like COVID-19 spilled over from animals to humans – have predicted a pandemic of this sort for years. We have brought it on ourselves as a result of dis- respecting the environment and animals. We chose not to listen to the scientists, but rather carry on with business as usual. Will this new situation change the way we live? And what will it mean for climate protection and a sustainable future? The question is: Will we learn from our experience? Will we realize that we are part of the natural world, that we rely on the natural world for food, clean air and water – everything. I hope that enough peop- le understand this, understand how we have been systematically destroying nature, understand that we need to develop a new way of interacting with the natural world and animals. Because it is this same disrespect of the natural world, the plunde- ring of our planet’s natural resources, that has led to a crisis even more threatening than the pande- mic – the climate crisis. It is desperately important to develop, together, a new Green Economy and a new definition of what it means to be success- ful, independent of the acquisition of great wealth, material possessions and power. What did you see or experience during the pan- demic that makes you optimistic or pessimistic for the future? Many people, forced to stay at home, discovered how much they enjoyed spending time with their children. Teenagers found that their parents were, after all, interesting to talk to. And I have had let- ters from countless people, in different countries, who told me how they had enjoyed reconnecting with nature. Hundreds of thousands in the big ci- ties like Mumbai, Beijing, and so on, had the luxury of breathing clean air for the first time, seeing stars shining brightly instead of through a thick haze of pollution, which often rendered them invisible. This was because so many factories were forced to shut down, and there was so much less traffic as people stayed at home. These people, while many may not be able to do much about it, will not want to go back to the old polluted days. They will have discovered how the environment should and could Jane Goodall and Arnold Schwarzenegger at the AUSTRIAN WORLD SUMMIT 2018 be. Let us hope that they will tell their children and, in the end, the groundswell will be so great that cor- porations and governments will have to listen. What do we need to focus on? What might be the learnings? We need to focus on encouraging all who can to move to renewable energy, to reduce their carbon footprints, to lobby their governments, to support business and government leaders who are trying to do the right thing. What are you, personally, doing right now to con- tinue the fight against the global climate crisis? I am simply continuing, in a virtual way, to do what I have been doing for the past 30 years. Reminding people that each one of us makes a difference every day. That the collective result of millions of people making ethical choices in what they buy and how they behave will move us towards a better world. >> JANE GOODALL Dr. Jane Goodall is a British behavioural scientist who became famous for her ground- breaking studies of chimpanzees in the wild in the 1960s. Today she travels around the world, talking about the threats chimpanzees face today and other environmental crises, but also about why she has reason for hope. 7