Vanessa Nakate: Championing Climate Activism

Vanessa is Uganda’s first Fridays for Future striker, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Washington Post Top 50 and founder of multiple climate initiatives including the Rise Up Movement and Vash Green Schools Project. She read for an MPP as a WHT-Chevening Scholar to develop her skills in policy-making and social impact.

Currently, Vanessa is a Strategist, Global South Narrative & Policy at Project Dandelion, the first global, women-led campaign for climate justice. She is also the cofounder of the Tard Foundation, an organisation that supports the Global South frontline communities within the environmental movement. She says,

“The world cannot ignore the disproportionate impact of climate change on women across the world. Climate change exacerbates existing realities that women already face in society. As they hold care responsibilities bestowed on them by society, they cater for food, water and the wellbeing of their families.”

Vanessa’s passion for climate advocacy precedes her studies at Oxford. As a young adult in Uganda, she joined the Fridays for Future movement, started by Greta Thunberg in Sweden, and began organising strikes every Friday in Uganda to raise awareness about climate change in her community. She also led community and local initiatives and started the Green Schools Project, a renewable energy initiative, which aims to transition schools in Uganda to solar energy and install eco-friendly stoves in these schools.

While at Oxford, she read for an MPP, and was especially excited to pursue the WHT Leadership Programme. She says,

“Being a WHT scholar has allowed me to pursue my studies at Oxford and to participate in a leadership programme.”

Vanessa has won several awards and recognitions for her work. She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women, and was featured on the cover of TIME's 8–15 November 2021. In 2022, she won the Goalkeepers Campaign Award, presented by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2024, while she was a WHT scholar, she received a honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh.