As Greta Thunberg prepares to attend the COP26 Summit, here's 5 more Gen-Z climate activists you need to know about
Greta Thunberg was just 15-years old when she stood outside the Swedish parliament with a sign that read, ‘School Strike for Climate’.
Initially a solitary figure, Greta was soon joined by over 20,000 students from across the world, who skipped school to demand governmental action on climate change. By the age of 16, Greta had her first Nobel Peace Prize nomination (she's since been nominated twice), and her words "How dare you?", from a speech she gave at a UN climate conference in New York, are now the rallying cry of a generation determined not to be swept away by climate change.
Now, at 18-years-old, she's all set to attend the COP26 Conference in Glasgow this week. The conference will see 200 countries set out their plans to reduce carbon emissions, which are currently contributing to the rise in the Earth's temperature.
Greta recently told the BBC, “I don't see myself as a climate celebrity, I see myself as a climate activist... I should be grateful because there are many, many people who don't have a platform and who are not being listened to, their voices are being oppressed and silenced.”
In the spirit of platforming more voices within the climate justice movement, GLAMOUR are highlighting some of the incredible Gen-Z climate activists, who – like Greta Thunberg – have long been doing the groundwork to raise the alarm on the climate emergency.
From Vanessa Nakate, the 24-year-old who campaigned against deforestation across Africa, to Mari Copeny, the 13-year-old campaigning for clean water in Flint, Michigan, these are the change-makers our future depends on:
vanessanakate1/ InstagramVanessa Nakate
Instagram: @vanessanakate1
Vanessa Nakate is an Ugandan climate activist, who began campaigning in 2018 after becoming increasingly concerned about the unusually high temperatures in her country.
Speaking alongside Greta Thunberg at a Youth4Climate event in Milan earlier this year, Vanessa pointed out, “Africa is the lowest emitter of CO2 emissions of all continents – except for Antartica,” adding that, “Many Africans are losing their lives, while countless more have lost their livelihoods.”
Just as Greta started her campaign standing alone outside the Swedish parliament, Vanessa also spent several months as a lone protestor outside the Parliament of Uganda. Soon after her plight gained international attention, she founded Youth for Future Africa, the Rise Up Movement, and the Green Schools Project.
In an interview with Angelina Jolie for Time Magazine, Vanessa called out the whitewashing and white saviorism within the the climate justice movement, pointing to an incident where she was cropped out of a photo with four other climate activists, who happened to be white:
“This is continuously going to happen unless you put an end to a system that promotes white saviorism. If we don’t address the issue of racial justice, we won’t be able to get climate justice. So every climate activist should be advocating for racial justice because if your climate justice does not involve the most affected communities, then it is not justice at all.”
BirdgirlUK / InstagramMya-Rose Craig
Instagram: @birdgirluk
Mya-Rose Craig is a 19-year-old British-Bangladeshi ornithologist and environmental activist, who received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol for her transformative work within the conservation sector.
In her acceptance speech, she said, “Now more than ever, it is important to recognise that inequality of engagement creates inequality of opportunity and an unequal world is not a sustainable one. I hope that everyone will have their light bulb moment, like I did, when they realise what they really care about and want to fight for.”
Mya-Rose created the non-for-profit organisation Black2Nature, which helps Visibly Minority Ethnic (VME) children and teenagers to engage with nature, after she noticed that it was rare to see bird watchers from minority ethnic backgrounds.
In an interview with Country Living about why people from minority ethnic backgrounds may be reluctant to get involved with conservation efforts, Mya-Rose said, "Many members of VME communities are fearful of experiencing hate crime in the countryside.
“Conservation is a very white industry, which can make many feel excluded. Currently, 0.6% of those working in the environmental sector are VME, despite the fact we make up 13% of the population.”
howey_ou / InstagramHowey Ou
Instagram: @howey_ou
At the age of 16, Howey Ou (also known as Ou Hongyi) became the first teenager in China to go on strike from school to protest against governmental handling of climate change.
She stood outside City Hall in Guilin in South China's Guangxi Region holding a sign which called for stronger action on climate change. In 2020, she reported that she was told to stop her climate activism in order to restart her studies at Guangxi Normal University.
Howey Ou also started the hashtag #ChinaFloods in 2020 after China was hit by the worst flooding it had experienced in decades, saying “The floods here are unprecedented and haven't happened in people's living memory.” She continued, “These are specific and miniature manifestations of the climate catastrophe.
She told Bright Green in 2019, “The police warned me not to demonstrate anymore but the law says that I can still demonstrate if I get permission. I definitely can’t leave this crisis to others because it is our future and our only planet.”
autumn.peltier / InstagramAutumn Peltier
Instagram: @autumn.peltier
Autumn Peltier is an Anishinaabe Indigenous clean water advocate from the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Canada. She was inspired by her aunt Josephine Mandamen – who started the Water Walks (in which you pray and advocate for clean water) in Ontario – to continue her water advocacy.
She is the Chief Water Commissioner for the Aniishnabek Nation and, at the age of 13, she addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly, saying, “I can't stress enough what I have learned about the water from my elders in our ceremonies […] We believe our water is sacred.”
She continued, “One day I will be an ancestor and I want my great-grandchildren to know that I tried hard to fight so they can have clean drinking water.”
In September 2019, Autumn was nominated for an International Children's Peace Prize and was named on the United States Union of Concerned Scientists 2019 list of ‘Science Defenders’.
In an interview with ETFO Voice, she said, “There are many First Nations communities that cannot drink their water. Canada is one of the richest countries in the world. Why should our people be living in these conditions? When I had the chance, I told [Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] that I was very unhappy with the choices he has made.”
littlemissflint/ InstagramMari Copeny
Instagram: @littlemissflint (managed by her mother)
At 14-years old, Mari Copeny is already the face of a movement. Mari was only eight when she wrote a letter to Barack Obama (the then-President of the United States) to raise awareness of the lead-contaminated water in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. The President's subsequent visit to Flint focused international attention on the crisis, and prompted the US government to approve a relief payment of $100 million.
Known as ‘Little Miss Flint’, Mari is a tireless fundraiser, having raised $280,000 to distribute over one million bottles of water in Flint after the state stopped distributing free water, and over $500,000 for her Flint Kids projects, which include donating over 16,000 backpacks filled with school supplies.
In an interview with Vox, Mari said, "Flint is not unique. There are dozens of Flints across the country. Cases of environmental racism are on the rise and disproportionately affect communities of people of color and indigenous communities.”
Mari plans to run for President of the United States in 2044, and we're rooting for her every step of the way.
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