate change. And one thing that I'll say here is that the general sentiment of the people, People who are living in Canada and the people that are living in Turkey is quite similar. I think oftentimes the issue of climate change gets overshadowed by some of the other worries that people are going through on a daily basis. So, in Canada, there's a big issue with affordability right now. I'm from Ontario, and there's a big issue with grocery prices, for example. In Istanbul, there's a huge inflation crisis that is going on right now, and people are facing the same everyday struggles of affordability. But if we think about this on a deeper level, climate change is intersecting a lot of these affordability issues that we are facing. For example, utilities are becoming far more expensive for people living in Canada, but also people living in Turkey. But, one of the reasons that Electricity prices or utility prices are becoming so high is because of houses not having, proper installation, so your heat keeps on running and it's costing you more money. These are challenges that I think that the people in Canada and the people in Turkey are facing. But, again, when you are facing so many other hard hitting concerns as a country, it's really difficult to care about things like climate change, even though it is prevalent and top of mind, and maybe some of the things that are causing these other concerns as well.

John:

Iman, have you always been interested in the environment and climate? what brought you into this world?

Iman:

So, John, what really brought me into the world of environmental thinking was I am of Pakistani background. My parents immigrated from Pakistan to Canada, where I was born, but I've been back to Pakistan many, many times in my life. And one thing that I very distinctly remember is that every single time I got off at the airport, in Karachi I had a really hard time breathing. So much so that I would try breathing into a paper bag or a plastic bag, something like that, to just help myself breathe better. But then I realized, this is not normal. And the other thing I realized is This is something that I experience only in the summers when I go to Pakistan, but for the people living in Karachi, the people living in South Asia, in those areas, this is an everyday occurrence for them. And then as I grew older, I started to Put the dots together. And I realized that this wasn't like an isolated incident where I just couldn't breathe when I went to Pakistan. This was happening for a reason. And that reason was climate change. And South Asia, Karachi, Pakistan, has one of the worst air qualities in the world. So, overall, I think that is something that has always stuck with me, and then as I grew older and I started to discover more of my Muslim faith, I realized that in my religion of Islam, it is a commandment that you must take care of the environment. There's this one specific hadith, which is like a teaching from the prophet, and it's that if everything, the world is ending, you should still plant a seed. I'm paraphrasing, but that is one commandment. So I realized why should I stand by when the people in Pakistan can't breathe? There's floods also happening in Pakistan, but also communities all over the world are suffering in this intense and horrible manner. And it's not only my responsibility as a Muslim, but it's also my responsibility as a person, as a bystander, to take action on this and to just not stand by. While people around the world are suffering and I might be in a little bit more of a privileged position being from North America where I'm not experiencing that on a daily basis and I only have to experience bad air quality when I go to go visit my family. I don't think that's right and I wanted to take action on that and that's why I have been involved in climate action.

John:

So you were engaged quite young in environmentalism, let's say, and then you ended up in Istanbul. Connect those two things for us.

Iman:

working in the environmental space over the past 5-6 years and working in the civil space For the past 10 ish years I've learned a lot and I realized that this work is extremely important, but since I studied business and political science in my undergrad, I wanted to maybe use some of the technical skills that I've learned in my, like, university degree and apply it to my career. So I decided to pursue a career in banking specifically clean energy banking at a development bank. And right now I'm working in Istanbul financing clean energy projects in Istanbul and also in other developing countries all over the world. And that's sort of how I ended up in Istanbul is because I wanted to, you know, Have a little bit more impact within my career rather than choosing a different industry where I would just be working in the private sector, which is what I had originally planned to do.

John:

Now let me ask you, Iman, I know there will be an audience member out there thinking banking and the environment, those two things don't usually go together. I'm sure you've thought lots about that.

Iman:

Absolutely. So when, when I think banking in the environment, trust me it scares me just as much as it scares the rest of us, because, you know, banking, the private sector, you don't necessarily think that it could have a good environmental impact. You usually just think it's going to be something very negative, but right now I'm working in a development bank, and there are a couple of development banks across the world. There's the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, right now I'm working at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and these development banks are focused on developing the developing nations that need infrastructure, need energy infrastructure, need like transportation infrastructure, things like that. So when I'm working in clean energy banking, what I'm doing is helping finance and I guess looking at all the financial aspects of helping local companies or helping governments within these developing countries build solar panels and build wind farms so that they're able to provide the constituents of their country clean energy and moving away from fossil fuels, moving away from coal powered energy. and moving towards renewable energy sources. And that's sort of what I have a chance to work on in Istanbul. I think that banking, the bad type of banking, totally still exists. But the work that I'm doing is a little bit different.

John:

So a development bank in particular might be less interested just in financial bottom line.

Iman:

most development banks nowadays are interested in financial bottom line, because as they say, at the end of the day, they still are a business, but they oftentimes have a mandate to, provide the green transition. I know that for EBRD, for example, the bank that I'm working at, they are Paris aligned in all the projects that they do. And I think that is the case for most development banks.

John:

And just to clarify, Paris aligned, meaning in alignment with the Paris Accord and the agreement there.

Iman:

Yes, absolutely.

John:

Now, your work, Iman, has been focused largely on climate justice. That seems like a huge field. What specific parts of that climate justice really bring out the passion in you?

Iman:

I think justice in general is something that I am very passionate about, and you know what, I think growing up in any area of the world, you see slight injustices, or you see injustices happening around you, and I think from a young age, I was very Attuned to all the injustices happening around me. And this could be small injustices as something is not fair within my class or some of the larger injustices that are happening across our world. Some of the injustices that are happening with the indigenous people in Canada with like women, for example. And I think I was very attuned to that. a couple of years ago, around five years ago now with a couple of people that I was working on a campaign for the 2019 Canadian federal election, we were helping get out the vote to Muslim communities in Canada because overall Muslim communities in Canada are underrepresented in the voting electorate in Canada specifically. So we were helping spread education about voting. We realized that while we were speaking to voters and like, campaigning, a lot of them had questions about environmental policy and what was happening in environmental policy in Canada. So, what we did was that we realized that we wanted to help Spread Education About Environmentalism and Sustainability to People and Muslim People, Minority Communities in Canada. So what we did is that we created two curriculums, one about Islam in the environment, and one about environmental justice in the environment. When I talk about environmental justice, I'm talking about Canada's history with Indigenous communities. So we developed these two curriculums, and we reached out to a bunch of schools all over. And we, what we did is that we had these curriculums taught in these classrooms from, middle school to high school. And these students that were taking part in the curriculum got to really engage and learn about the connections between all of these topics. And every single classroom we were in got a grant to go out into a nature space and connect with nature on a first hand basis, so they would be able to build that connection. Also all the curriculums that we have are action based, so students are able to take action. For example, one of the activities is a letter writing campaign, so writing a letter to your elected official, to your principal, to somebody in your community to help take environmental action.

John:

Well, that sounds wonderful. Now, this has led you to become involved with COP 29. You've been back from that for a while now. When you think back to COP 29, what's one thing you came away with that really stuck with you?

Iman:

at COP29 I'm part of a youth group called the YOUNGO, which is the The Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC and I engage in various capacities with YOUNGO to try to bring youth voices to those negotiations. So, one thing that I actively follow is the Just Transitions negotiation stream, which is focusing on bringing justice to the Paris Agreement. And while I was engaging, I was following the negotiations. I was trying to take notes trying to help our constituency come up with texts and proposals and working with the other constituencies that are part of the UNFCCC process to help bring our voices to the table. I realized one thing that they were incredibly slow. They were incredibly bureaucratic and they did not make as much progress as I had thought. So just to add a little bit of color to this, the first week we had contact groups are when all the parties are meeting and discussing the issues. The first week we had a couple of contact groups all at like 8, 9 pm at night. People were waiting the entire day to discuss these issues. And then the second week, we barely had any contact groups. And at the end, the Just Transition Negotiation Stream didn't yield any results at COP29. I think this is an issue that has really plagued, these negotiations and any progress that our governments make as well. Specifically in Canada, this is a very big issue that I can touch on as well. But just the, Unwillingness to take the action that needs to be made because of these external factors. just don't think that it's right. And I think that there needs to be a better solution for cross country collaboration because if we continue the way that we have where it's just going to be a win win win situation for the global north and a lose lose lose situation for the global south and the people who have the most power Continuing to call the shots. I don't think that's a sustainable way to create any climate action or any action at all, to be frank.

John:

Do you see a way, Iman, to break through that frustrating bureaucracy that you've experienced?

Iman:

One conversation that I had with a Canadian politician really, like, put this issue at the forefront for me, I was, doing some lobbying work, and I was talking about why Canada kept on building fossil fuel infrastructure. Why are we building Pipelines, especially in Indigenous Territory, why are we doing that? And I just kept on asking why, why, why, why, why? And after like half an hour of like going back and forth, this politician told me, she's like, you know what, Iman, if the Canadian voters wanted climate action, We would take climate action and I'm like, well, I think that's where you're wrong. The Canadian voters do want climate action, but the subtext of that conversation was that it's not necessarily popular to make the hard decisions. And you know what? I think that is something that needs to be realized. It's not popular to take the hard decisions. It's going to cost a lot of money, and it's going to be a burden. It's going to be difficult. We have to change economic systems. Like, it's going to be an overhaul. But the thing is, that's just something we need to do. And I think the sooner that countries realize this, that it just can't be business as usual. I think that's when we'll actually have some sort of action. And I think the first thing that we need to do is actually focus more on the negotiations while we are at COP instead of the media and publicity shows that happen at the pavilions. It's not a place to do business. It's a place for negotiations. And If our country spent the time and money and energy invested in the millions of dollars that they probably spend on the pavilions into training negotiators or putting that money towards climate action, I think we'd have way better results. What we need to put at the forefront is that change needs to be made and it's not going to be easy and it's not going to be pretty, but it's just something that needs to be done.

John:

Can I extrapolate from that that we all need to contact our representatives so they're aware that climate is important?

Iman:

Yes, absolutely. Wherever you are in the world if you are able to and it is possible for you to contact your representatives, please, please do so. If you are listening and tuning in from Canada, please go contact your Member of Parliament, go contact your provincial member of parliament and go contact your municipal representatives as well because climate action matters at every single level. So please, please, please go do that. That would make my day.

John:

Before we run out of time, Iman, we need to ask you about your specific climate action that you've picked for today. You've got all these climate actions that you're doing with your life, but what's the one you've picked for today?

Iman:

One climate action that I could recommend to all of you, and I think this has been super helpful to me, is that every single time I go grocery shopping, I spend an extra half an hour, cutting up my vegetables and prepping all of my ingredients to make them ready to cook with so that I don't get lazy and I let the groceries go bad and I just make them as easy as possible for me to use so that I do actually end up using them. it seems simple. And it totally works. So that's one thing I would recommend.

John:

Don't let the food get buried at the back of the fridge.

Iman:

Absolutely.

John:

So, last question for you today, Iman. What gives you hope?

Iman:

One thing that is giving me hope is seeing all of the climate actions that are happening around the world and seeing people of all ages, not just young people, but also older people from different backgrounds, different subgroups all taking action towards this collective goal. And I think it's really beautiful seeing people from all different countries, all different faiths All different walks of life come together on this one issue demanding that there be some action made. And I think that's what gives me hope is that. If we can't agree on anything, at least a lot of us can hopefully agree that climate action is something that is a real problem and needs action.

John:

Well, thank you so much for sharing your perspective and your hope with us today. And thanks for being here, Iman.

Iman:

Thank you so much for having me, John.

John:

And thank you, dear listener or viewer, if you've joined us on YouTube, if you have enjoyed the podcast today, please share it with a friend, relative, or maybe even a complete stranger. We will be back next Tuesday to hear from another interesting international climate action figure. Until then.

Iman:

Go figure!