Jane Goodall and Youth Activist Xiye Bastida Talk Picking Leaders Who Prioritize the Planet

Famed conservationist Jane Goodall had a simple wish for her 90th birthday earlier this year: that people “choose leaders committed to protecting our natural world.”

“I think it’s incredibly important for us to realize that every single vote matters in this critical time,” Goodall said during the inaugural TIME100 Climate Leadership Forum in New York City on Monday night. “The planet is so endangered that the future of you and your children is in danger.” Monday’s event featured a pre-recorded video of Goodall sharing her birthday wish.

Goodall’s CV is extensive—known for her groundbreaking research on wild chimpanzees in what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, Goodall is also the founder of The Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace. 

When 22-year-old climate justice activist Xiye Bastida, who moderated Monday’s conversation with Goodall, asked the renowned primatologist about her birthday message, Goodall pointed out that many countries around the world have had major elections this year. 

Bastida, who was part of the TIME100 Next in 2023 and is the co-founder of international, youth-led organization Re-Earth Initiative, asked Goodall, who is British, whom she would vote for in the U.S. presidential election, if she could. While Goodall replied that her institute is apolitical and she didn’t endorse a candidate, she urged people to vote for candidates that will protect the environment.

“I think that’s an easy one here,” Bastida said.

“You said it, not me,” Goodall replied, prompting a chorus of laughs from the audience.

Goodall also said that it was critical for everyone to realize that each person can have an impact on the planet. For example, she said, when people are making a purchase, they should ask questions: Did the product harm the environment when it was made? Was it cruel to animals? If so, don’t buy it.

“If everybody thinks, today, I’m really going to do … what I can, in my walk of life, in what I’m doing—we’re all different—then when you go to bed, you can say to yourself, ‘well I made a little bit of good difference today,’” Goodall said.

Goodall shared that her love of nature has given her the passion and motivation to continue her environmentalist work for decades. She also credited the next generation of climate activists—like Bastida—for giving her strength.

“All of us can do our own little bit,” Goodall said. “We can’t relax though; we have to go on fighting.”

The TIME100 Climate Leadership Forum was presented by American Family Insurance, Cisco, Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Fortescue, Iberdola, L'Oréal Groupe, Siemens, and GSK.