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Vanessa Nakate
Hi,
I am a climate activist from Uganda. Graduating in Business Administration at Makerere Universty Business School. I started my climate activism in December 2018.
I founded #SaveCongoRainforest, which has since grown incredibly worldwide.
In December 2019, I attended COP25, to represent Africa.
Founder of TheRiseUpMovement and 1MillionActivist
Vanessa's Speech
Biodiversity Day
May 22nd 2020
Hosted by Greenpeace Africa
"While we may all be in the same storm, we are not all in the same boat"
We would look back and see that in 2020, humanity faced a choice: to continue to live in a world where the fortunate remained isolated and safe, while the vulnerable are left without safe water, safe shelter, health care, or even access to sanitation. A world where the wealthiest people and most destructive industries are rescued, while the rest of humanity is viewed as expendable. Where our most fundamental rights, indeed our very lives, are threatened by systems designed to fail. Or we could drive the world to a more just, equitable, and green future. We could emerge from this pandemic with a wider, deeply-felt understanding of our interconnection and our place.
When it comes to climate change, many lives are at stake. We cannot afford not to take climate action. If we don’t take the necessary action, more lives are going to be lost. You don’t have to experience the impacts of climate change to know that we are in a crisis. If you don’t see climate change affecting your life and threatening your existence, that does not erase the existence of the crisis. Climate change is a crisis that we all need to address. We need to build resilience in our communities. We need to change the systems and build more inclusive systems that put the people and the planet over profit. We need to protect humanity, because this is the greatest threat facing humanity right now.
We cannot afford to lose our forests. We cannot afford to lose our ecosystems. The animals know this and they can teach you that. The birds understand the need to protect the forests and you can learn from them. The fish live in fear of what man is already doing.
I will tell you a story of a giraffe called the Okapi. They told me that he has no other home. The only home that he knows is the Congo Rainforest and they told me to protect their home. They want to live, but their existence depends on the existence of the forest. What are you willing to do to protect the Okapi’s home?
More than 75 million people heavily depend on the food, fresh waters, shelter, and medicine from the forest, with over one 150 ethnic groups. We must stop the exploitation in the forest. We must stop deforestation. We must protect the defenders of the forest.
This is the time to think big. Indigenous People hold deep knowledge of the virtues of our biodiversity, which we still have to learn. We stand for our biodiversity, so in ten years we don’t get to experience it only through history books. We need to rise up together and work together for the protection of our rainforests. Save Congo Rainforest.
Vanessa Nakate 22nd May 2020
#SaveCongoRainForest
#SaveCongoRainForest_Fauna_Flora
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