Jane Goodall only wants one thing

When I caught up with Jane Goodall in 2019, she was calling on consumers and businesses to make responsible choices and protect the natural world.

Now she is telling people something much more simple: vote.

The celebrated primatologist thinks governments around the globe are not working hard enough to combat climate change. And in a year when more than 40 countries — including the United States, India and South Africa — will be electing their leaders, Goodall is telling anyone who will listen that the health of Earth itself is on the ballot.

“Half of the population of the planet is going to be voting,” she said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. “This year could be the most consequential voting year in terms of the fate of our planet.”

As my colleague Manuela Andreoni wrote last week, the leaders elected this year will face consequential choices on energy policy, deforestation and emissions reductions. In the United States, Republicans are planning to undo environmental regulations if former president Donald J. Trump wins re-election. In Mexico, the favorite to win the presidency in June is Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist who is now mayor of Mexico City and has vowed to take action to reduce emissions.

Goodall noted that the outcomes of national elections can have profound and immediate impacts. She pointed to Brazil, where two years ago, voters ousted the far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro, and brought back President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Overnight, Lula abandoned Bolsonaro’s laissez faire approach to environmental regulation and redoubled efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest.

Similar swings in policy will reverberate around the world as people go to the polls in the months to come, Goodall said: “Every vote matters, more this year than perhaps any time in history.”

‘The wealthy are being hit’

Goodall refrained from endorsing specific candidates.

But she believes that as extreme weather batters every corner of the globe, more voters were coming to understand that climate policies matter.

“When climate change began to make itself known, it was Bangladesh and the poorer countries that were suffering,” she said. “Now the wealthy are being hit. The industrialized countries are being hit where it hurts them economically.”

In the United States alone last year, there were 28 storms, wildfires or other disasters that each cost at least $1 billion or more in damages, my colleague Christopher Flavelle reported this month.

“There are floods in New York, floods in Britain, floods in several parts of Europe, unprecedented heat waves killing people in France,” Goodall told me. “It has changed.”

Yet in what is expected to be a tight race between President Biden and Trump, climate is not one of the dominant issues of the campaign. Inasmuch as it is a factor, it is often invoked by activists who believe the Biden administration is not doing enough to curb emissions, or by Trump with promises to expand oil and gas drilling.

Goodall also expressed hope that companies could do more to reduce emissions. Just as voters might respond to climate crises at the polls, she said corporations might begin funneling their lobbying dollars toward candidates who prioritized climate issues.

“I’m hoping that because companies are being hit economically, some of them will think, ‘Well, we better put a bit more money into the right politicians,’” she said.

‘An all of the above moment’

Goodall, who turns 90 in a few months, was in Davos talking up her efforts to educate young people about the plight of the natural world — and to bend the ear of the policymakers and C.E.O.s who sought her out for selfies.

Elections, she said, matter to the degree that they help preserve the natural world.

“The ecosystem is this tapestry of interconnected plants and animals, and each single one has a role to play,” she said. “When a species becomes extinct, it’s like pulling a thread. And if enough threads are pulled, the tapestry hangs in tatters. The ecosystem will collapse.”

Goodall, who spent decades living in the jungle studying chimpanzees, is not dogmatic in her approach to fighting climate change.

“We need the technology,” she said. “We need transfer to renewable energy. We need to stop subsidizing fossil fuel companies. We must think about human population with its cattle. It’s an all-of-the-above moment.”

But she said those policies will only be enacted by leaders who appreciate the gravity of the crises facing planet Earth.

“We’ve got to get the message out there for people to understand, and then they’ll vote in the right way,” she said. “Then they’ll understand how important it is for their children, and their children’s children.”

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WHAT:
The inaugural Blue Jacket Fashion Show and Dinner was held Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at Pier 59 Studios during New York Men’s Fashion Week. In partnership with Johnson & Johnson, the Blue Jacket Fashion Show benefited the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), founded by philanthropist and financier Michael Milken. Money raised will go towards funding cutting-edge research that will save, extend and improve the lives of not only prostate cancer patients but other cancer patients as well.

The Blue Jacket Fashion Show brought together the fashion, entertainment, sports, healthcare, and media worlds around a national platform to openly discuss men’s cancer issues, with an emphasis on prostate cancer. Coinciding with February’s Cancer Prevention Month and New York Men’s Fashion Week, the Blue Jacket Fashion Show included designers such as John Varvatos, Nick Graham, Joseph Abboud, Nicole Miller, Rag and Bone, Proper Cloth, Stephen F, Maggie Norris, Gustavo Moscoso, Thom Browne and Haspel who used their creative talents to “reinvent” the traditional blue blazer.

Those walking the runway wearing one-of-a-kind blue jackets included models, actors, athletes, members of the media, and business titans. Among those walking were actor Mario Cantone, musician and model Ian Mellencamp, New York Giants Wide Receiver Victor Cruz, TV personality Carson Kressley, science educator and host of the forthcoming Netflix series Bill Nye Saves the World Bill Nye, New York Yankees Pitcher CC Sabathia, New York Post’s Richard Johnson, model Alex Lundqvist, and CNN Anchor Don Lemon. Several of the specially designed jackets modeled during the show will be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

The fashion show was followed by a cocktail reception and a 3-course dinner, featuring seasonal ingredients and Mediterranean inspired dishes, designed by Executive Chef Simone Cucchiara. While guests were enjoying dinner, President and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Dr. Jonathan Simons, addressed the attendees and thanked them for making it a memorable first Blue Jacket event in support of prostate cancer research and hoping to see everyone next year, making the Blue Jacket Fashion Show and Dinner a new annual event. A silent auction was also held, featuring sought-after sports memorabilia and original artworks, all proceeds benefiting the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

To download a selection of high resolution images from the event, please visit http://bit.ly/2jBVr1x
(Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
To view the full gallery of images from Patrick McMullan, please visit http://bit.ly/2jBnsXc

WHEN: Wednesday, February 1, 2017

WHERE: Pier 59 Studios
Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex
59 Chelsea Piers #2
New York, NY 10011

About The Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research. Since 1993, PCF has raised more than $698 million and provided funding to more than 2,000 research projects at nearly 200 cancer and universities in 23 countries around the world. Today, prostate cancer remains the second leading cause of death in American men, with a man being diagnosed with prostate cancer every 3.3 minutes.

Despite these statistics, PCF has helped lower the prostate cancer death rate by more than 50% by funding ground breaking research with a streamlined funding model that has been replicated by leading research organizations across the country. Today, by accelerating public awareness and advancing medical solutions with more promising drug candidates in the pipeline, PCF is empowering men and their friends and families to proactively manage their lives and live longer and healthier lives. For more information about the Prostate Cancer Foundation, please visit pcf.org.

For further information on the PCF, please visit http://www.pcf.org/
F: www.facebook.com/PCF.org | T: www.twitter.com/PCFnews

About The Blue Jacket Initiative
The Blue Jacket Fashion Show is the kick-off event for The Blue Jacket Initiative founded by Frederick Anderson and Laura Miller (Anderson/Miller). The Blue Jacket Initiative is a national awareness campaign designed to demystify and create a platform to openly discuss men’s cancer issues. Anderson/ Miller is a marketing and promotion agency based in New York City.

For more information about The Blue Jacket Fashion Show, please visit bluejacketfashionshow.org
Follow the Blue Jacket Fashion Show on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the hashtags #BlueJacketFashionShow and #MyBlueJacket.

PRESS CONTACT (for PCF):
Norah Lawlor | Lawlor Media Group | www.lawlormediagroup.com
Norah@lawlormediagroup.com | Tel: (212) 967-6900
Facebook: LawlorMediaGroup | Instagram: lawlormedia | Twitter: @LawlorMedia

Carson Kressley (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Mario Cantone, Jack Griffo (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Melba Moore (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Maggie Norris, Nicole Miller (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
CC Sabathia (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Nick Graham, Bill Nye (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Victor Cruz (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Don Lemon (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Ian Mellencamp (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Richard Johnson (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Simon Doonan (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Gustavo Moscoso, Omar Sharif Jr. (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Samuel Meitar, Jan Haber, John Weston (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Frederick Anderson, Valesca Guerrand Hermes (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Ty Hunter (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Larry Leeds (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Alessandro Mele, Bonnie Pfeifer Evans (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Lee Tergesen (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Keytt Lundqvist, Alex Lundqvist (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Meredith Ostrom, Mary Snow (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
Charlii Sebunya (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)
David Barranger, DJ Xavier (Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan)

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