LAST YEAR, countries all over the world witnessed some of largest ever Black Lives Matter protests, inspired by the death in police custody of George Floyd.

The protests highlighted not only systemic racism but the formidable economic and social barriers faced by of black communities. However recent years have also seen young black activists increasingly highlighting the direct links between racial inequality and climate justice.

A growing body of research pinpoints the fact that in cities, both in Europe and the US, black and minority ethnic communities are living in close proximity to major health hazards such as polluted roads and sources of toxic waste such as sewage works,  power stations and landfills.

Climate hazards

African and Caribbean countries are disproportionately located in parts of the world that are vulnerable to climate hazards, hurricanes and flooding

Africa is warming faster than the rest of world according to research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

And despite generating only 0.36 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) suffer most from extreme weather driven by climate change, such as rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes and longer dry seasons.

Young black social media savvy campaigners from across the world are increasingly speaking up about these issues. And the world is taking notice.

As world leaders gather in Glasgow for COP 26 we highlight the work of some of these activists who are aiming to change the world.

Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti, Kenya

Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti is a Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which encourages young people to love nature and be environmentally conscious from a young age.

In 2019, she was awarded the Africa Green Person of the Year Award by the Eleven Eleven Twelve Foundation and named as one of the 100 Most Influential Young Africans by the Africa Youth Awards

The Green Generation Initiative, which has a team of over 30 volunteers, has helped plant 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya.

“I have long had a great passion for environmental conservation” she says. “Growing up in Nyeri County, renowned for having the highest forest cover in Kenya, I planted my first tree at the age of 7 and then went on to establish an environmental club in my high school with the help of my geography teacher.

If I don’t step up as a young person to address the challenges we are facing today, then nobody else will.

Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti

“The main aim of Green Generation Initiative is to address global environmental challenges that I have identified with since I was a child, including deforestation, pollution and environmental injustices. If I don’t step up as a young person to address the challenges we are facing today, then nobody else will. Growing up I thought I might have been too young to make a huge impact. But now I know that it is the little things we do that matter the most, and they eventually make a huge difference. Even so, I would not be where I am today without the support and inspiration of a few very important people.”

She adds: “If there is one thing that I have always wanted to change for the world, it is the mindset of the people towards environmental conservation. I want to inspire people through my work. I want to raise a generation of young, passionate environmentalists who will fight fearlessly to protect natural resources. I want to change the story and make people understand that we are not doing this for us, but we are doing it for the future generations from whom we have borrowed this planet.”

Dominique Palmer, UK

Palmer is a climate justice activist in England who has been featured in the Forbes 100 UK Environmentalists List.

Much of her campaigning work has focused on climate change issues that intersect with social issues.

The Birmingham University student studies Politics and International Relations at is part of the UK Student Climate Network, Fridays for Future International and Extinction Rebellion (XR) Youth.

Palmer spoke at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25).

She was also a launch organizer for Climate Live, a concert series which took place last month which aimed to use “the universal language of music” to engage, educate and empower new audiences to pressure world leaders (political, economic and cultural) to take action to combat the climate crisis

“I feel as youth, we have this renewed energy. We haven’t had much time to experience the system as it is” Palmer told Wen (Women’s Environment Network). “We come into this and we’re like, why are we existing in such an exploitative system? And, in the youth spaces, I find there’s more focus on making it an intersectional movement looking at how the climate crisis is linked to other issues such as gender equality, Black Lives Matter and discrimination against people of colour globally. These kinds of issues, I feel, in youth spaces we really push and I do feel that we have that fresh perspective.”

Oladosu Adenike, Nigeria

Adenike, who describes herself on social media as the eco-feminist, grew up in Nigeria, where she is a country ambassador for Fridays for Future, an international, intersectional movement of students striking for climate change launched after teenager Greta Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis.

In 2019, Oladosu was the recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International Nigeria and she spoke to world leaders at the UN youth climate summit.

She is also the founder of I Lead Climate, a youth-led movement raising awareness about climate change induced problems in conflict zones in Africa, and especially in the Lake Chad region.

“Lake Chad borders Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon” she says. “It has now shrunk by 90%, and as it underpins the livelihoods of many people, this shrinkage is now leading to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

We hope that everyone of us can feel empowered to be united behind the science for the people and the planet

Oladosu Adenike

“The work of I Lead Climate has positively influenced the actions of many local people. I am receiving more and more questions at gatherings, which really shows how the engagement and interest has grown. People often ask about how farms can be more eco-efficient, and I am able to suggest sustainable alternatives: for example, replanting reusable waste rather than burning (as is the norm) will help the soil get richer in nutrients and avoid killing essential microbes.

“Changes like this means that we are reducing emissions that would have been trapped in the atmosphere. The head of community has also expressed that there has been a significant reduction in the cutting down of trees, due to the knowledge the Checheyi community now have on climate change.

“At I Lead Climate, we are optimistic that the changes we are fighting for will become a reality. From this, we hope that everyone of us can feel empowered to be united behind the science for the people and the planet.”

Jerome Foster II, USA

Foster is the founder and executive director of One Million of Us, an international youth voting organization that aims to mobilize one million young people to vote in their national elections.

Foster is the youngest-ever White House Advisor in United States history, serving on the  White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council within the Biden administration. He has also been a leading advocate of black and indigenous communities becoming a visible part of climate activism.

Inspired by  fellow activist and close friend Greta Thurnberg Foster started organizing Fridays for Future school strikes in front of the White House. He has said that galvanising “a new generation of outspoken leaders” on the issue of climate change  is something that is important to him.

Last week Foster tweeted “COP 26 will be a testament to whether we stand alongside our planet and progress into the future or if we will fail to rise to the economic and political occasion that is needed to protect those that had little to do with starting this crisis in the first place.”

Vanessa Nakate, Uganda

Vanessa Nakate is a Ugandan climate justice activist and founder of the Rise Up Movement.Nakate grew up in Kampala, and got involved in activism in 2018 after being worried about unusually high temperatures in the east African country.

“I asked my uncle to tell me how hot it was 20 years earlier. He told me he thought it was much hotter now.

“So I read more, and decided to go on strike in January 2019. It took me some days to build up the courage because I never went on strike for anything before No other students would join me because many were too afraid, so I asked my siblings. We made signs and striked together.”

When Nakate, now 24, was cropped out of a wire photo featuring her and four white climate change activists including Thunberg, it drew attention that she now uses to expand her work in Uganda and beyond

Nakate said she launched the  Rise Up Movement to help shine a spotlight on  the voices of climate activists from Africa.

You cannot adapt to lost cultures, you cannot adapt to lost traditions. You cannot adapt to extinction.

Vanessa Nakate

Her campaigning work sheds light on the imperative for policymakers to value the lived experiences of oft-overlooked groups such as women, youths, and citizens of developing nations.

In a pre COP26 Youth Summit speech Nakate said: “In the past few years, I have seen more and more of how the climate crisis is affecting the African continent. Which is ironic given that Africa is the lowest emitter of carbon dioxide emissions of all continents, except for Antarctica… Many Africans are losing their lives, while countless more are losing their livelihoods.” 

During her speech Nakate spoke about how simply trying to adapt to the weather, rather than stepping up to actually halt climate change completely, will not be enough. And complacency means entire communities who are disproportionately affected are at risk and fighting for survival.  

“There is one thing I almost never hear leaders talk about, and that is loss and damage. For many of us, reducing and avoiding is not enough. You cannot adapt to lost cultures, you cannot adapt to lost traditions, you cannot adapt to lost history, you cannot adapt to starvation. You cannot adapt to extinction.”