We ask what one thing individuals can do to start making more positive impacts on the planet: “Think about your own environmental footprint every day. And that needs education, because a lot of people just don’t get the right information. But if everybody thinks, ‘Well, if I turn off the tap when I’m cleaning my teeth, or if I pick up a piece of litter, so what?’ And indeed, if it’s just you, it wouldn’t make any flipping difference at all. But understanding that all around the world, awareness is growing, then millions of people turning off water and picking up plastic—that cumulatively makes a big difference.”

If nothing in what Goodall preaches seems particularly novel, it’s important to remember she’s been on a mission since childhood to protect the natural world and challenge the idea that humans are the most important living things. That’s not to say she isn’t concerned about the fate of her own species. When asked if capitalism is to blame for many of the planet’s woes, she delivers a somewhat withering glare. “Money is necessary. People need to live,” she says. “But there has to be a balance, and that means that we must reduce our unsustainable standard of living—and I know we can, because I lived through World War Two, when everything was rationed—and we lived perfectly well. I mean, yes, we lived in fear, but we were adequately able to survive.” The lessons Goodall has been teaching around the world for decades are intrinsically linked to her personal experiences.

Born in London in 1934, she still has vivid memories of the turbulence of World War Two. “Britain was being bombed by the Germans; we lost family members,” she remembers. “[Because of this,] we hated the sound of the German language; we were fearful of it.” That was, until her mother sent her to Germany to teach English to the children of family friends. “My mum’s friends were horrified,” she recalls. “They told her, ‘How could you let your daughter go into that horrible, evil country?’ And my mum said: ‘I want Jane to understand that Hitler and the Nazis are not the German people.’” Goodall’s mother, novelist Margaret (Vanne) Myfanwe Joseph, is behind much of what the scientist preaches: she created an environment for the young Jane that helped her “understand that being human is the most important [thing]”. This attitude would be foundational in forging her future.

As young as age ten, Goodall dreamt of going to Africa to live with wild animals and write books about them. It was an unlikely ambition: her family didn’t have the funds to support her dream, plus society wasn’t supportive of such ideas.

Goodall remembers clearly how an uncle told her that “she didn’t have the stamina” to follow her dreams. After all, “she was just a girl, and girls didn’t do that sort of thing.” Goodall was not going to let that stop her. “My mother was always supportive. She told me, ‘Jane, if you really want something like this, you’re going to have to work extremely hard and take advantage of every opportunity. If you don’t give up, you’ll find a way.’ “I didn’t realise how exceptional my mother was until much later.”

So Goodall refused to let these realities affect her future—and in 1957, aged 23, she found a way to get to Africa. Family friends owned a farm in Kenya where she could stay, so she set sail to Cape Town—“There were some [aeroplanes, but] they were expensive, and there were not many, so we went by boat.” After a month at sea, she arrived in Cape Town—and almost immediately was ready to leave again: she was horrified by apartheid. “I began noticing on the backs of the seats in the park, on the doors into the hotels and the restaurants, these words in Afrikaans: ‘Slegs Blankes’,” she recalls. “[I asked] What do they mean? [They meant] ‘White people only.’ And I wasn’t brought up that way.”

The way she was brought up would lead to immense success and acclaim, and to her becoming the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. She was the first person to witness them using tools and, by reporting this, she highlighted their similarity to humans, expanding her interest in them into activism.

She soon became a role model for young people— particularly women, who still lack representation in scientific fields to this day. However, as exceptional as Goodall’s achievements were back then, she deeply objects to any oversimplification and sensationalising of her story.

After her historic observation of chimps using tools, she recalls being approached by National Geographic, which wanted to shoot her now iconic cover story in 1963, as well as to sponsor her expeditions—a moment that would completely transform her life. “Very jealous male scientists—and there were many at the time—started saying I only got there because I’ve got nice legs for the cover. Well, I just wanted to be out in Africa and go back to the chimps, so if my legs were helping me, thank you! And they were nice legs; you can’t deny it. But I wasn’t in a male-dominated field per se, as [the field] didn’t exist. Being a woman actually helped me in some instances,” she says. “When I got to Tanzania [for another expedition in 1960, this time accompanied by her mother], the country was just about to attain independence from British colonial rule. Understandably, a lot of Tanzanian men were a little hostile towards white European males. But towards me, a young girl, and her mother? They wanted to help; they really cared about us.”

Goodall has scarcely been out of the public eye since those early days in Tanzania; for anyone with a degree of fame, it can be difficult to control your narrative, especially when the media is quick to put you on a pedestal—but how could we not?

Her most recent accolade, in January, was receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US president Joe Biden. But she has managed to find ways to navigate the pressures of being an idol. “To be quite honest, what happened to me is beyond my comprehension,” she says. “I can’t walk through an airport anywhere in the world without at least two people coming and asking for a selfie, often starting to cry. When this ‘iconic’ status began, I was shocked. I’m a shy person. I tried wearing dark glasses and letting my hair down … It didn’t seem to work. “I suddenly realised: if I really want to change the world and have people understand what they need to do, I better make use of this [fame]. So now, I am coping with two Janes. This one, talking to you, and then the icon. I have to work really, really, really hard to keep up with the icon.” But keep up with her she has. And if we want to make a real difference to our planet’s future, the rest of us will have to keep up too.

Get involved

How you can support the Jane Goodall Institute

The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), founded by its namesake in 1977, is a global non-profit organisation focused on fostering wildlife research, education and conservation. The Hong Kong chapter (JGIHK) was established in 2002, and the Singapore chapter (JGIS) in 2007, and they have been dedicated to amplifying Goodall’s legacy and passion. At the heart of the Institute’s mission is the belief that everyone—no matter their age—can drive positive change. The JGIS inspire community engagement, environmental stewardship and social responsibility through dynamic initiatives, such as the Raffles’ Banded Langur Citizen Science Programme to ensure that the habitats of the tree-dwelling monkeys found only in Singapore and southern Peninsular Malaysia—and brought back from the brink of extinction—are protected and restored. The programme also seeks to gather data through long‑term research, and secure resources and commitment for their conservation in Singapore and Malaysia.

While we all share a responsibility to protect our planet, younger generations are the likeliest to take meaningful action. As Goodall says, “Youth aren’t just the future, they’re the present.” This belief is exemplified by the Institute’s signature programme, Roots & Shoots, which connects thousands of young people in over 100 countries, including Singapore, who are eager to contribute to a better world and implement impactful community service projects. These student‑led, action-led projects have already proved themselves through meaningful initiatives, such as disaster relief fundraising, promoting fair-trade products, addressing homelessness and focusing on waste reduction, organic farming and beach clean-ups. The goal: grow a sense of self and sense of purpose and create a positive impact on people, other animals and the environment.

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