Ugandan Activist: “Many people are not yet aware of the dangers of climate change”

Black climate activist Vanessa Nakate was cropped from an AP image. Source Buzzfeed

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t Dr. Willie Soon; Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate, who was “accidentally” cropped from a picture of white climate activists in Davos in January, thinks people need to be better educated about the dangers of climate change.

Vanessa Nakate: ‘Many people are not yet aware of the dangers of climate change’

As a prominent Fridays for Future activist, Vanessa Nakate tells DW how climate activism looks different in her native Uganda and why she’s recently been tweeting in German.

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How does climate activism in your country differ from what it looks like in Europe? We’re used to seeing big Fridays For Future strikes here, but what does it look like in Uganda?

Well, of course there is a big difference between the activism in Uganda and in Europe. This is mainly because of two things.

One is awareness. Many people are not yet aware of the dangers. They don’t have the facts. They don’t have the clear science about what is happening when it comes to the climate crisis.

And then the other thing is freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is not the same as we see it is in Europe and it’s also harder for students here to walk out of school and do the climate strikes.

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Recently, you’ve actually been tweeting in German to try and get the message across. What made you do this?

Well, I did that because I was really angry and disturbed by the fact that Germany chose to push coal to 2038. I feel like that helps them and that doesn’t help communities that are already being affected by the climate crisis. I feel like 2038 is too late. It’s unnecessary and very dangerous for communities that are already facing devastating impacts of climate change.

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Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/fridays-for-future-uganda-climate-change-africa-activism-food-security-water/a-54732304

Despite being a climate activist, Vanessa seems quite an impressive person.

Her own country doesn’t care about climate change or hasn’t heard of it. Europe pretends to care, but I mean, they cropped her out of at least one picture of climate activists. Who knows how else she is being mistreated.

Despite lip service to climate activism, Germany and other European countries are pushing ahead with coal projects.

Yet Vanessa is still determined to try.

What a waste of talent. I hope one day soon Vanessa wakes up to how she is being used, and applies that remarkable determination and guts to achieving something genuinely useful, for herself or for her country.