In the fight against climate change, not all voices are heard equally but it's our job to ensure that it's impossible for them to be ignored. Climate justice are crucial careers that tackle the climate crisis and how they disproportionately affect marginalized communities. They fight for solutions rooted in justice, equity, and inclusion. Without them, our world would see the devasting effects of climate change much sooner.
Here are five climate justice leaders who are changing the world. Follow their work, learn from their activism, and get inspired to take action.
1. Vanessa Nakate (Uganda)
Founder of the Rise Up Movement
Vanessa Nakate began her activism in 2019 as the sole protestor outside Ugandan Parliament. Since then, she has become a powerful voice for African climate activists. She highlights how climate change disproportionally affects communities across the Global South.
Nakate emphasizes the intersections of climate change, poverty, education, and gender. She also pushes back against the ignorance of Black and African voices in global media coverage after being famously cropped out of a 2020 photo with other white youth activists, including Greta Thunberg.
Follow her on Instagram or check her book: "A Bigger Picture"
2. Nemonte Nenquimo (Ecuador)
Waorani leader and environmental defender
A member of the Waorani nation in the Amazon rainforest, Nemonte Nenquimo led a historic legal battle that protected 500,000 acres of indigenous land from oil drilling in Ecuador. Her leadership blends indigenous knowledge, legal action, and grassroots organisms to protect the Amazon.
Her activism reminds us to listen to the indigenous communities who have protected their territories sustainably for generations.
Named one of New York Time's 100 most influential people in 2020
3. Elizabeth Yeampierre (USA/Puerto Rico)
Executive director of UPROSE
Elizabeth Teampierre is a climate justice organizer and one of the first Puerto Rican women to lead to a U.S.-based environmental organization. Based in Brooklyn, she works at the intersection of racial, economic, and climate justice. Through UPROSE, she fights for frontline communities facing the compounded impacts of pollution, disinvestment, and climate-driven disasters. She advocates for community-led solutions, green jobs, and resilience hubs.
Learn more at UPROSE
4. Helena Gualinga (Ecuador/Kichwa Sarayaku)
Youth Indigenous activist and climate defender
Helena Gualinga, a young Kichwa activist from the Ecuadorian Amazon, speaks globally about Indigenous rights and climate justice, and environmental defense. She co-founded Polluters Out, a youth-led organization that challenges the fossil fuel industry's influence on climate policy.
Her activism stems from her experience living in a community on the frontlines of resistance. Gualinga is a strong advocate for keeping fossil fuels in the ground and centers Indigenous sovereignty in climate solutions.
Follow Polluters Out on Instagram
5. Harjeet Singh (India)
Global leader in climate policy, loss, and damage
Harjeet Singh is a longtime advocate for climate justice and international climate finance. He plays a critical role in the push for Loss and Damage funding which is financial support for countries already suffering from climate-related disasters such as floods, droughts, and rises seas. Singh is known for challenging the status quo in global climate negotiations and demanding that wealthier nations take responsibility for their historic emissions and current inaction.
Policy-heavy but vital voice- follow his work through Climate Action Network International.
Add comment
Comments