The Sustainable Hour no. 600 | Transcript | Podcast notes
Our guest on The Sustainable Hour on 22 July 2026 is climate activist Johann Hoschtialek from the Caribbean island nation of Grenada.
The Sustainable Hour reaches episode 600 with a message that has remained at the heart of the program since its beginning: face reality honestly, protect what sustains us and become part of the change.
The Hour begins with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reminding us of the choice before humanity: cooperation over chaos.
That choice runs through the entire episode – from Australians taking their government to the United Nations over fossil-fuel pollution to an extraordinarily ambitious youth movement preparing to travel through every country in the world.
The hard truths Australia must confront
Ten Australians have filed a landmark complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. They argue that the Australian Government is failing to protect their rights to life, home and culture by continuing to approve and subsidise coal and gas production.
Around 80 per cent of the coal and gas produced in Australia is exported. The pollution created when these fossil fuels are burned overseas is excluded from Australia’s domestic emissions accounts and climate targets.
The harm, however, does not remain overseas. It returns to Australia through fires, floods, extreme heat, rising seas and toxic algal blooms.
The people behind the Hard Truths Case include First Nations custodians, firefighters, people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, parents, grandparents and young Australians. Each has experienced the consequences of a destabilising climate personally.
Professor Anne Poelina, a Nyikina Warrwa and Warlunguru Traditional Owner from the Kimberley, describes how the catastrophic 2023 floods submerged her community and covered the graves of ancestors with floodwater.
Others describe becoming trapped during floods, losing homes in bushfires and enduring dangerous heat in housing that offers little protection.
Their message is direct: Accept responsibility for the climate harm Australian fossil fuels create, wherever they are burned. Stop approving new coal and gas projects. Stop subsidising fossil-fuel corporations. Develop a fair plan to phase out the coal and gas Australia burns at home and exports overseas.
→ Find out more on hardtruthscase.org.au
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Mik Aidt points to the extraordinary contradiction at the centre of Australian climate policy. Fossil-fuel companies earn tens of billions of dollars while governments continue directing billions of dollars in public support towards the industry. The profits remain private. The damage is shared by everyone.
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A world of fire, flood and disruption
Colin Mockett OAM’s global roundup provides the wider context. Close to a thousand wildfires are burning across Canada, while dozens of major fires are also active across the United States. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding have struck numerous American states.
Norway is confronting a major forest fire near Drammen. Rising seas are increasing the salinity of groundwater in The Gambia. Deadly flooding has hit parts of Ghana, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, while Thailand is seeking assistance to strengthen its flood-management systems.
These events differ in location and detail, yet they belong to the same emerging reality: hotter temperatures, heavier rainfall, rising seas and increasingly unstable weather systems.
Among the grim news, Colin also reports indications that the Australian Labor Party may consider a gas export tax and changes to fossil-fuel subsidies. Whether those proposals become meaningful policy remains to be seen.
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195 countries in 365 days
Our guest Johann Hoschtialek is the founder of “195in365″ – an audacious initiative planning to bring young representatives from every country together for a year-long journey around the planet.
The idea began during a conversation between Johann and his daughter Jovana. What could a father and daughter do as they watched the condition of the planet deteriorate?
Their answer grew into a plan to visit 195 countries in 365 days with:
• A youth representative from every country
• Additional representatives from Indigenous regions
• A travelling team of organisers, scientists, educators, storytellers and technical specialists
• Electric vehicles, sleeper buses, mobile stages and travelling conference centres
• Local events focused on awareness, education and mobilisation.
Johann describes climate change as a symptom of a deeper problem: humanity has lost its way. We have forgotten how to be good neighbours and responsible custodians of the living world.
Installing renewable energy alone will not repair that deeper failure. Climate action must also address poverty, biodiversity loss, inequality, food, health, education, gender equality and the many pressures that prevent people from participating in environmental solutions.
A person struggling to feed a family cannot be expected to make solar panels their first priority. The initiative therefore focuses on three connected tasks:
• Awareness – understanding how environmental and social problems differ between countries and communities.
• Education – sharing the solutions already being developed by communities, universities, Indigenous peoples, researchers and organisations.
• Mobilisation – giving young people the confidence, relationships and practical opportunities to act.
A conference of the people
The convoy plans to organise COP-style gatherings in each country – described by Johann as Conferences of the People. Mobile trailers will unfold into meeting spaces, innovation centres and performance stages. Local organisations will be invited to share their work, while scientists, artists, athletes and community leaders help engage young people.
The representatives will visit schools, threatened ecosystems, Indigenous communities and local projects. They will document the journey through videos, podcasts, blogs, documentaries and programs produced in many languages. The purpose is to make solutions visible while connecting young people who may otherwise feel isolated or powerless.
One of the most striking planned events will take place in Grenada’s underwater sculpture park. Youth representatives, trained as scuba divers, will gather in an underwater arena modelled on the United Nations General Assembly. There they plan to vote on ocean issues including:
• A global plastics treaty • Protection of the high seas • A ban on deep-sea mining • A ban on destructive bottom trawling • Action against ocean pollution.
People in each country will be invited to participate through an online voting system. Their youth representative will then carry the result into the underwater assembly.
It will be part environmental summit, part global artwork and part declaration that ordinary people deserve a voice in decisions affecting the future.
An initiative still being built
The scale of 195in365 is staggering. The organisation is seeking government support, corporate funding, electric vehicles, diplomatic assistance, visas, security arrangements and the enormous logistical capacity required to move hundreds of people across the planet.
Johann says many doors were closed during the initiative’s early years. What kept him moving was a simple question:
What happens if we do nothing?
As the father of three daughters, he found that possibility impossible to accept.
The project has gradually attracted interest from youth organisations, NGOs, businesses, international institutions and potential vehicle and technology partners. Johann hopes the Government of Grenada will recognise it as a diplomatic mission, helping representatives from countries whose passports make international travel difficult.
The ambition remains immense and the outcome uncertain. Yet Johann’s energy comes from refusing to treat the existing limits as permanent.
“Size does not determine strength,” he says.
From ‘your initiative’ to ‘our initiative’
Near the end of the interview, Johann challenges the hosts for repeatedly referring to 195in365 as “your initiative”. If they believe in it, he tells them, they should claim it.
“This is our present to humanity,” he says. “Stop saying ‘your initiative’ and start saying ‘our initiative’.”
That moment captures the central message of episode 600.
Climate action cannot remain the private project of activists, scientists, young people or communities already experiencing disaster. Responsibility belongs to all of us.
The Sustainable Hour began nearly 13 years ago by ending each program with the words “Be the change”. Six hundred episodes later, Johann brings the program back to that beginning.
Change starts with the individual, then grows through relationships, communities and movements. It begins when people stop waiting for somebody else to act and recognise that the work belongs to them as well.
The future remains uncertain. The hard truths are becoming harder. Yet across the world, people continue choosing cooperation over chaos, courage over resignation and action over despair.
Come hell or high water, they intend to make this world a better place.
→ Find out more on 195in365.com
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MUSIC IN THE HOUR
New song: ‘Catch the Ball’ – premiere
Inspired by Johann Hoschtialek and the 195in365 initiative, ‘Catch the Ball’ turns the campaign’s message into a simple call to action. From one small island, a father and daughter imagine young people from 195 countries crossing borders, sharing hope and passing responsibility from one person to the next. The football becomes a symbol of the future: catch it, make your pledge and pass it on.
‘I Heard It on The Sustainable Hour’
‘I Heard It on The Sustainable Hour’ was created for episode 537. It reflects the program’s long-standing mix of hard truths, practical action and stubborn hope. The song moves from one listener tuning in alone to a collective voice declaring that change grows when people stand up, speak out and become part of something larger than themselves.
– A youth anthem about carrying hope across borders, passing the call to action around the world. Inspired by Johann Hoschtialek.
→ Listen to more songs from The Sustainable Hour
“The youth who are gonna be with us, they’re gonna be constantly blogging, vlogging, doing podcasts, etc. Our creative team working with some fantastic producers and directors, we’re gonna be doing a documentary feature film on this and a reality series that will be coming out every following week, a 25 minute episode in many languages, so that the message could get back to people of all different languages of the world, not just English.”
~ Johann Hoschtialek, 195 in 365
→ Subscribe to The Sustainable Hour podcast via Apple Podcasts or Spotify
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We at The Sustainable Hour would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wadawurrung People. We pay our respects to their elders – past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations people.
The traditional custodians lived in harmony with the land for millennia, nurturing it and thriving in often harsh conditions. Their connection to the land was deeply spiritual and sustainable. This land was invaded and stolen from them. It was never ceded. Today, it is increasingly clear that if we are to survive the climate emergency we face, we must learn from their land management practices and cultural wisdom.
True climate justice cannot be achieved until Australia’s First Nations people receive the justice they deserve. When we speak about the future, we must include respect for those yet to be born, the generations to come. As the old saying reminds us: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” It is deeply unfair that decisions to ignore the climate emergency are being made by those who won’t live to face the worst impacts, leaving future generations to bear the burden of their inaction.
“The Indigenous worldview has been marginalised for generations because it was seen as antiquated and unscientific and its ethics of respect for Mother Earth were in conflict with the industrial worldview. But now, in this time of climate change and massive loss of biodiversity, we understand that the Indigenous worldview is neither unscientific nor antiquated, but is, in fact, a source of wisdom that we urgently need.”
~ Robin Wall Kimmerer, weallcanada.org
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Ruby Rodgers has been announced as the 2025 winner of the Environmental Music Prize for her song and music video ‘Hits The Heart’. The single was written during the filming of documentary ‘Future Council’, where Ruby joined seven other children who met with some of the world’s largest polluters and most influential companies.
On the single, Ruby says “‘Hits The Heart’ is inspired by some of the most passionate, resilient young people that I’ve ever met. It came to me after spending a month with them, and seeing the raw, crippling feelings that climate anxiety causes. And to tell the truth, it broke my heart…I wrote, about and for those 7 kids and the millions of others, for myself and our stories. A call to action, a cry for help, through song.”
The Environmental Music Prize recognises and rewards music and music videos that celebrate the beauty of nature and encourage us to protect it. The AUS$20,000 prize empowers talented artists to use their voice strategically – both on and off stage.
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TRANSCRIPT
of The Sustainable Hour no. 600
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General: (00:00)
Cooperation over chaos. We are all in this together.
Jingle: (00:16)
The Sustainable Hour. For a green, clean, sustainable Geelong: The Sustainable Hour.
Tony Gleeson: (00:25)
Welcome to episode number 600 of The Sustainable Hour podcast. I don’t know about the others, Colin and Mik, but it’s certainly not something I imagined that I’d ever be doing. But here we go – a few years later and 600s up! Yeah, we’d like to acknowledge as always – and it’s just as important in the 600th episode as it was in the first – that we’re broadcasting from the land of the Wadawurrung people. We pay tribute to their elders – past, present, and those that earn that great honour in the future.
We’re broadcasting from stolen land, land that was never ceded, always was and always will be First Nations land. As we’ve experienced NAIDOC Week over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen a whole lot more stories about the ancient wisdom that they’ve accumulated by nurturing both their land and their communities for millennia before the white invasion. And in that ancient wisdom lies many of the answers that we’re going to need as we face up to the climate crisis.
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Hard Truths Case – Youtube video (01:48)
We’re here in Parliament today supporting ten incredible Australians as they file a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The complaint argues that the Australian government is failing to protect them from climate harm and climate pollution by continuing to say “yes” to coal and gas corporations.
Around 80 per cent of the coal and gas produced here is shipped overseas to be burnt. But because it is exported, it is not counted in Australia’s climate targets or climate policies. I’ll say that again: 80 per cent of Australia’s climate pollution is simply not counted.
. . .
My name is Professor Anne Poelina. I’m a Nyikina Warrwa and Warlunguru Traditional Owner from the Kimberley. I have guardianship over Martuwarra, the Fitzroy River. In 2023, we had the largest flood in the history of Western Australia. Our community went underwater. The graves of our ancestors were covered by 1.5 metres of water. We lost everything in that flood. It has taken three years for us to return and begin the recovery.
. . .
I live with a severe auto-inflammatory condition that becomes much worse during extreme heat. When I have a flare-up, it can feel as though my skin is ripping and tearing.
What I want people to understand is that climate change doesn’t affect everyone equally. People living with disability, chronic illness and poor-quality housing are often hit first and hardest. But I also know how strong our communities are. We look after one another. I’m part of this case because I believe governments have a responsibility to do the same.
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My name is Barry Traill. I’m an environmental scientist and have also been a rural volunteer firefighter for more than ten years. Like all of us, I’ve seen a massive increase in climate-related weather disasters. I’ve had friends and colleagues lose their homes to fire.
Tragically, during the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in 2009, two friends of mine and their partners were killed, along with more than 170 Victorians in a single day. We send overseas more than four times as much carbon in coal and gas as we burn here. But when it is burnt elsewhere, it still kills Australians.
. . .
We stand here today with ten Australians from across the country. They come from all walks of life. They are Traditional Owners, firefighters, teachers, nurses, grandparents, parents and young people.
What has united them and brought them here to Canberra is that they have all experienced terrifying impacts from Australia’s coal and gas pollution. They have come to Parliament to call on the Australian government to confront the hard truth that all of those harms are fuelled by Australian coal and gas.
Together, they have filed a landmark human rights claim with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. They argue that the Australian government’s continued approval of coal and gas developments violates their rights to life, home and culture.
The ten Australians we are standing with today have brought the first claim against a country for climate harm to be filed with an international body since last year’s ruling by the International Court of Justice.
The case brought before the United Nations Human Rights Committee highlights a glaring inconsistency in Australia’s climate policy. We are taking steps to reduce domestic emissions, while continuing to expand and support fossil-fuel exports that drive global warming.
When fossil fuels are burnt anywhere in the world, Australians pay the price through impacts on their health, safety and security. No matter where it is burnt, Australia’s coal and gas comes back to us in fires, floods, algal blooms and extreme heat.
That is the hard truth this case asks the Australian government to confront.
We are calling on the government to stop saying yes to new coal and gas mines, stop subsidising coal and gas companies, and develop a phase-out plan covering both the fossil fuels we burn here and those we send overseas. If we do not do that, conditions will simply get worse and worse.
We are asking the government to be accountable, to recognise its duty of care towards its citizens, to stop subsidising coal and gas, and to begin developing a transition plan. We also want our fellow Australians to stand with us in solidarity and help stop climate chaos and climate uncertainty from continuing to spiral out of control. Thank you.
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Mik: (06:49)
A film by Environmental Justice Australia, the Human Rights Law Center and Earthjustice, and it was filmed by Rebecca Parker. It’s available on YouTube and you can learn more about this case on the website hardtruthscase.org.au. What better way to celebrate our 600th episode than with some hard truth?
Last week, for instance, the fossil fuel company Shell published its annual LNG Outlook report and they write that they are expecting that gas production in this world is going to increase with around 65 per cent over the next twenty years.
And as they were talking, the Australian governments are currently spending 16 billion dollars. Actually, it’s 16.3 billion dollars. And I’ll say that again. That’s 16,300 million dollars of taxpayer money that our governments are subsidising the fossil fuel production with.
At the same time, the Australian fossil fuel companies are earning tens of billions of dollars in profit every year. And as a result of this billion-dollar taxpayer-funded circus, people are dying.
And this is where I think I should hand over the microphone to Colin Mockett OAM because I think we need some more hard truths here in The Sustainable Hour, Colin! And I’m hearing from my family in Europe that the climate is now hitting hard. The heat is really shutting down societies. And thank you very much, gas, oil, and coal companies! People are dying.
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Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook: (08:38)
Yeah. Well look, thank you, Mik. Our roundup this week… I was listening to the hard truth people there, and my roundup this week is highly pertinent to just about all of them.
But I’d like to begin if I can by wishing a happy birthday to everybody who has been involved with The Sustainable Hour for 600 weeks.
But our roundup, our world roundup, begins in North America where thunderstorms in the northeastern United States finally cleared the air that was coming across from Canada’s wildfires. And that was the air that President Donald Trump… what do you call it? – ‘filthy pollution’ and he was going to bring in extra tariffs because the smoke was coming over into America.
But still there are almost a thousand fires burning across Canada from coast to coast. Canada’s a big place. That meant from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Arctic Oceans. But what President Trump failed to mention was that the US has out of control wildfires too, with the National Interagency Fire Centre reporting seventy three large blazes across twelve states in America, from Minnesota in the Midwest to Oregon and Washington in the Pacific Northwest.
So Donald Trump really can’t say that he is blameless on the account of it all. He’s the fellow who has stopped as many climate efforts as he possibly can. Now the Canadian Federal Natural Resources Department reported that 69 new fires across the country last week. That raised the total to 955.
In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, nearly 200 wildfires have already burned 1.7 million hectares of forest, with ten communities being evacuated. There are also serious fires in Nova Scotia, while in British Columbia, thousands of lightning strikes increased the number of active fires from 20 in the middle of last week to about a hundred now.
Canada is home to some of the world’s largest forests, and major fires have now become a regular occurrence in summer. Climate experts say rising temperatures have led to drier timber and therefore an increased fire risk. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed a topic of criticism by U.S. officials, saying that climate change was the responsibility of everyone including the United States.
But it isn’t just fires affecting the USA. Other parts of the United States are experiencing unusually heavy rain, leading to flooding. Those states on watch are Texas, Alaska, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. All have experienced record rainfalls causing flash flooding across the country and all are credited to climate change.
Elsewhere in the world, Norway is battling the biggest fire in its history. It began in and still threatens the city of Drammen, which has a population of 105,000 residents and is roughly 34 kilometres southwest of Oslo, the capital. Like most of Norway, Drammen is surrounded by forests.
Meanwhile, in the West African nation of Gambia, their problems from man-made climate change is a huge rise in salinity, from rising sea levels getting into their underground water supplies and storage, and essentially poisoning the land and the drinking water supplies. It’s so bad it’s threatening the whole nation with extinction.
Gambia is a tiny nation. Much of the rest of Africa is currently in flood after intense rainfall drenched the densely populated coastal regions of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria. More than a hundred and forty millimetres of rain fell in some cities in less than a day. The deluge overwhelmed drainage systems, triggering a series of flash floods.
34 people died in Ghana, five died in Togo. In Côte d’Ivoire, 59 people have died. The World Weather Attribution Team said such a deluge was five times more likely in today’s changed climate. They said that heavy three day downpours in the region had increased in intensity by roughly 23 per cent since record keeping began.
Now to Thailand, where climate change has brought a similar problem. The Thai government has requested Japanese assistance to implement new water management projects for the Chao Phraya River basin to mitigate its own flooding problems. They are becoming more frequent. And all this has come at a time when studies warn that man-made climate change is altering conditions across Southeast Asia.
But finally, I have some good news. Credible media reports say that the Australian Labor Party is likely to adopt a gas export tax at next week’s ALP National Conference. The conference is in Adelaide. And this comes after months of pressure from across the political spectrum.
And the unofficial word from Labor sources say that the Albanese government is considering several new policies related to climate change, starting with the gas export tax and other tax incentives including removing fossil fuel subsidies.
We will watch this one carefully. And that small piece of good news among a scene of fire and floods elsewhere in the world ends our round up this week.
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Jingle: (15:28)
Listen to our Sustainable Hour – for the future.
. . .
Tony: (15:34)
Our guest is Johann Hoschtialek from the Caribbean island of Grenada. That’s a first for us. Johann has got a very ambitious project that he’s going to tell us all about today called ‘195 in 365’. So, Johan, thank you very much for coming on. It’s morning here, evening over there, we understand.
Johann Hoschtialek: (16:03)
Thank you very much for having me. Glad to be here!
Tony: (16:07)
So tell us about this. It’s an incredibly ambitious initiative that you’re planning.
Johann: (16:13)
Well, I’ll tell you this. I’m in my 50s now, but I was always an environmentalist. Saved the whales back in the 1980s and so on. I was pleased when my oldest daughter – when she turned 11 – she started to follow in my footsteps. I’m from the little island of Grenada, by the way. You know, composting and recycling in school, etc.
It was years ago. We were sitting together looking at the state of the planet and what could we do about it.
And that’s where the idea came initially for a father and daughter to go around the world to ask the world to change. What followed took four years of research on my part. Then we launched, and shortly after we launched, the Minister of Environment saw what we are doing and asked my daughter to be the youth representative at COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
I am a man of strong faith. I found God saying to me, Johann, you need to make this bigger than yourself. You need to invite youth from around the world.
And fast forward from then to now. We are now preparing to go to 195 countries of the world within 365 days with a youth representative from every country of the world, plus seven youth representatives from the indigenous regions of the world, because we believe that they need to also have a voice on the international community for three main things: awareness, education and mobilisation. In other words, what are the problems around the world?
How can we fix them – and empower youth all around the world to say: Come, let’s get the job done and pushing to make a the world a better place! That is in its simplest of forms.
Mik: (17:50)
So can we go through those three things?
Johann: (17:54)
Okay, well, you know, a lot of people say, my gosh, we’re looking at climate change, etc. And I say two things here. Firstly, I see climate change as a symptom and not the cause. The cause is humanity’s lost its way. We’ve forgotten what it’s like to be our neighbours’ keeper and the custodians of the planet. And in addressing it, you cannot look at climate change in its singularity of saying, okay, we’re gonna put down solar panels and bam! the world is gonna be a better place.
That’s not true. That’s a fallacy. And I mean, I love what the United Nations did about 10 or 11 years ago when they came out with the SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals for the whole planet. And it is exactly that. We look at these things because you have to look at everything from biodiversity loss, life below sea. You have to look at gender equality. I’ll give you a simple thing. Look, if you give a man a hundred dollars and ask him and he is broke or he is in poverty, he’s not gonna go and put down a solar panel. He’s gonna feed his family.
So unless we take a holistic view of the challenges we have around the planet and say, okay, let’s see how it varies from country to country, how can we work together as a planetary species and come together, that’s only then can we make the difference essential to save our planet or save our position in this planet before it’s too late.
Mik: (19:16)
And so that was the first one.
Johann: (19:18.518)
Okay, so again, those are the problems. Education. Now I’ll say education here. It is looking at everything from how do we mitigate, become more resilient, or adapt to a changing planet. That’s one part of it. The other part of it is this.
It’s not as if we don’t have the solutions out there. The solutions are already available. In other words, we have lots of fantastic people around the world who are making a difference, who have come up with solutions, whether it is from solar panels, whether it’s been innovative in terms of desalination, etc. It is to highlight these solutions to how universities, how academia, how NGOs are working to make a difference. So that’s why I say is seeing the solutions.
And thirdly, mobilisation, and this comes into a bigger part of what we’re doing. And that’s actually the biggest part within it.
But it is: how do we get the youth involved to give a hoot? Yeah. Especially in the times where and I use a big we even have a part of our convoy which is called the Hope Convoy. It is firstly to give youth a sense of hope.
BBC did a report about five years ago, they said for youth between the ages of 18 and 25, 10,000 of them they interviewed, they found that 56 per cent of them believed that the future was hopeless.
These are odds I cannot live with. I have three girls. It’s as if you tell me one or two of them believes they have no future. No, and that’s why we fight. It is firstly to give youth a sense of hope, empowerment, and of the belief that together not only that we can, but that we will change this planet together. So that is in its simplest of form. I can go into more details in a moment, but just to understand what it is for yes please.
Colin: (21:04)
Johan, I’m more interested in the mechanics of the thing, if you like. Once you’ve got your one 195 representatives in, inside a year, how are you going to mobilise them, and what are you actually going to be doing with all those people?
Johann: (21:21)
So it is going to be about 200, a little bit over 200 youth that are going around the world with our team of about 100 people. So for the most part, it is 146 countries by land, 33 by plane, including Australia, and the Caribbean in a flotilla of yachts. Especially for the land portion of the trips. Look, this initiative is one of humanity’s most audacious attempts to say, how can we save us as a human species?
So we said in everything that we do, we’ve put forward the concept of thinking outside the box. That’s what we need to do a lot more.
So for the youth representatives from each country, we said the application is a simple application. First of all, we’re offering meals, travel, accommodation, plus a per diem to the chosen youth representative of each country. We’ve said this. We want to see if these youth have the passion, the storytelling ability, and the you know, the gusto to be able to do this. So to kick it off, it’s a simple process. It’s a two-minute video of who am I? Where am I from? What have I done in my country? What is the initiative 195 and 365 in my perspective? And how would I change the world if I were the chosen youth representative?
That they have to post on their social media, tag us in, and put it in the application form which we have on our website.
But I have to tell you, we’ve been getting a gazillion of these videos coming in, and you should see the passion oozing out of some of the youth that are coming there who they’re not asking for permission. They’re saying, ‘Listen, we’re gonna change the planet. Whether you old folks are on board or not we’re making this happen!’
So what we’ve created with this is sort of a vessel for these youth to be able to connect with youth all around the world. Look, when we go into a country, we’ll be using these especially for the land portion of the trip. We’re using these sort of sleeper coach buses that could sleep ten people, etc. Going in different directions. So one’s going to see the bleach in the reefs, another one deforestation, another one meeting with indigenous peoples, etc. Another one speaking at schools.
But afterwards they come back together to join the main convoy made up of trucks with trailers. So we have the trailers that sort of open out to become like conference centres. We have one with a 33-foot television screen, an innovation centre, a mobile stage pulled by an electric truck to go around the world to do COP-like events in every country we’re going to. So instead of it being a Conference of the Parties, it’s a Conference of the People.
And I can tell you, we have been speaking to thousands of NGOs all across the world, multiple UN organisations, so they can bring out the youth to come to these events and having scientists, experts, celebrities, whether in the music, film, counter, or sport industry, all coming out there as I said to give the youth this sort of hope, this sort of gusto to say, come let’s do this. So imagine this is being sort of like a Roman circus or affair.
And where all of these organisations have the opportunity to set up the different tents, et cetera, along with our stuff. So when we say into the youth, you know, you give them this sort of empowerment, etc., you say, look at all the different organisations you all can get involved with, that you all can then use this to sort of be the global volunteers, to be the the change we need for the planet. And as I use those words, I’ll share this. When we first started this, our mantra was make a change. (24:54)
Soon, though, we realised ‘make a change’ is what’s the problem with humanity. We want everybody else to change, but ourselves. And then we realise that if we want true success, it has to be ‘Be the change’. Change starts with self. And this sort of paradigm shift that we’re looking at for humanity is what this big push has been in getting everybody on board to say, come, let’s get together, let’s do this, let’s make the world a better place. And I can tell you all the responses globally has been phenomenal. Now, permit me if I could to tell you one of the really coolest parts of the events that we’re doing.
And you guys… I mean, the audience wouldn’t see this, but you could sort of see it in the background here. along the way, we’re gonna be having certain special events happening. So for example, when we’re in the Atacama Desert, that’s where fast fashion goes to die. So if the all the clothing that you don’t use in the States or that that’s not sold by Walmart, etc. is shipped down to Chile. If it’s not sold, it’s dumped in the desert and there are huge mountains of clothes. We plan to do the world’s first sort of trash on fashion show there, etc.
But when we get to Grenada, I don’t know if you know Grenada is the site of the world’s first underwater sculpture park. Well, in collaboration with the Grenadian government, we plan to build an underwater arena similar to that of the United Nations. So it looks like the United Nations General Assembly underwater. And the youth representatives from every country of the world will be going underwater. You’ll see a sign that says Australia, Vanuatu to Grenada, US, etc.
And the youth will be going underwater to vote on five key issues:
1) the plastics treaty
2) the high seas treaty
3) a banning of deep sea mining
4) a banning of bottom trawlers,
5) ocean pollution.
But they’re not just voting on these issues. They’re going to be voting, having caucus with NGOs and academia in their various countries. What does that mean? In collaboration with one of our partners that are coming out with an environmental app.
Anybody can vote. So whether you’re a student in secondary school, high school, or in university, or just a parent at home that believes that the environment is something that’s worth saving, or the oceans and conserving, you can vote. The votes will then be tallied from each country, and however each country votes, or however Australia votes, that’s how the youth representative will be voting underwater.
But they’re not just gonna be voting, so it’s gonna be brought across live across to the world in multiple languages. And it is the possibility afterwards for the Prime Minister to tell. Yep, sorry, please…?
Colin: (27:31)
How deep is the water, Johann?
Johann: (27:34)
Where it’s gonna be located, it’s 35 feet. They’ll all have scuba gear and be certified divers as they prepare for this, because all of this is part of a bigger program we have already been putting in place.
But the thing is when they finish voting, it allows a prime minister to tell governments of the world that civil society is saying that we need to take action now.
But more importantly than all of that is it gives people a voice. It gives people all around the world a feeling that my voice matters, what I think counts. And that is part of the big movement we’re creating.
Tony: (28:11)
I think it’s easy to gain insights into the youth representers by just looking at you and the way you operate and the passion with which you speak. But I’m just wondering, like this is an incredible initiative that you’ve managed to put together. Was there a particular event where you felt this is the tipping point? ‘This is going to work?’
Johann: (28:36)
I’ll tell you this. For me, this has been a walk in faith. There’s been a th… We’re close there now, yeah. I mean right now we’ve spoken with the cabinet, we actually presented to the cabinet of the government of Grenada to make this a diplomatic mission. I’ve spoken with the UN, many different bodies directly.
But we weren’t always there. It took forever to get from where we started to know. In the beginning, a gazillion people said, You’re crazy, it will never work. And so many doors got shut in my face. But I’ll say it a little bit differently. I am a proud father of three girls wanting a better world. That’s what drives me. They when things were rough, and you know, sometimes I wanted to give up my faith in God, say nope.
Too much is at stake. So every time, you know, when things got really bad, I would say, look, what would happen if we did nothing? With that… I cannot live with that.
And that’s been my driving force. So it’s not today for tomorrow that I said, woohoo, everything’s got better. I would say it’s been drip feed of one door opens, then another door opens, then I after a few years I got into LinkedIn and I was just like how I connected with you, Tony. It’s really I’ve learned to weaponise LinkedIn to get to people, looking at where they put a tick on something. So… And I would say LinkedIn has been a a key point for me in terms of the change of how we get the message to the world.
Colin: (30:09)
I’m really interested, you know, when you’re asking your new representatives to tell you what they’ve done for their communities, what have you and your three daughters done for Grenada?
Johann: (30:23)
Okay, well I can tell you my oldest daughter, we’ve done loads of cleanups here. We’ve spoken at schools here. I’ve been speaking well, my daughter and I have been speaking in many universities around the world at different COP events, etc. She even testified at the Inter-American Court for Human Rights on climate justice, that the climate is a human right for everybody and they actually won the case last year. So
If you ever google ‘Jovana Hoschtialek’, you’ll see that there.
I’ve been in the background intricately involved with our solid waste department here on getting our recycling system from our composting or recycle organics from the plastics. We did a whole two years ago nationwide event where we got all the different NGOs coming on board to do weather cleanups, underwater cleanups, launching of various initiatives. We’ve been very active.
Not only in Grenada in the region, but internationally also. And I just quickly say this to you here, because I’ve said this to my daughter and I say to others, and I learned this from my father. It is practice what you preach. It’s not do as I say, but do as I do. And that’s what we have done consistently in all our aspects of this initiative.
And by the way, just so that you know we plan to do all of this with net zero and to have minimal environmental footprint as possible. In other words, whether we’re gonna be planting trees, et cetera, or offsetting, using electric vehicles, even in terms of how we show the world the waste, we’re using everything from recycling, no single plastics, we have our own kiln for recycling, etc.
. . .
SONG
‘Catch the ball’ – mp3 audio
Johann Hoschtialek: “We want a world where we can, in peace, coexist with one another and have a better planet. Let’s come together and be the change for the planet. Be the change.”
Verse 1:
From one small island shore
a father dreamed of more
A daughter raised her voice
turned her feelings into choice
They called our dream too wild
but we stepped across the tide
One hundred ninety-five
young voices come alive
Chorus:
Catch the ball! Then pass it on!
Around the world, with a simple song
Catch the ball!
Come hell or high water, we’re starting out
Sing ‘Be the change!’, and sing it loud
Verse 2:
From nations far apart
we meet with open hearts
Old borders lose their hold
New stories can be told
Size does not decide strength
A spark can light in many ways
We’re moving with or without you
For three hundred sixty five days
Chorus:
Catch the ball! Then pass it on!
Around the world, with a simple song
Catch the ball!
Come hell or high water, we’re starting out
Sing ‘Be the change!’, and sing it loud
Bridge:
Our gift belongs to all
Johann Hoschtialek: “The youth of the planet want a different planet…”
The future makes the call
“…for us to coexist on.”
One planet, one shared home
No one should stand alone
Final chorus:
Catch the ball! Then pass it on!
Around the world, with a simple song
Catch the ball!
Come hell or high water, we’re starting out
Sing ‘Be the change!’, and sing it loud
Spoken outro:
Someone throws you the future.
You catch it.
You make your pledge.
You pass it on.
Johann Hoschtialek: “Right now it is not about crying over spilled milk, it is: what are you guys going to do to change it? And how can we, our generation, help you in the process to make that happen?”
You pass it on.
. . .
Mik: (32:06)
Johann, in The Sustainable Hour, over the last year or so, I think we have spoken with so many people who mention and we come back to this topic again and again, the topic of inequality. What that means when it comes to the climate problems that we have. That not everyone is equal in terms of their interest in solving this problem. There’s actually people who are profiting from creating the mess. And we are seeing this gap between rich and poor expanding, and the politicians are not willing to take any action. We see that again and again. So it seems to me that if you come in as a young person, these are big systematic problems we have in society. How are they going to fix that?
Johann: (32:54)
Well, I’ll tell you this, I don’t like to use the word R as in Revolution. And this is not I’m not a revolutionary. I’m just a simple dad of three girls. But I feel you because this is a constant thing that many youth are saying. Look, Grenada is the world’s eleventh smallest country. Yeah. We’re probably about the size of Sydney. We are that small.
But I always say and I say to the youth, size does not determine strength. We are if we want true change, you need to have three key stakeholders involved:
1) Civil Society, i.e. NGOs and academia
2) Governments and multilateral organisations like the World Bank, UN etc.
3) Business community and corporations.
But it has to be in that order. It is a grassroots led movements that are causing governments – or nudging governments and I use that word there to really take proper policy decisions that start to hold business and corporations accountable for their actions, so they start to address the ESGs and the CSRs. And it is that sort of movement that is right now this is a SIDS led initiative. Right?
We’ve been speaking to AOSIS [the Alliance of Small Island States], the CARICOM, et cetera. I’ve had the esteemed pleasure of speaking to many ministers in Africa. I was also supposed to present when I was in the UN to the caucus of the African Union. What we’re offering the African Union is the opportunity to collaborate and partner with us because this is a global south led initiative to the world, whereby we’re saying to the world, yes to the global north, we appreciate and we would like your help. But understand this: With or without you, we are going to make this planet a better place.
I can tell you, you can feel the hunger, the drive, that the passion coming, especially from African countries in the youth there that are saying, ‘Come hell or high water, we’re gonna make this world a better place!’
So we invite you, Mr. and Mrs. from the Global North, join us in this quest that we can create a world that is more equitable for one and all. And in showing what we do. By the way, I did forget, how do we get a messaging out?
The youth who are gonna be with us, they’re gonna be constantly blogging, vlogging, doing podcasts, etc. Our creative team working with some fantastic producers and directors, we’re gonna be doing a documentary feature film on this and a reality series that will be coming out every following week, a 25 minute episode in many languages, so that the message could get back to people of all different languages of the world, not just English.
Right now the challenge we have globally is 70 per cent of the messaging is in English. We want people to be able to to hear it in Swahili, in Malay, in whatever language your people are. And feel the pride internally as you see your indigenous or or your youth from your country doing what seemed as impossible, going around the world, telling the message and showing your people what’s happening. Yes, please.
Colin: (35:52)
Brilliant, Johann! And it’s wonderful! How are you going to fund it?
Johann: (35:56)
Lovely, best thing. Now a friend of mine said this the other day: ‘Johan, this is a corporation’s wet dream!’ In other words, we are going to 195 countries of the world. You have electric vehicles that are going along… The youth who are going along with us are gonna be blogging, vlogging, using all so whether it’s an Apple phone or a Samsung or Huawei phone, yeah, we will be the types of clothing, the fact that we have all the buses that should one of the companies that are partnering with us, they’re actually gonna be offering us the drones to do drone displays in the night where you could then put the logos for the corporations, etc.
And not only about the possibility of funding have to say humbly it’s been amazing to see you you ever see a bird catch a good thermal and they keep going in circles higher and higher I am meeting the companies that I am meeting with that are not only now pledging the support, let’s just say some very, very big companies, not companies, corporations.
I have meetings lined up with the CEO of them and one of actually two of which are the CEOs of two big car manufacturing companies that we are in talks with, among others, in terms of we’re now getting to that level to get the funding together for hopefully to be able to kick off in as early as autumn of this year. Well, our autumn. Your spring.
Colin: (37:25)
That’s wonderful! I just hope that the car manufacturers are manufacturers of electric cars because that’s what we’re talking about.
Johann: (37:34)
Absolutely!
Colin: (37:35)
No, I just wonder whether it was Tesla and Elon Musk and I couldn’t see him coming on board but
Johann: (37:40)
The two car manufacturers that I have meetings coming up with are both European based presently with the CEOs. But we have ongoing talks with also some of the camera production company. We had a pitch with them the other day. And and and I’m happy to say that we are right now coming in the right circles. What we’re now waiting on, as as I said previously, I presented to the government of Grenada the opportunity for making this a diplomatic mission.
That has been the biggest part that we’re looking at because as you know, getting people not everybody has a powerful passport like Australia. It is using this mission as little David took Goliath and Grenada because of its size. We’re good friends with the Russians, the Chinese, the Arabs, the Africans, the Americans, Europeans, etcetera. We have no enemies. So it’s not seen as a threat.
But it’s also a critical thing we need for government to government interaction and for the diplomatic support that we’re looking for. So for visas, security, logistics, et cetera. Yes.
Mik: (38:43)
So speaking of the interaction, if I as an Australian really get excited from listening to you and want to be part of this, what’s the next step and and how do we get involved as individuals, for instance in our country, Australia?
Johann: (38:58)
So very good that you said that. Firstly, it’s easy to go to the website for now, 195and365.com or you could see the YouTube videos as how easy it is to make the videos to then post on your social media tag in us in. And we haven’t even officially put out the flyer yet. This is just from word of mouth, the the the the videos that are coming in. We were officially waiting for the government of Grenada to put that official partnership out so that people could see the legitimacy of what we’re doing while we put this thing forward.
And as I said, from there it is then vi very easy to get involved. I want to add extra point. It’s not just about the youth who are going around the world. It is also for the volunteering in your country to help. I’ll give you an example. We were invited last year by Youth for Water Plus in India. Over half a million members. They like so much what we’re doing that they’re now preparing to go around India to do their own convoy around India with the same thing.
We’ve had similar success with African Youth for Climate Change over a million members, Le Jeunesse Africaine pour le changement climatique, also Gabon, all of them wanting to do various caravans across. This has become a movement even though, you know, and I’ll add another part.
We’ve had youth organisations, as you said, asking how they can get involved that have indicated to us in many countries that they’re already saving funds so that they can rent buses, so they could join us for a few countries before, to a few countries after and the opportunity that we have then for training sessions for them to make them change makers for their countries has just been huge.
Colin: (40:39)
What stage are you at with choosing the representatives from the countries?
Johann: (40:46)
We’ve said we’re gonna do this differently. In other words, we want stakeholder buying in all across the world. Working with NGOs in the various countries who are then basically mandated to sort of filter through the thousands or tens of thousands of applications who want to take part. These applications are coming, getting in from around the world for their various countries, so that the stakeholders could sort of break it down to the Top 20, et cetera, for each country, for us to then go through the the final deliberations.
Because for us, even though this initiative came from Grenada, this is our present to humanity. This is our present to the world for everybody to own. So it’s not just us saying, yes, we’re doing this, this is the person. No. We want everybody involved to say, come, let’s get together as a planetary species and save the world before it’s too late.
Which brings me in to the other part, if I could, about this. I know the audience can’t see it, but Grenada is called the “Isle of Spice.”
We’re the second largest producers of nutmeg. And as such, five years ago, my daughter made the global nutmeg football. It is a football that’s a globe and a nutmeg in one as a sort of pledge for humanity to make a change for the betterment when they get it. You know, spices with the original presents, etc., with Jesus and all of that.
The Be The Change campaign, where you know just like with the ice bucket challenge, people get the football and they have somebody throw them the ball, they catch the ball, they say I’m kicking off “195 in 365 in Melbourne”. And they kick the ball and then they make the pledge – Be The Change. You know, we’ve had many influences, football stars and especially with football World Cup and celebrities who’ve already said, when you’re ready to kick off the campaign, let’s do this. So we now just waited on the government to really kick off this big global campaign that’s coming with it also.
And I say that because it is us using social media and all of these as a tool to really get youth around the world involved to say, Let’s do this. Yes, please.
Colin: (42:57)
Well look, I’m glad you’ve brought us up football into the conversation, Johann, because I’m thinking of the Tartan Army, the Scottish fans who followed Scotland into America and just about took over Boston through being happy and having a glorious time and have holding parties everywhere and putting cones on statues and doing the unusual and then cleaning up after themselves and they virtually won friends everywhere. And if you were to ask me my advice for a group of young people who are turning up and wanting to convert people or to change people’s thinking, I would suggest use the Tartan army as a blueprint and just go and have fun. But get people involved and when you leave, they’ll say, ‘We missed those people, we need to get them back!’
Johann: (44:02)
Exactly. Exactly. And you see, this is why we used football. Football, you know, the world could get angry with one another and it unfortunately too often does. But what still unites the world is football. And that is one of the mechanisms we have for this. As I just said that about unifying the world. Let me add another quick point here. There is actually an added plus to what we’re doing. Look, we’re gonna be having a Ukrainian, a Russian, a Congolese, a Rwandan, an Israeli, a Palestinian, an American, Iranian, Pakistani and Indian, all coming with us on this trip.
And it’s an opportunity for us not only to show the world or ask the world to change, but showing them how we do it. And that the youth of the planet want a different planet for us to coexist on. We actually even have the Hope Mobile, which is you know, like the VW camper van that they used to have there, but an electric one whereby every two other youth will be driving an electric vehicle going around the world. In other words, constantly changing. But we will have representatives from countries which are sort of at odds with one another, if I could put it as diplomatic as possible. Showing the world, look, these youth can coexist.
This is what the youth want. We want a world where we can in peace coexist with one another and have a better planet. And with them, yes, as much as I’m the old fogey and and the leader of this, this is a youth led initiative through and through. The youth are doing this. We’re just here to guide them. We’re here to give them the tools to empower them to say, ‘Guys, you all are the ones that have to take care of the planet for the mess we’ve made, which we’re sorry about, but partner, right now it’s not about crying over spilt milk. It’s what are you guys gonna do to change it? And how can we, our generation, help you in the process to make that happen?’
Yeah. So I just wanted to tie up to that to say, you know, I am really humbled as to how this has grown from just a simple conversation with a father and daughter to now that bigger thing of how we are uniting the world to say: Let’s come together to be the change for the planet. So thank you.
. . .
Jingle
. . .
Mik: (46:22)
What better way to celebrate our 600th episode mark or whatever we call it… – it’s not a birthday, but we feel somewhat proud that we’ve come to number 600.
And this wonderful enthusiasm and this positive energy you have delivered today, Johan, that’s exactly what we need to move on into our next hundred episodes. And interestingly, we are back to the first slogan. We started out 13 years ago with saying, ‘Be the change’. And we said that every program we ended it with saying, ‘Be the change’. And then we started saying ‘Be the difference’, and so on.
What I really like is your slogan, ‘Come hell or high water, we will make this world a be a better world!’ Wonderful!
Johann: (47:06)
Thank you. Thank you.
Mik: (47:08)
High five!
Tony: (47:10)
Yeah. And ‘Our present to humanity’ is a good one as well.
Johann: (47:16)
But but but… hold on! Before you go, I just want to add something quickly if I could. I’m a little upset with you. Do you like this initiative?
Colin:
Yes!
Johann:
No, Tony, do you like this initiative?
Tony: (47:24)
Yes, very much so!
Johann: (47:29)
Then claim it. This is – as I said – our present to you too. Stop saying ‘your initiative’ and please start saying ‘our initiative’.
Tony:
It is as much my initiative as it is yours.
Johann:
Thank you! I feel honoured for that now. Yes.
Colin: (47:40)
I wanted to say that you… I think you’re aiming it correctly at youth. Because number 1: they’re the people who are gonna be much more affected than my generation certainly. And you once you get them on a roll, once you get the young people of the world working together and on a roll, it’s something that’s never happened before. And it will be remarkable. So all I’ll say is: More power to your elbow and just keep it rolling!
Johann: (48:13)
Yes! Be that change for the planet!
. . .
SONG
‘I Heard It on The Sustainable Hour’
Verse 1:
I woke up feeling like the world’s on fire,
Storms are rising, rivers running drier.
But then I tuned in, turned the dial,
And found a reason to stay inspired.
Pre-Chorus:
They said, “The greatest threat is thinking someone else will do it.”
But I can feel the change – I know we’re moving through it.
Chorus:
I heard it on The Sustainable Hour –
Hope’s alive, and the time is now.
Stand up, speak out, let’s build our power,
Be the difference – we know how.
Verse 2:
They talk of profits, pipelines, and delay,
But we’ve got voices that won’t fade away.
From city streets to the coastal sand,
We’re backing leaders who take a stand.
Pre-Chorus:
They said, “A society grows great when we plant trees in whose shade we may never sit.”
So let’s rise up, this is it.
Chorus:
I heard it on The Sustainable Hour –
Hope’s alive, and the time is now.
Stand up, speak out, let’s build our power,
Be the difference – we know how.
Bridge – “I” to “We”:
We are the voices, we are the wave,
Lifting each other, brave and unafraid.
It’s not too late, don’t wait for someday,
Together we’ll light the way.
Final Chorus:
We heard it on The Sustainable Hour –
Hope’s alive, and the time is now.
Rise up, reach out, this is our power,
Be the difference – we know how!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Events we have talked about in The Sustainable Hour
Events in Victoria
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