12 Climate Activists You Should Follow this Earth Month
Being a sustainable baddie means cultivating community, having the willingness to learn more, and supporting the leaders whose work and lives are saving our home planet! In honor of Earth Month, we’ve created a (non-comprehensive) list of climate activists who make their love for the Earth and its inhabitants a part of their earthly purpose.
1. Xiye Bastida
Xiye Bastida is a Mexican climate activist from the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous community. As an organizer, author, speaker, and student, she works to bring historically marginalized voices to the forefront of the climate movement. She has led massive strikes in NYC, attended UN climate conferences, and won the Spirit of the UN award. Bastida is a co-founder of Re-Earth Initiative, an international youth-led organization that focuses on highlighting the intersectionality of the climate crisis.
Karishma Climate Girl is a South Asian climate and sustainability activist, based in Canada, whose content explores topics surrounding nature, her culture, and saving the planet. She leads conversations around under-discussed climate questions and calls to action for climate issues in every corner of the climate movement. Not to mention, her brand reviews help us make more conscious, susty purchases.
Conservation and climate justice activist, tech educator, and Ph.D. candidate at Cambridge University Joycelyn Longdon works to make climate conversations accessible and diverse. Longdon is the founder of Climate In Colour, an educational platform and launchpad for critical conversations surrounding our climate that doubles as a hopeful space to transform how people learn about, communicate, and act on climate issues.
4. Pattie Gonia
Wyn Wiley, also known as Pattie Gonia, is a drag queen, intersectional environmentalist, LGBTQ+ activist, and community organizer. Their activism normalizes queer identities in outdoor spaces and in environmental movements. Beyond creating fun, engaging, and informative climate content, Pattie Gonia is also a co-founder of The Outdoorist Oath.
5. Leah Thomas
Leah Thomas is an author, climate optimist, environmental justice advocate, and the founder of Intersectional Environmentalist. Her work focuses on the intersectionality of the environmental justice movement, and her book The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet is a must-read for sustainable baddies of every generation who hope to create meaningful and inclusive change.
Dominique Palmer FRSA is a Jamaican-British-American speaker, writer, and climate justice activist based in the U.K. Her career as an environmentalist began when she discovered how air pollution was detrimentally impacting her community. She’s since spoken on world stages about climate justice. Her work focuses on using the arts as a vehicle to inspire cultural unity toward protecting the earth.
Ayisha Siddiqa is a Pakistani-American environmentalist, human rights and climate justice advocate, co-founder of Polluters Out and Fossil Free University, and Climate Advisor to the UN General Secretary. At 14, after witnessing the effects of environmental pollution on the health of her grandparents, she became aware of the connection between human rights and climate change. This realization inspires her work around environmentalism and youth climate justice.
8. Tori Tsui
Tori Tsui is a U.K.-based climate activist, speaker, and consultant from Hong Kong. She is the co-founder of the Bad Activist Collective, a collective of anti-perfectionist climate activists, and a member of the climate coalition Unite For Climate Action. Her work centers around enacting climate policy and organizing intersectional transformation. Her book It’s Not Just You explores the intersections between climate change and mental health.
Zahra Biabani is a climate activist, influencer, CEO, and writer whose work focuses on climate optimism, humor, and taking action for a better earth. She is the founder and CEO of In the Loop, the world's first sustainable clothing rental company, and author of the book Climate Optimism: Climate Wins and Creating Systemic Change Around the World, a comprehensive review of the most promising climate solutions with advice on how to shift your perspective on climate change.
10. Wawa Gatheru
Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru is a climate storyteller, youth climate activist, Rhodes Scholar, and founder of Black Girl Environmentalist. The daughter of Agĩkũyũ Kenyan immigrants, Gatheru grew up in rural Connecticut on Mashantucket Pequot land. She was taught the ethic of reciprocity and care for the planet by her mother and grandmother. This foundation translates into her work where she aims to inspire a generation of “unlikely” environmentalists.
11. Charitie Ropati
Charitie Ropati is a Yup'ik-Samoan researcher, education and environmental activist, and Indigenous woman in STEM. She studies the intersections of plant ecology, permafrost, and cultural resilience in coastal Native communities. She implemented an accurate and inclusive sub-curriculum of Indigenous peoples in Western pedagogy in Alaska and co-led the creation of a policy in the Anchorage School District to allow students to wear their cultural regalia to their high school graduation.
12. Ryan Berberet
Ryan Berberet is a 16-year-old student and climate activist who campaigned for California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency. Berberet’s activism landed her a feature in Vogue alongside activists like Xiye Bastida, Quannah Chasing Horse, and Isaias Hernandez, all in conversation with Billie Eilish. Most recently, she took action against oil drilling and the Willow Project in a Youth v. Oil demonstration.
Which climate activists inspire you?