A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis is Ugandan Climate Activist and founder of the Rise Up Movement, Vanessa Nakate’s first book.
In the book, Vanessa explores what the climate crisis actually means, beyond statistics, and how it impacts the lives of everyday people. She also aimed to bring new voices to the climate fight, especially from the African continent, by telling the stories of several activists in the book.
Vanessa explained, “Every activist has a story to tell, and every story has a solution to give, and every solution has a life to change. So I think it’s really important to have many voices listened to, platformed and amplified, if we are to have climate justice.”
Africa, a region of 1.3 billion people is responsible for less than 4% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, yet has already suffered the worst impacts of the climate crisis. In October, the World Meteorological Organization warned the effects of the climate crisis in Africa will likely worsen if immediate action isn’t taken.
“The climate crisis does not affect all of us equally…there won’t be climate justice if specific groups of people are being left behind. We are facing the same storm, but we are definitely in different boats. As many boats are still strong and can continue to sail, other boats are already sinking. Other boats are already on fire. So it is time to pay attention to voices, to people, to activists, to communities that are on the frontlines of the climate crisis.”
She also explains that climate change is an intersectional issue, “It’s about the people and how the livelihoods of people are being impacted right now. It’s about the intersections of the climate crisis with other issues that pertain to our living, to our survival, be it education or poverty eradication or achieving gender equality or having peace in our communities. All these are connected to the climate crisis. It’s like we are in one system, and it’s an interconnected system. And if one part of the system crashes, entire system crashes.”
The book is available now.
