Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Business is an unlikely hero: a force for good working to solve society's most pressing challenges, while boosting bottom line. This is social purpose at work. And it's a dynamic journey. Purpose 360 is a masterclass in unlocking the power of social purpose to ignite business and social impact. Host Carol Cone brings decades of social impact expertise and a 360-degree view of integrating social purpose into an organization into unfiltered conversations that illuminate today's big challenges and bigger ideas.
Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone, and welcome to Purpose 360, the podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact. Today's show is the second in a series with One Young World ambassadors. Amazing young women who from a very early age started their own not-for-profits to address their personal commitments to climate challenges.
Joining me is Kehkashan Basu, an iconic global influencer, educator, environmentalist, champion of women and children's rights. She will talk about her Green Hope Foundation that is an accredited youth-led not-for-profit registered in Canada with operations in 28 countries. She will also talk about many of the events she attended as a speaker and a moderator at COP28, certainly more than 24 on the ground.
Following Kehkashan is Mavis Mainu, and she is a gender expert and program director at the Oak Foundation in Ghana. The Oak Foundation is a non-profit organization working to improve the economic well-being of the youth, women and the natural environment in Ghana and across West Africa.
Both of these young women are extraordinary. They have confident, diverse voices steeped in the background in their focus areas, and they had very specific points of view of the promises of COP, as well as the challenges. So, let's get started.
So, Mavis, if you could just share your background in terms of your work and social impact, because it is extraordinary.
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
Thanks, Carol. And, first and foremost also, thanks very much for the opportunity to be here and to have this conversation. I think it's very important, so I'm very grateful for the platform.
I work as a gender expert at Climate Analytics, and I also am a director and a co-founder of a not-for-profit organization based in Ghana. Starting off with a not-for-profit, Oak Foundation, our story or history is quite interesting, because we started as an NGO focused on education, creating clubs, girls clubs, in schools and rural communities in Ghana, to encourage the young girls to pursue higher education. And, along the line, we transitioned into entrepreneurship, where we now do a lot of agribusiness and vocational skills and training, and we support young people to start their own a agribusiness enterprises and also vocational enterprises.
We've been privileged to have the support from GIS, German Development Corporation and also SNV, which is the Netherland Development Agency to support us for some of the projects that we've worked on.
And then on the other hand, I also work as the executive officer in Gender Expert at Climate Analytics, which is a science and policy research institute headquartered here in Berlin. And what we do, or my role is to bring gender into the climate change work that we do.
Carol Cone:
Very, very impressive in terms of the work that you're doing. How did you get so passionate about social impact?
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
Well, I grew up with a single mother, so I would say that sort of had an influence in me and my desire to also support other young girls and women. So that is the start. And for me, growing up education was always sort of a gateway to success and this is what my mom taught me. And then I looked back into my community and I saw a lot of the young girls that I grew up with or the friends and even the younger ones, they were not taking education seriously and I knew how education had helped me.
So I wanted to go back to the communities to show them and to tell them, "This is my story, this is what education has done for me. And so this is what you can also do to improve your situation." And this is why Oak Foundation, we started with the girls' club. So basically the idea was just go back into our communities and serve as mentors and role models to younger girls so that they can also aspire to achieve higher education. And along that journey we realized also that one of the biggest social issues that exist in Ghana was unemployment. So a lot of people will go to school, all right, but at the end of the day there are no jobs for people and there are also people who are also just not interested in going through the educational route. So there should be some sort of pathway, other pathways for them to achieve economic independence.
Carol Cone:
That's beautiful. A lot of people that I interview, it's their mom. It's parents, but it's heavy on the moms who left their character and their values in their child and then their child just blossoms. So I love that story. Thank you.
Carol Cone:
Welcome to the show, Kehkashan. And for our listeners, at the age of 12, Kehkashan founded the Green Hope Foundation. So please share with us what was the impetus for you at the age of 12 to create this foundation and talk a little bit about the work that you're doing today and then we'll start transferring into COP28.
Kehkashan Basu:
Sure. So I'll actually go back to five years before founding Green Hope Foundation. So I'd seen the image of a dead bird with its belly full of plastic at the age of seven. Was deeply disturbed by that and wanted to do something to stop that from happening again because I realized that there was something seriously wrong with people for allowing something, like an innocent creature to suffer to so much pain and that I had to do something to stop that from happening. And it was around that time that I attended a lecture by Environmentalist Robert Swan and his words, "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it," really resonated with me, and that is what pushed me to plant my first tree on my eighth birthday, which is also World Environment Day, 5th June. So at that point I was like, "This is my life's mission to become an eco warrior." But it was like a lot of hard work like working to ensure that could implement these ground-level actions, engaging my peers, my neighborhood, restaurants, shops, schools.
And that work got recognized and I was invited to speak at my first UN Conference at the age of 11. And then the following year in 2012 when I was 12, I was invited to speak at the Rio+20 Earth Summit. And out of the 50,000 delegates, there were only five people under the age of 18, me being 12 in one of them. And that was when I realized that there was a severe lack of inclusivity of children, young people, women, underserved communities within the sustainable development process. And I wanted to do something to change that to address a lack of inclusivity.
And that is what inspired me to found Green Hope Foundation on my return. And there's literally been, now looking back since then, we currently work in 28 countries with over half a million people on all aspects of sustainability, harnessing clean energy, technology for social good. So that includes building schools, building solar water farms to address climate change, induced water insecurity, working on sustainable agriculture, planting over a million trees globally, over 76,000 mangroves, and making sure that people around the world from young people to seniors know that they have the change paying potential to create a better world for all.
Carol Cone:
And I'm just exhausted by that list. That's fantastic. And you're just getting going. So that's really, really commendable. You've won some significant awards, the International Children's Peace Prize. When you won that, how did you feel and did you utilize it to leverage it in some way?
Kehkashan Basu:
Yeah, I mean it was such a huge honor. That was actually the first time that the International Children's Peace Prize had been awarded to someone working on the intersection of children's rights in the environment. And yes, it was a way to amplify my call to action for children around the world at that time, but really for everyone to work towards a more peaceful and sustainable world and understand the intersections of social justice, economic stability with environmental conservation.
Carol Cone:
So now let's turn to Dubai. You just came back fairly recently from COP28, so I would just love your impressions. What did you do there? Did you get any great next action outcomes? What were surprises?
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
This was so huge than any COP that I have ever been to. There was so much going on, there was a lot happening and it was overwhelming to us but also it's also an indication of the kind of awareness that we have COPs that are bringing climate change conversation and the kind of interest that people have now to engage on the topic.
Being there as a One Young World ambassador, I got the opportunity to speak on panels. So for example, there was this panel on why we can fight climate change without gender equality, where I got the opportunity to speak as one of the panelists on the role. So that was a very, very interesting opportunity. In terms of the content of the COP or the outcome, I think for me as a young person or as a One Young ambassador and also as somebody with a developing country background, the fact that the loss and damage fund was adopted operationalization of a loss and damage fund was adopted right at the start of COP, I think was a major achievement because it's been something that developing countries have been negotiating for a very long time.
And then also in addition to that, in terms of the outcome, I think as a young person, the fact that we were not able to come up with a decision that actually faced out fossil fuel and just says that we transition away, I think that was one of my roles at COP because we do know what the problem is regarding climate change and we know that it's fossil fuels and it doesn't do us any good, just like going around a problem where we know this is what we need to do and this is COP28, this is 28 years after COP, if we are still dancing around the problem, then it's a huge cause for concern.
And I think that for a lot of young people like me that were there, we were quite not so satisfied with that outcome. Also considering that this is our future that is at stake and we want our leaders to be able to be bold and take and make strong decisions that safeguard our future and this was not it. So that was one of the role. And I do acknowledge the fact that it is the first time fossil fuel has been ever mentioned in the COP decision, but it's still not the kind of ambition that we need at this time and at the scale of climate impacts that we are seeing.
Kehkashan Basu:
Yeah, it was really, really busy and it addressed literally all of the intersections with climate change that were being discussed from business and finance, to peace, to land restoration, to water, food, gender. The list really goes on health, physical and mental health, education. So it was really ensuring that... I felt nice to be able to work, go around, share the work that we were doing on all of these different aspects. And it was just really, really cool to be able to do that. Personally, my first ever COP was 11 years ago, COP18 in Doha, and I was a 12-year-old then and I'd been invited to speak there, but UNFCCC and Climate Change had that archaic rule that no under eighteens would be allowed.
And it was only on one day Future Generations Day. So that was the only day I was allowed in. And to think about what was going on there at that time and compared to what's happening now, 11 years later, with so much... The inclusivity like that, that has changed drastically. And even the commitments that are being made like negotiators, governments, private sectors, civil society, everyone understands the urgency of the situation that wasn't there 11 years ago. So it's changed a lot. Externally, people might say that, "Okay, yeah, no, it is not strong enough, it's not enough is happening." But as someone who's literally seen this process over the last more than a decade from the inside and as a Civil Society member, yeah, there's been a lot of progress and there's definitely reason for hope and I would personally consider it a success. So yeah, from that side, from that perspective, it was really great.
And with my organization, I not only spoke at events on various issues, we also organized several events. So we had our officials in CCC side event. We also organized several other events on the intersection of feminist climate justice with land with education and water and mangrove restoration. And what was also really great is that to get COP and the messages of COP to the students, the local students, we organized two climate symposiums, one for university students and one for high school and middle school students, and got people who've been within the UN process for a really long time, from former assistants, secretary generals, to heads of like current heads of UN bodies, researchers, academics, former negotiators, to ensure that young people from Dubai had that opportunity to learn firsthand from their experiences.
And probably the coolest experience was on the rest day, we took several COP28 delegates for a mangrove planting and restoration project, which was just wonderful because there were commitments that were being made. I was speaking at a panel where my fellow panelist was talking about this billions of dollars being committed to mangrove restoration. And I was like, "Okay, that's really great, but there's a lot that needs to be done now." And to be actually able to turn those commitments that are being talked about into grant level actions, that was really great. So yeah, it was very eventful.
Carol Cone:
You were very busy.
Kehkashan Basu:
Yes.
Carol Cone:
Thank you. Did you feel, when you were in panels and even meals with people either planned or serendipity, did you feel the dissonance and you're in an oil rich country and there was a lot of controversy about having this in Dubai. Did you feel it and what was it like? What were you hearing?
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
If we listen even to the statements that were delivered in the plenary by countries, it was quite clear that everybody was calling for the decision to be based on the science and the science that say that in order for us to be aligned on a 1.5 degree pathway to meet the Paris agreements, we need to face our fossil fuels and that this is what the science and this is what a lot of people were asking for. So I had that sense and I am quite hopeful, we probably did not get it this time, but I think the pressure on fossil fuel phasing out and making that decision in corporates, it's going up and hopefully in the next COP in Baku, that is something that we'll be able to achieve.
Kehkashan Basu:
I think that having the discussion about a just transition to clean energy like that, if we are just working with the clean and renewable energy for renewable energy and people within that sector and completely alienating the fossil fuel industry and the oil industry, you're not going to have any kind of progress because you're just literally talking amongst yourselves and not having meaningful dialogue. So I think that if we are to have this just transition, the keyword being just, you need to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table. And for me, I was old and Canadian, I was born and raised in Dubai, and growing up in a country that has seen a lot of development throughout the years and has worked a lot towards ensuring that they're able to not move away from oil and move more towards renewables with the building of mass solar plants, solar power plants, and investing in wind energy for example, there's a lot that is being done.
And I feel that the Western mindset, the Western media often only focuses on othering certain regions and communities and being like, "Oh, they only focus on oil and nothing else." And completely forgetting about the fact that the UAE has one of the largest solar power plants in the world. The Shams Solar Power Plant that's been there for many years now, and they've had significant investments in renewable energy as well. So I think that's really important to take into account. And I feel that growing up in that region, I was able to get exposed to that narrative and instead of just being exposed to the Western narrative of how it's put forward, because obviously western nations aren't completely fossil fuel free either, but very few people kind of talk about that.
So that's kind of the mindset I went in with that. And the keyword being just. Again, you can't shut down an industry overnight. You need to ensure that there is a very just transition that takes place, and that's not just within that region, it's all across the world. So I feel that having it in a country that has historically been dependent on oil but is committed to moving away, I think that that's just ensuring that we are taking steps towards a just transition.
Carol Cone:
So what do you feel in terms of the 23 events, the symposiums and such, what do you feel was your greatest impact at COP28?
Kehkashan Basu:
I think getting the message, the importance of ground-level actions and not just sticking to the commitment level. I know that was echoed throughout and I really felt this time that being a part of that and calling for that through sharing concrete solutions that are already being implemented, I think that was really, really great. And of course, being able to turn some of the commitments that are being talked about into ground-level actions, not just in the UAE, but my team members were working all around the world to... The actions did not stop even though several of our members were at COP. So yeah, I think that the solutions like ground-level actions like that part, I felt that being able to emphasize that after being at so many and seeking at so many different costs, that was really, really great. And I think that is kind of the impact that I was able to make and contribute to.
Carol Cone:
Very well stated. What were your key learnings? If you could say to the next generation, your generation about cohesive activism and consistent voice, what would you recommend to your colleagues who I hope will be listening to this.
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
We should never stop saying or demanding for things to change. And this is one of the things that I'm also quite proud of for young people and also the youth activists that were underground ground being present in those spaces, being in the faces of the decision makers and telling them to do the same thing that you've been telling them to do over and over again, it is still important. They still need to hear and it puts the pressure on them to do the right thing. So I would say for young activists, it can feel like there's no hope. It can be quite discouraging, especially if you've been saying the same thing over and over again and you feel like nothing is happening. But if we want to create change and you want things to change, we need to keep hammering and we need to keep on saying it and we need to keep requesting our leaders to do what is right.
And there were lots of young youth activists, for example, who were lined up holding hands in front of some of the rooms and telling the leaders to do what is right. So I would say that is the first thing and I think the most important thing, but also... And I know in order for them to be dared, they need to be able to be given the opportunity which also includes finance. And I think that is one of the challenges that young people or young activists face having access to these spaces because of lack of finance. So this is something that we really need to work on to make sure that they're able to be present and be able to influence these decisions which impacts their future.
Carol Cone:
Do you feel that the voices and the messages of youth and your colleagues were taken seriously at COP?
Kehkashan Basu:
Yeah. I think this time, yes. Because it's so much more meaningful. You're not just having young people who are relegated outside demonstrating you are young people who are sharing solutions. You have young professionals, you have young negotiators and UAE being the first country in the world to have a minister that's focused not just on happiness, but also this entire ministry that has the youngest minister in the world. To institute someone that young into office as the youth minister, it really showed how important young people were.
So you had young negotiators, you had the Youth Climate Champions team and getting in all of the young people sponsoring more than 100 young people from around the world. So all of those steps that were taken, I think that compared to previous COPs, it's just so, so different. It's a really positive step forward because you wouldn't have seen that in the past COPs at all. There's a lot more that needs to be done, for sure, but it's like there's been progress. And I think that this COP really did reflect that where you saw young people in not just as a homogenous entity or outside blaming others, but young people who are taking meaningful actions within all sectors of society.
Carol Cone:
So inclusion, wise inclusion of youth activists, was taking place. But you also said more needs to be done. So if you were talking to the organizers of COP29, what would you suggest to them about even greater inclusivity of youth activists?
Kehkashan Basu:
Yeah, I think again, just ensuring, taking concerted steps towards not tokenizing young people and recognizing the heterogeneity of youth involved in climate action. I think that is very, very important. That was done a lot at this COP. So I hope that we are able to take that forward because it shouldn't be that just because one government and the presidency's committed to youth inclusion that it's only them and not the next. Because it should be really a long-term change. So I think that is really important and kind of actively taking steps to move away from the Western narrative that says that young people are only strikers and protestors. That's really not all young people. It's focusing on the actions that young people are taking and not just relegating us to the youth panels or youth events. Making sure that when you're looking at someone's work, their speaker presenting, it's not because of their age, it's because of their work. And the age part is like, "Okay, yeah." Okay, they're young and they're working. That's the mindset.
Carol Cone:
Yeah. And I'm curious, because it sounds like you met a lot of young people and that you got an opportunity and to talk. Did you learn anything else from just meeting new people who again were young activists?
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
Yeah, I got the opportunity to learn about some of the projects that young people are involved in are working within a climate change and the negotiation space. And one example was a group of young girls or young activists that created this organization called the Youth Negotiators Academic. And basically what they're doing is training young negotiators. So they train them, they attach them to certain groups depending on which country they're coming from so that they can sit in the rooms, listen to the conversation and also learn. So this was very, very inspiring to see that.
And there were several activists, like I mentioned, young people who are also invited to high level events where they get the opportunity to also talk about climate change from the youth perspective. And the number, I mean for the past four years that I have been to COPs, I always see new youth activists. And it's quite encouraging to see how young people are actually taking charge of this whole process and being in this space and being involved of the conversation and the decisions that are happening.
Carol Cone:
Does meeting these new young people, it's helping with your optimism versus your pessimism?
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
Yeah.
Carol Cone:
What did you think of the outcome of COP?
Kehkashan Basu:
Again, I compare it to previous COPs, it's definitely a positive step forward. Yeah, the language for sure could have been stronger, but looking back from going from phase down to moving away from fossil fuels, it's like, "Yeah, it's positive in that sense for sure." And I think, again, this is something that the next COPs can really build on and someone really needed to put it in the document that we are transitioning away is stronger than just phasing down. So yeah, I think the next COPs can definitely build on that. So I thought it was a positive outcome for sure. And yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing how the next COPs build on that and what has been already committed is actually implemented.
Carol Cone:
Yes. Accountability.
Kehkashan Basu:
Yes.
Carol Cone:
So this has been a marvelous conversation. I always love to give the last words to my guest. So what else would you like to share with anybody listening?
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
I think what I want to say is I think if we as the people we tell our governments to do what is right by making the right choices when it comes to the kind of presidents or the kind of people we vote in power, I think that goes a long way to create the kind of change that we want to look for. So for everybody listening, I want to let you know have the power to change and you have the ability to influence some of the decisions that are happening with your vote and with your voices in any space that you find yourself. So speak up, talk about this, make the right decisions, and together let's safeguard our future because climate change is real, it is happening and it's quite scary and we need to do something about it.
Kehkashan Basu:
I would just like to reiterate my call for turning commitments into action. That was something that was literally my whole call to action of COP28 addressing all of these intersections of climate. But within the whole sustainability sphere and what I've been working on for more than a decade now, it's really been about making sure that we are able to implement these ground-level actions within our own spheres of influence. And yes, that these actions we are taking for climate justice, for sustainability, it might seem small in the face of something so big, and you might not even see the results right away, but it is working, it is helping, and our future generations are going to benefit from that.
And there are some actions that you see the results of right away as well. And I think seeing that, seeing the smiles in the faces of the people I work with and some of the positive impacts that we've seen gradually over the last... Of the years of implementing them, whether that's matched reforestation of land, or finally being able to get girls the education they so desperately need in very climate following rural communities, that is progress. And I think that we should not give up hope because we can definitely find hope in the solutions that are being implemented by turning commitments into action.
Carol Cone:
That's beautiful. Wonderful incident, wonderfully stated, and you are just such an impactful activist.
Kehkashan Basu:
Oh, thank you so much.
Carol Cone:
At such a young age.
Kehkashan Basu:
Thank you.
Carol Cone:
Oh, it's wonderful. So thank you so much for your insights. I know this is going to be a very, very inspiring to youth activists as well as some of us who are older because the next generation is not just protesting, they're acting. And it's the action and the positive action and the commitments that are going to really make a difference. So thank you so much.
Kehkashan Basu:
Thank you so much for having me.
Mavis Durowaa Mainu:
Thank you very much, Carol. It's such a pleasure and it was so fun talking to you.
Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people and I'd love to thank them. Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney at Carol Cone On Purpose. Pete Wright and Andy Nelson are crack production team at True Story FM. And you, our listener, please rate and rank us because we really want to be as high as possible, as one of the top business podcasts available so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening.
This transcript was exported on Dec 21, 2023 - view latest version here.
p360_163 RAW (Completed 12/21/23)
Transcript by Rev.com
Page 1 of 2