Jane Goodall: Hongkongers of all stripes need to work together to promote biodiversity

‘We have five years to get together and try and slow down these horrific harms that we’ve done to the planet,’ primatologist says

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British ethologist and environmentalist Jane Goodall is best known for her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:30am, 27 Nov 2024

Jane Goodall, the world-renowned ethologist and primatologist, told business leaders gathered in Hong Kong that they need to partner with the government and civil society to promote biodiversity in the Asian business hub.

In her first appearance in Hong Kong in six years, Goodall said corporate support is urgently needed to drive “positive changes to our planet”.

“We cannot do things alone,” she said at an event at the University of Hong Kong on Tuesday. “We need to collaborate. We need to have links between the corporate world and government and civil society. We need to work together.”

At the event, organised by the Jane Goodall Institute Hong Kong, the HKU Jockey Club Enterprise Sustainability Global Research Institute and Zurich Insurance Hong Kong, Goodall met more than 200 business leaders. She said the private sector, the academic community, non-profits and government bodies urgently need to work together to drive conservation and sustainability efforts.

“We have five years to get together and try and slow down these horrific harms that we’ve done to the planet, to move in the right direction,” she said.

Goodall, 90, is best known for her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania, but she also earned a PhD in animal behaviour from the University of Cambridge and is a United Nations Messenger of Peace – as well as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.