Vanessa Nakate on how girls’ education can help solve the climate crisis

DEADLY FLOODING and landslides have become a regular threat in my hometown of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. In 2019, we were hit particularly hard: the rains killed more than a dozen people and washed away people’s belongings and businesses. Waters from Lake Albert submerged primary schools in Ntoroko district, leaving about a thousand young pupils unable to go to school.

Unlike many girls in Uganda, I was lucky enough to receive a secondary education and attend university. Thanks to this, I was able to conduct research about the impact of climate change in my country. It was during this process that I came to understand the terrifying challenge that humanity is facing. But an estimate from 2015 suggests that, across sub-Saharan Africa, 9m girls between 6 and 11 years old will never go to school at all. Many more African girls need to be given the opportunities I had.