Ghaamid Abdulbasat Hatibu
‘I have made saving the environment
COOL’ Ghaamid Abdulbasat Hatibu is an awardwinning 24-year-old environmental influencer dedicated to involving young Tanzanians in efforts to combat climate change. Here he talks to Mark Edwards about how he sees individual action bringing about collective change
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ou have to imagine that no-one feels the weight of climate change more acutely than the young. They and their children to come have been left with an environmental burden because of the failure of previous generations to tackle the problem. This year has put the issue in stark relief with heatwaves and hurricanes in the US, flooding in Europe and China, and, closer to home, Cyclone Jobo hitting
the Tanzanian coastline and Zanzibar archipelago. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded it is an “established fact” these extremes of weather were the result of human-caused warming. There is fear, despair and anger among Generation Z, but also, according to 24-year-old environmental campaigner Ghaamid Abdulbasat Hatibu, there is hope.
The Tanzanian has taken to heart the do-or-die call to action of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “We are also the last generation that can slow global warming before it is too late.” Ghaamid realises that to have hope for the future requires unprecedented collective action. Since his late teens the Sokoine University of Agriculture graduate has taken it upon himself to be a rallying
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