Elizabeth Wathuti: 28-Yr-Old Kenyan Who Has 11 Awards In 8 Years

Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti is setting a new precedence in terms of environmental conservation efforts and mitigation of climate change. Mind you, she's just 28 years old.

The founder of the Green Generation Initiative and Head of Campaigns at the Wangari Maathai Foundation was on Tuesday, September 12 unveiled among a list of high net worth and impactful world leaders in Time Magazines' annual TIME100 Impact Awards.

Wathuti was praised by the global magazine for her efforts in environmental conservation for the new generation through planting more than 30,000 trees in her home country since she founded the Green Generation organization in 2016.

However, her real goal is to sow the seeds of climate consciousness and advocacy in other young people.

"Wathuti first developed her passion for the environment as a child growing up in Nyeri, a region of Kenya with one of the country’s largest tree canopies. As she grew older, her appreciation for nature morphed into activism.

Elizabeth Wathuti at the Africa Climate Summit on September 7, 2023. /ELIZABETH WATHUTI

"She revived her high school’s environmental club to learn more about climate change by tracking trends like rain formation using the school’s weather station," states Time Magazine in part.

When Wathuti graduated from Kenyatta University, she founded the Green Generation Initiative to teach children to “clean their own air, grow their own food, and create their own green spaces", in part by planting trees, a project she expressed her pride in bringing different species of fruit trees to schools in Kenya and encouraging each child to adopt and take care of one.

“Africa’s greatest resource is its young people. 70 per cent of the continent is under the age of 30.

"These young people are the ones that are driving ideas, creating solutions, and driving innovations on the ground. And it's the same young people that, if you don't invest in them, will have to live longer with the consequences of climate inaction," she told the publication.

Profile & First Taste of Popularity

Wathuti really burst into the limelight when she addressed more than 100 heads of state at COP26 in 2021, detailing how the climate crisis is already exacting a devastating toll on low-income countries and imploring leaders of the developed world to act urgently.

In her address at the United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Glasgow in November 2021, Wathuti's impassioned speech convinced United States (US) President Joe Biden to break security protocol.

"I saw Biden’s security team trying to signal to the president that it was time to leave but he waved them off. He wanted to listen. Perhaps I had something he really needed to hear," she stated in a later interview.

Elizabeth Wathuti takes a selfie with President William Ruto on September 2, 2023. /ELIZABETH WATHUTI

Wathuti is fresh from serving as the lead coordinator of the first-ever African Youth Climate Assembly, which seeks to unite and amplify the perspective of young Africans in international climate discussions.

She helped craft a three-year strategy for the Wangari Maathai Youth Hub—a nonprofit organization, dedicated to the legacy of the late Kenyan environmental and social activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, that seeks to encourage leadership and self-development among children and young adults.

Wathuti expressed her desire to one day be the UN Secretary-General because she thinks she could have the greatest impact from that position.

“I am a strong believer that for young people to be able to effectively and gently engage, we have to have opportunities to take up leadership,” she expressed, adding that “We need to be systematically embedded into existing climate and environmental frameworks.”

Awards

In 2019, she was awarded the Africa Green Person of the Year Award by the Eleven Eleven Twelve Foundation and named one of the 100 Most Influential Young Africans by the Africa Youth Awards.

Wathuti graduated from Kenyatta University with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies and Community Development.

At Nyeri, she planted her first tree at the age of seven and she established an environmental club in her high school with the help of her geography teacher.

She was part of the leadership of Kenyatta University Environmental Club (KUNEC) where she was able to conduct numerous activities; such as tree planting, clean-ups and environmental education; all while increasing awareness of global environmental challenges like climate change.

In 2019 on International Youth Day, she was recognized by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their Instagram feed for her work in environmental conservation. She was featured on the Queen's Commonwealth Trust website. 

In the same year, she was named alongside Vanessa Nakate and Oladuso Adenike by Greenpeace as one of three young black climate activists in Africa trying to save the world.

The Time Magazine award is her 11th overall since launching the initiative eight years ago. The rest include:

1. 2016 fourth Wangari Maathai Scholarship Award
2. Africa Green Person of the Year 2019 Award by the Eleven Eleven Twelve Foundation.
3. The Diana International Award (2019)
4. UN Young Champions of the Earth Regional finalist for Africa (2019)
5. International Youth Day 2019 Recognition by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
6. Green Climate Fund Climate Youth Champion Award 2019
7. TIME100 Next 2022
8. 100 Most Influential African Women in 2022.
9. 100 Most Influential Young Africans by the Africa Youth Awards.
10. Bloggers Association of Kenya - BAKE Awards (2018) for the best environmental blog.
    

Elizabeth Wathuti with President William Ruto's daughter, Charlene Ruto. /ELIZABETH WATHUTI