FILE PHOTO: Elizabeth Wathuti, Kenyan environment and climate activist looks at the leaves of a tree during a Reuters interview at the Nairobi Arboretum, botanical garden, in Nairobi, Kenya October 8, 2022. REUTERS/Edwin Waita
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Elizabeth Wathuti channelled her frustration and sadness over the damage to natural habitats including Kenyan forests close to her childhood home into a life of activism, founding Green Generation Initiative to raise awareness through tree growing.
Six years after starting the environmental advocacy group, Wathuti is one of Kenya's most ardent voices in the struggle against climate change, a voice she is hoping will be heard by world leaders gathered in Egypt for the COP27 climate summit.
Wathuti was one of the young people calling for urgent action as the U.N. climate conference marked its traditional Young and Future Generations Day on Thursday.
"We have to ensure that there is a great representation and participation of voices across the African continent, and not just the participation but it has to go further to make sure that the outcome we get out of COP27 has a reflection of the present needs of the African continent," she said in an interview in Nairobi, before travelling to Egypt.
(Reporting by Edwin Waita; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Mark Potter)
