“Every president, every prime minister, when you look back, you feel a bit frustrated because you understand that you could have done a lot more. That's a normal sense, a normal frustration that every president and every prime minister has. And looking back, I am very proud. But I could have done a lot more.”

What words of wisdom does a former president who has been both praised and criticised for his approach to the environment have to share with the next generation? In this episode, 18-year-old Zimbabwean climate activist Nkosi Nyathi gets the chance to pick the brains of Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos, who was president of Colombia from 2010 to 2018 and was credited for his efforts to bring the country’s 52-year-long civil war to an end. Together, they discuss what Mr Santos learned, and his regrets, from his time in office; the dilemmas faced by developing countries wanting to prosper without harming the planet; and how even presidents with little interest in sustainability can change their minds given the right persuasion.

To access the transcript of the show or find out more, go to - https://lp.panda.org/forces-of-nature-podcast/episode2

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Follow Juan Manuel Santos on Twitter https://twitter.com/juanmansantos or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/juanmanuelsantos/?hl=en

Check out Mr Santos’s peace-building non-profit, Compaz Foundation: https://fundacioncompaz.org/en/home-english/ 

Listen to Mr Santos on the Voices for Peace and Conservation podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKxzoIxia9w 

Follow Nkosi Nyathi on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nyathinkosilath_official05/?hl=en 

Check out Nkosi’s op ed on giving youth a voice in climate decision-making here: https://news.trust.org/item/20210525180627-dv6oq 

Check out Nkosi’s work with Unicef Zimbabwe here: https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/press-releases/unicef-appoints-young-zimbabwean-youth-climate-advocate