London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

She Went Viral After Being Cropped Out Of A Photo. Now She Says It’s Time For African Climate Activists To Be Heard.

Vanessa Nakate said she hopes this is a watershed moment for climate crisis activism and how it's reported.

Being cropped out of a photo featuring Greta Thunberg and three other white climate activists was heartbreaking for Vanessa Nakate, but it has now become a huge source of motivation.

The 23-year-old activist from Kampala, Uganda, was cut out of a picture taken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, by the Associated Press, which has since apologized for the “terrible mistake.”

In the days since, Nakate has gained over 100,000 followers across her (now-verified) Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Someone even set up a Wikipedia page for her.

People shared her outrage over what the AP did, Nakate told BuzzFeed News via Skype from her home in Kampala.

“After the picture and everything that happened, I received quite a number of messages and support from different parts of the world,” she said.

She added, “It’s been my encouragement, motivation, and source of energy to move on -to keep demanding for climate action, and keep doing the climate strikes and everything that we've been doing for climate activism.”

“I believe that after this incident and all that's happened, there's going to be a change in how the media reports the issues of climate change," Nakate said. "I believe that the media will start to cover stories from different parts of the world -because I believe that each country has an activist, and every activist has a story to tell, a solution to give.”

Thunberg, 17, was among those who publicly supported Nakate in the aftermath of the photo-cropping incident.


Thunberg, Nakate, and other activists appeared via video call for a press conference Friday to provide a platform for climate activists from Africa, such as Makenna Muigai, Ayakha Melithafa, and Ndoni Mcunu.

Thunberg said that whenever she attended events such as Davos or international climate conferences, “There’s a huge media interest.”

“So, therefore, we must use that opportunity since we have a platform,” she said. “We must make sure that the voices of the people who should be heard are heard as well."

She added, “That's why we are doing this press conference today - so that people who need to be heard can share their stories to the media. And today we will be focusing on African activists and scientists from Africa, as the African perspective is always so underreported.

"That's why I encourage everyone who is participating to not ask the questions to us but to the other participants,” she said. (A follow-up email to journalists after the press conference said that Thunberg would not be doing any interviews.)

Nakate said during the press conference, “This is the time for the world to listen to the activists from Africa, to pay attention to their stories and take action where it is needed. I believe this is the opportunity for the media to do some justice to the climate issues in Africa.”

Thunberg’s solitary strike outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018 was what inspired Nakate to become an activist. While Nakate tends to work with her dad in his shop most days, she takes Fridays off in order to strike -something she has been doing since January last year.

“When I joined climate activism at that point, I was not sure about the kind of activism I wanted to do. But I wanted to do something that would cause change to the lives of people in my community,” Nakate told BuzzFeed News.

She said people in Uganda were feeling the impact of climate change firsthand, and that convinced her to do something about it.

"Uganda as a country mainly depends on agriculture not just for the people, but the economy at large,” she said. “It’s not just a risk; it’s a danger for different people who heavily depend on their farms and their crops -because once these disasters happen, they destroy their hopes and dreams and what they have and what they’ve been planning for their future."


In September last year, months before the AP cropped her out of the photo, Nakate was invited to the UN Climate Action Summit and Youth Climate Summit in New York. She is also the founder of her own climate group, the Rise Up Movement, which has representatives in 10 countries in Africa.

Nakate said she started the Rise Up Movement to help “amplify” the voices of activists from Africa, and that, inadvertently, the incident with the AP photo could help climate activists in Africa have a larger platform. “In the beginning I didn’t know how I was going to do this,” she said. “But I just believed that it could happen in one way or another. And after all this, this incident that has happened, I can say that there’s an opportunity for me because of the audience I have right now to help tell the stories of different activists from Africa.”

Nakate has ambitious plans for the year ahead. She hopes to soon launch a tree-planting campaign in Uganda and wants to continue her project of installing institutional stoves - large ovens that reduce the amount of firewood used -and solar fields in schools to reduce carbon emissions.

“I also hope to open up chapters of the Rise Up Movement in different schools, because I believe that if we educate the young people, then we will be able to fight for our futures," she said. “Many are being motivated by the issues and our goals, and by the fact that we keep doing this, we never give up.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×