Jane Goodall: caring about our planet

Photo of Jane Goodall by Floatjon, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Lila Griffiths explores how one conservationist’s legacy turned fear into hope and action

Most writing about climate change makes the future feel smaller.

Jane Goodall, primatologist, conservationist and one of the world’s great environmental voices, does the opposite. She talks about hope. Not the kind that ignores reality, but the kind that insists on action.

I don’t remember the first time I heard about of Jane Goodall, but I remember the first time I really listened to her.

On April 3rd, the first national Jane Goodall Day marked a moment of reflection on her work, legacy and message to the world. Revisiting her Final Message to the World made the climate crisis stopped feeling distant and begin to feel personal.

In 2026, it can feel as though the story of the planet has already been decided. We are constantly told how much time we have left, how much damage has been done and how irreversible things might be. It makes it very easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless.

But Goodall reframes that narrative.

She speaks about hope as something active; something we choose. She reminds us that without hope, there is no reason to act. And without action, there is no chance of change.

One of the ideas that has stayed with me most is her belief that every life matters. That every small decision – what we buy, how we speak, what we choose to care about – has an impact. It sounds simple, but it changes the way you see your place in the world.

It makes environmentalism feel less like something reserved for scientists or activists and more like something woven into everyday life.

Goodall also challenges something deeper: the way we see ourselves in relation to the natural world. Humans are not above the planet, she argues – we are part of it. Guests, rather than owners.

The future isn’t something abstract, it’s something being decided now

It’s a perspective that feels easy to forget, but impossible to ignore once you’ve really understood it.

I have always been interested in conservation. It was something encouraged throughout my time in school, but for a long time, it felt like just that – an interest, something I cared about in theory rather than something that shaped my day-to-day life.

There was a sense of urgency in what Goodall was saying that I hadn’t fully grasped before. Not panic, but clarity. The kind that makes you realise that the future isn’t something abstract, it’s something being decided now.

For me, that shift made me start questioning the way I live. From what I consume to how I think about food, and the impact of small, everyday choices. I’ve begun trying to reduce my meat consumption, thinking more seriously about vegetarianism, and considering how my future career might align with protecting the planet rather than contributing to its decline.

What once felt like a distant issue started to feel immediate.

The climate crisis is often presented in an overwhelming way. Statistics are thrown around, timelines are debated and the scale of the problem can feel impossible to comprehend. One estimate suggests that if global warming exceeds two degrees by 2100, it could contribute to the deaths of around a billion people. Numbers like that are difficult to process – they feel too large, too abstract, almost unreal. Especially without reminders of hope.

And that’s part of the problem.

When something feels incomprehensible, it becomes easier to disengage from it. Fear can be paralysing rather than motivating.

Photo by Kaboompics at Pexels

It’s easy to place the blame entirely on those in power, and to an extent, that responsibility does sit with them. But those positions of power are not fixed. One day, they could belong to people like you and me.

This is why Goodall’s emphasis on hope feels so important. She doesn’t ignore the scale of the crisis, but she reframes it. Instead of something purely frightening, she presents it as something we still have the power to influence.

That shift, from fear to possibility, is what makes action feel achievable.

It’s also what has made me want to communicate these ideas more widely. This piece of writing itself is a result of that inspiration. I want to write about the environment in a way that makes it feel more accessible, more human, and more urgent without being overwhelming.

Because change doesn’t come from people feeling defeated. It comes from people believing that what they do matters.

Jane Goodall passed away in October 2025, but her message feels more urgent and alive than ever.

For me, that means trying to take action where I can; through writing, volunteering, or supporting movements that push for environmental change.

Goodall’s message is simple, but it stays with you: we are not separate from the planet – we are part of it. And the future depends on whether we choose to work with it, rather than against it.

If this piece has inspired you, here’s where to start:

• Jane Goodall Institute UK and their youth programme Roots and Shoots
• Green Party
• UK Youth Climate Coalition
• Action for Conservation