Greg Margida: Tree Planting Clubs in Nigeria

I just finished a long conversation with Prince Goodluck Obi, President/CEO/Founder of Global Alert for Defense of Youth and the Less Privileged (GADYLP) in Nigeria. His NGO promotes climate literacy among young people in Nigeria at all levels of schooling. One of GADYLP’s biggest projects is starting tree planting clubs in schools, in which students plant Baobab Trees and Whistling Palm Plants while learning about climate change solutions.

I asked Prince Obi how his organization reaches out to underprivileged communities. This is an issue that arose in my mind yesterday after I heard Dr. Spencer Thomas, Ambassador from Grenada, say that there is no place for “tokenism” in climate action. Climate change is an issue that affects us all (some will be affected sooner than others), and thus all identities and social classes should be educated and represented in climate solutions, particularly since underprivileged areas are often the ones hit the hardest.

GADYLP addresses this issue in the most extreme of manners: They bring their program to what Prince Obi describes as “hard-to-reach” and impoverished communities. This usually entails an entire day’s travel by canoe to potentially-dangerous riverine areas. People who join Prince Obi on these trips cannot be assured of their safety.

However, Prince Obi still knows that his work is worth it, and he is frustrated that others are not willing to go to similar measures (although perhaps in different context) to find climate solutions. He reminded me that much of Africa has little or no contribution to global climate change, but is the “dumping ground” for most of its negative effects. He chuckled when I told him that the greatest climate change issue I’ve faced back home was when my sister lost water for a couple days because of an algal bloom in Lake Erie. Both of us acknowledged that climate change’s negative effects are not nearly as harsh in the countries that pollute the most. He would like to see the wealthier countries remember that climate change is about more than emissions: It is about people, and those people most affected are often out of sight.

Prince Goodluck Obi (center) meets with other NGO members at GADYLP's booth.

I want to leave you with a quote Prince Obi gave me from one of his greatest Philosopher Kings: 

“What we do for ourselves perishes with us, but what we do for the good of others enjoys immortality.” - Nigerian Philosopher King (via Prince Obi)

It is important that we, as well as the negotiators, remember that the climate change solutions we need here at COP21 are not necessarily about those with the loudest voices.