Climate activist Vanessa Nakate has been named on this year’s TIMES 100 NEXT list of most influential people in the world.
The graduate of Makerere University Business School (MUBS) started her activism in December 2018 after becoming concerned about the unusually high temperatures in Uganda.
She has been hailed by Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg as a powerful voice on climate issues in Africa.
“Vanessa Nakate continues to help lead the fight for climate justice. With her mantra, “We cannot eat coal. We cannot drink oil. Vanessa has become a powerful voice for an end to fossil-fuel investment across Africa,” Greta Thunberg mentioned.
Inspired by Greta Thunberg to start her own climate movement in Uganda, Nakate began a solitary strike against inaction on the climate crisis in January 2019.
For several months she was the lone protester outside of the gates of the Parliament of Uganda.
Eventually, other youth began to respond to her calls on social media for others to help draw attention to the plight of the Congolian rainforests.
Nakate founded the Youth for Future Africa and the likewise Africa-based Rise Up Movement.
Vanessa started the Green Schools Project, a renewable energy initiative, which aims to transition schools in Uganda to solar energy and install eco-friendly stoves in these schools.
Nakate was on the list of the BBC’s 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.
Nakate graduated with a Business Administration in marketing degree from Makerere University Business School.
Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news TIME magazine.
Cover photo courtesy of BBC
