When I started learning about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, I became very curious about all of the SDGs goals. What I have realized is that all the UN SDGs are closely related and overlaps on each other. After getting a clear understanding of the UN SDGs; I started exploring opportunities in this direction. I got myself affiliated with organizations that champions the cause of UN SDGs; from my personal perspective, I can confidently say that every aspects of our lives revolves round the UN SDGs because everything on this planet earth affects us and our planet directly and indirectly. Upon a deeper understanding of the UN SDGs, I became very passionate about it and I have volunteered with organizations that champion the cause of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In our world of today where almost everyone wants to become a content creator and social media influencer, the only thing that has spoken to my heart is to become an ambassador/influencer in the area of climate change, UN SDGs and environmental sustainability.
I am a strong advocate for a cleaner and greener earth. I envision my community to become an inclusive, resilient, and sustainably planned urban community where growth does not come at the of cost environmental health. Where public spaces are accessible and safe for all, where affordable housing is integrated into mixed-use neighborhoods, and where the culture of protecting our planet by way of embracing and cultivating the lifestyle of keeping earth cleaner and greener becomes a permanent reality for my people in my community. Most importantly, I am passionate about giving my local community and other rural communities in my state voices; because they have been historically marginalized and underrepresented. To fulfill my passion for the UN SDGs; I have carried out climate change activities in my local community. In December, I carried out a cleanup drive aim to promote environmental sanitation and environmental sustainability in my local community of Obiaruku in Delta State Nigeria.
In January of this year, I also carried out a climate change activity in a public secondary school in my local community (Umutu Mixed Secondary School, Umutu in Delta State Nigeria). I donated twelve waste disposal baskets to the twelve classrooms in this school as a way to encourage the students and teachers to embrace environmental sanitation and environmental sustainability. I am a Trainee Mentor with The POP Movement. During the Earth Day Celebration in April 2026, I organized and led the YouthCAN Capacity Building Workshop at Umutu Mixed Secondary School Umutu to educate students on the importance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through engaging discussions on SDGs 3, 4, 5, 11 & 13, students learned about climate action, environmental sustainability, gender inclusion, quality education, and protecting our planet for future generations. I have also carried out a tree planting activities in Umutu Mixed Secondary School; Umutu Delta State in May. Myself, the students and teachers planted twenty trees in the school as a way of promoting afforestation and climate awareness.
My Role Models in the Climate Change Activities
As a matter of fact, I did not just get this passion and motivation all by myself. In my passion for UN SDGs there are three personalities who have been very influential to me. These three personalities are forces to reckon with! Confident enough to say that they are luminaries! The first person that has been my influence in the area of environmental sustainability is Wangari Maathai.
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on planting trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Maathai is the founder of The Green Belt Movement (GBM) an indigenous grassroots organization in Kenya that empowers women through the planting of trees. It is one of the most effective and well-known grassroots organizations addressing the problem of global deforestation. Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK). GBM successes in forest conservation, education, and women’s economic empowerment have gained the organization worldwide acclaim. Since Wangari Maathai started the movement in 1977, more than 51 million trees have been planted, and more than 30,000 women have been trained in forestry, food processing, bee-keeping, and other trades that help them earn income while preserving their lands and resources. Communities in Kenya (both men and women) have been motivated and organized to both prevent further environmental destruction and restore that which has been damaged.
Rajendra Kumar Pachauri
Another luminous person that has been very influential in my passion for the UN SDGs is Rajendra Kumar Pachauri. Dr. RK Pachauri was the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2015, during the fourth and fifth assessment cycles. Under his leadership the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and delivered the Fifth Assessment Report, the scientific foundation of the Paris Agreement. Pachauri, universally known as Patchy, was an internationally recognized voice on environmental and policy issues, and his leadership of the IPCC contributed to the issue of human-caused climate change becoming recognized as a matter of vital global concern. Pachauri was vocal on the issue of climate change and said, “What is happening, and what is likely to happen, convinces me that the world must be really ambitious and very determined at moving toward a 350 target.” 350 refers to the level in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that some climate scientists such as NASA’s James Hansen agree to be a safe upper limit to avoid a climate tipping point.
Pachauri conceptualized and launched the global ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ (LaBL) initiative in 2008, to facilitate clean energy access to the energy poor. The initiative has taken solar energy to remote places such as Sundarbans, West Bengal, Thar Desert, Rajasthan, and in the state of Bihar. Being an early advocate for integration of access to clean cooking and lighting solution, the initiative has successfully deployed several thousands of Integrated Domestic Energy Systems (IDES) in rural and remote areas. It has set several benchmarks and has emphasized on access to a menu of clean energy options for the poor at last mile locations. The philosophy of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means the whole Universe is one family; is the belief that Dr. R.K. Pachauri advocated for in his lifelong career. He believed that this idea must guide global efforts to protect global commons.
Dr. RK Pachauri is the cofounder of The POP Movement. The POP Movement aims to empower young people to actively address climate issues; a key figure in bringing climate change to the international agenda. His son Dr. Ash Pachauri, a public health expert and inspirational leader, the movement is dedicated to youth engagement in climate action. The POP Movement is a global family, a globally recognized organization and a multiple award-winning organizations with branches in New Delhi, Mexico City, New York and Abu Dhabi; as well as making impact in other countries in the different continent of our planet Earth. I am a POP Trainee Mentor. The full meaning of POP means protect our planet; Dr. Ash Pachauri serves the director of The Pop Movement.
Nnimmo Bassey
Nnimmo Bassey is a multiple award-winning and globally recognized environmental activist and writer. Bassey is a Living Legend, a force to reckon with and an inspiration to me; known for his long-standing work on environmental justice in Africa. He chaired Friends of the Earth International from 2008 to 2012 and was executive director of Environmental Rights Action for two decades. His work has focused on advocating for communities affected by oil exploitation in the Niger Delta and strengthening transnational networks opposing destructive extraction across the Global South. Bassey is the founder and director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), an environmental think tank promoting ecological justice and food sovereignty across Africa. He was named one of Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment in 2009 and has received several international recognitions, including Laureate of the Right Livelihood Award (2010), the Rafto Prize (2012), two honorary doctorates from the University of York, UK (2019) and York University, Canada (2023), and the Wallenberg Medal of the University of Michigan (2024).
I am privileged to be a part Nnimmo Bassey School of Ecology (EtiUwem) in Benin City Edo State. The theme of this year EtiUwem School of Ecology is Igniting Ecological Consciousness. It was a one week learning program. As a person who is very passionate about United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Being a part of this EtiUwem School of Ecology has expanded my knowledge of our Ecosystem and Biodiversity exponentially in the areas of Ecological Justice. I learned that Ecological Justice is a demand and inevitable for our planet sustainability. Other new knowledge I gained was the fact that nature is not a commodity, communities are not sacrificial zones and life is not expendable for profit.
We also learned about the ways we can promote ecological justice in our communities; which includes:
Rights (humans+nature)—this means that the community has the right to protect their land without forceful takeover or occupancy by external bodies and nature has a right to be protected.
Accountability: polluters must be made to clean up the pollution they create in the communities
Intergenerational justice: protecting the future of our communities and environment
Another topic of discussion was Green Colonialism or Climate Colonialism (also known as global green energy transition): the exploitation of lands, resources or communities in the global south under the guise of environmental protection. It replicates historical colonial dynamics—prioritizing the ecological needs of wealthy nations while imposing the costs and consequences on the marginalized populations.
During one of our learning sessions we were taught about the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which exposed the complicity of our leaders in perpetuating environmental degradation directly and indirectly through negligence, corruption, embezzlement in the oil rich zones of Nigeria (Niger Delta).
When Dr. Nnimmo Bassey taught us about African Environmentalism; he told us a quote from Mahatma Gandhi which I took to heart.
“There is enough in the world to meet everyone’s needs; but not everybody’s greed.”
Sankofa Bird
We were also taught about the Sankofa Bird—a legendary African bird that epitomizes a call to look inwards, know our history and where we are coming from. Sankofa is a word in the Akan language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve” (literally “go back and get”). The Sankofa bird appears frequently in traditional Akan art, and has also been adopted as an important symbol in an African-American and African Diaspora context to represent the need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. Any time you see me engaged in championing the cause of environmental sustainability and climate action; understand that the indefatigable efforts and noble accomplishments of Wangari Maathai, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri and Nnimmo Bassey is my inspiration. This makes me to agree with Marianne Williamson when she said: “As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others the permission to do the same.”
Links to my climate activities/community services
Kingsley Osajie 