Third-world economies imagine climate change to be an issue not theirs for the solving. Even their age-long problems are yet to be addressed after all.

Among the enlightened folk here in Nigeria, there is the misconception that what little they can do wouldn’t go a long way in combating the enormous
challenge that is climate change. Therefore, the youths need orientation on the climate reality so they can individually be proactive through living an
eco-friendly lifestyle. Dr Aliyu Barau was born in Chedi ward in Kano City. He obtained Bachelor's, and Master’s degrees in Geography and subsequently Ph.D. in Environmental Planning. Since 2018, he has been an Associate Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at Bayero University Kano. He is passionate about transdisciplinary research and has been working on bridging knowledge barriers through his research works which cut across sustainability science, science advice and environmental advocacy, clean energy, urban informality, environmental history, spatial planning, transitions and transformation research, urban resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, decarbonization, protected ecosystems, and governance of socio-ecological systems.

His passion for knowledge ideation, distillation, and production has made it possible for him to work with influential international institutions such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), International Resource Panel of the UN Environment, Association of Commonwealth Universities, UN-Habitat and Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. In 2020, the Urban Climate Change Research Network of the Columbia University New York appointed him as its Director for the West Africa hub.

Dr. Barau serves as Principal Investigator and co-Investigator for various competitive international research grants worth tens of thousands of US dollars. He has published papers in many reputable journals including Nature (the world’s no.1 science journal). His book entitled Environment and Sustainable Development in the Quran was published in 2004 by IITN. He is also in the editorial team of the Third Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3.3) 2021-2023 to be published by Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Barau has presented his works at Cambridge University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, King Saud University, United Nations University (Bonn and Tokyo), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gothenburg University (Sweden), Oslo and Akerhus University (Norway), Goethe University - Frankfurt, Germany, University of Zurich, Switzerland, Saudi Institute of Public Administration, Riyadh, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing among others. Barau has traveled to all continents on the planet and has co-authors in every continent.

In both Google Scholar and ResearchGate H-index and citation metrics, Barau ranks among the top 5 at Bayero University Kano. Aliyu is married with children. He likes indigenous trees, birds’ songs, desert music, and documentary films. In the course of sustainability scholarship, Aliyu is privileged to meet with leaders with a passion for the environment and these include Emperor Naruhito of Japan, Charles, the Prince of Wales, late Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the Saudi Crown Prince, late Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, also Saudi Crown, and Elinor Ostrom, the 2009 Nobel Prize Winner among others. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx