Evelyn Acham wants Ugandan schools to add climate change to the curriculum — Assembly

The Ugandan activist discusses the need for climate education and centring African voices in the fight for the environment.

Ask Ugandan climate activist Evelyn Acham where she learned about climate change and she’ll tell you it wasn’t in school. It was when her friend Vanessa Nakate made international news last year with a one-woman strike in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. “She went in front of the Parliament, which was so bold and inspiring,” Evelyn says. “I kept on telling her ‘I’m going to join you, I want to know what you’re doing,’ and it inspired me to learn more about climate change.”

Eager to join her friend in the fight for the environment and never having learned about the subject in school, Evelyn registered for online courses on greenhouse gas mitigation and sustainable development. “Seeing the passion and vigor [Vanessa] had for the planet really pushed me to go back and read,” Evelyn shares. Soon, she began to notice the effects of global warming all around her. Kampala’s air was polluted. The city uprooted trees. Greenery that once covered Uganda now only existed in the countryside.

Located on the equator, Uganda has one of the fastest changing climates in the world. As temperatures rise, floods and droughts threaten the rain-fed crops that rural families like Evelyn’s depend on. The crisis is severe, and Evelyn worries Ugandan schools aren’t doing enough to prepare young people for the future. “The education system did not do me justice,” she told Women’s Agenda in May, “Uganda doesn’t address climate justice and accountability.”

“The education system did not do me justice. Uganda doesn’t address climate justice and accountability.”

— Evelyn Acham

For Evelyn, incorporating climate education into school curricula is key to ensuring Uganda’s youth grow up understanding the importance of conservation. “Their minds are still in the process of learning, receiving and accepting what they hear,” she says. “A person cannot do anything if they don’t have knowledge.” Evelyn knows that creating change in the classroom begins with government action on climate change and climate education. “People are planting trees now, but laws and policies aren’t changing. We've not yet seen that,” she explains. “The schools can only follow what the leaders have put in place.”

Fuelled by the knowledge she gained from her studies, Evelyn joined youth climate action groups. An active member of Youth for Future Africa and national Ugandan coordinator of the Rise Up Movement, Evelyn organises climate strikes, digital campaigns, garbage collections and school visits, all with the goal of raising awareness for climate change in Uganda. “I believe that very many people are not informed,” she says. “People can’t act about what they don’t know.”

Recently, Evelyn has received international attention for her work. This spring she spoke as part of a Young Women Leading Climate Action webinar and appeared as a guest on People of the Planet alongside Vanessa. In July, she presented at the MUN Impact Global Summit, a three-day event organised by the United Nations. Earlier this year, Evelyn became a member of the climate activist network Arctic Angels, an experience she says has pushed her to think about climate change around the world and expand her reach as an advocate. “What affects Africa will affect other parts of the world,” she explains. “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t remain there.”

For Evelyn, speaking events and media attention are a sign she is heading in the right direction. “It encourages me so much, having all these people interview me and being involved in all these different groups,” she shares. “It makes me realize that my voice is being amplified.”

But working as a young African woman in the climate movement can be a challenge. “African voices are underrepresented,” Evelyn says. She remembers when, in January of this year, the Associated Press cropped Vanessa from a photograph with her White peers at a press conference in Switzerland. For Evelyn, the incident was just one example of the climate movement’s diminishing the accomplishments of Black and African activists. “They were not just erasing one person, but erasing a whole continent,” she says. Beyond representation, Evelyn believes in addressing climate change and racial injustice together — especially in the U.S. where “a big percentage of people of color live in places that are polluted with toxic waste. ... Polluters not only site their activities in low-income areas, but they also selectively go to locations where there are high percentages of Black people.” To separate the issues is impossible; “Climate justice and racial justice intersect in every way,” she explains.

“Climate justice and racial justice intersect in every way.”

— Evelyn Acham

Looking ahead, Evelyn hopes her work with Vanessa will set a precedent for solidarity among Ugandan climate activists. “Many heads are better than one,” Evelyn advises. “To the young people taking climate action already, I want to encourage them to keep going and to keep pushing and to not give up. Look for like-minded people, like I did, and exchange ideas.”

In the meantime she isn’t slowing down. Next year Evelyn plans to launch +1 TreeUg, an initiative to plant nine million trees across Uganda — one for every household in the country. “It seems very big, but it’s possible,” she says. “Everything begins with imagining, then believing, then putting it into action.” The road ahead is long, but Evelyn is confident her initiative will change Uganda for the better: “It’s not going to be over in one year, it will be an ongoing project. It’s better to start than to not start at all.”

This article is based on an interview with Evelyn conducted by Malala Fund communications fellow Omolara Uthman.