Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate has confronted rich countries over their refusal to provide finance for victims of the climate crisis in the developing world. Vanessa Nakate (born 15 November 1996) is a Ugandan climate justice activist. She grew up in Kampala and became a celebrity in December 2018 after becoming concerned about the unusually high temperatures in her country. Nakate began her activism in January 2019 with a protest with her siblings and cousins on the streets of Kampala, inspired by Greta Thunberg She continued to protest every week, becoming a well-known face in a movement of young people “striking” for the climate around the world.
In 2020 she came to further global prominence when she was cropped out of a news photo she appeared in alongside Thunberg and other white climate activists. Nakate’s response to the incident, in which she said the news outlet “didn’t just erase a photo, you erased a continent”, made international headlines.Vanessa Nakate posed a simple question to ministers representing some of the world’s richest countries. She has confronted rich countries over their refusal to provide finance for victims of the climate crisis in the developing world.Her question revealed just how unwilling some of the world's greatest contributors to climate change are to show any amount of accountability,
By putting their money where their mouth is in terms of funding mitigation of, and loss and damage from, the devastating effects of a changing climate.Vanessa Nakate has been appointed as the newest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, affirming her collaboration with the organisation and recognising her outstanding global advocacy for climate justice for current and future generations.