Meeting Jane Goodall, British primatologist and avid environmental activist, is an honour. Global Ideas took the opportunity to talk with the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees during a film screening in Brussels. The documentary Love MEATender focuses on earth’s growing hunger for more meat and the price we already have to pay for the excessive consumption.

A lot of people are already aware of the situation we are in, Goodall says. But that does not automaticly change something:

GI Jane Goodall What has to be done from DW_Global Ideas on Vimeo.

One of today’s main problems is that earth’s population is growing fast and with it the number of people who want to consume meat, Goodall adds. As the middle classes in the developing world are rising up, they want to have the same standards of living as the industrialized countries have. “Which is of course understandable.” But the planet is not growing, so it won’t be able to support this lifestyle much longer.

GI Jane Goodall more meat more problem from DW_Global Ideas on Vimeo.

For Jan Goodall the newest generations are the key to a solution. Her organization, the Jane Goodall Institute, runs an initiative called “Roots and Shoots program,” with the goal to “provide young people with the knowledge, tools and inspiration to improve the environment and the quality of life for people and animals,” as the program’s website says. “We need to train a new generation to be better stewards than we have been,” she adds. Otherwise there would be absolutly no point:

GI Jane Goodall important young people from DW_Global Ideas on Vimeo.

The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by former US Vice President Al Gore, will host a 24-hour event beginning on September 14 in what the organizers hope will mobilize the world to confront the reality of the climate crisis. 24 Hours of Reality will take place around the world from Pakistan to Cape Verde, and from Indonesia to Alaska.

“Extreme droughts, terrible storms, and larger floods are devastating many parts of the world,” said Gore. “Today, climate change is no longer a prediction: It’s a reality. Yet around the world, we are still subjected to polluter-financed misinformation and propaganda designed to mislead people about the dangers we face from the unfolding climate crisis.”

The former Vice President added: “The time to face reality is now. 24 Hours of Reality will bridge oceans and cultures — in every time zone — to bring the world together to emphasize the truth about the climate crisis and how we can solve it.”

24 Hours of Reality will be presented in 13 languages, with one presentation for each time zone. At 7 p.m. local time during each of the 24 Hours of Reality, a citizen activist will connect the dots between extreme weather and a warming climate, highlighting both the impacts of climate change and the inspiring solutions emerging in each time zone around the world. These local presentations will be interlaced with a studio presentation from New York City, featuring videos, live interviews and more.

The event will begin in Mexico City on September 14 at 7 p.m. Central Time, move westward around the globe, and conclude with a presentation in New York City by former Vice President Gore on September 15 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.