CLIMATE campaigner Greta Thunberg has hit out at the UK media for “erasing” Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate from their meeting with Scotland’s First Minister at COP26.
Thunberg and Nakate spoke to Nicola Sturgeon yesterday morning at the summit, which is being held over the next two weeks at Glasgow’s SEC.
But the Swedish campaigner wasn’t happy with some of the reporting that followed the encounter.
Former Colne Valley Labour MP Thelma Walker had shared a photograph of Thunberg with Sturgeon, adding: “The fact neither of these two were invited sums it up …”
A frustrated Thunberg hit back: “There were more people in that meeting.
“Media needs to stop erasing the voices of activists, especially the most affected people from the most affected areas.”
Nakate, 24, started striking against climate inaction outside the Ugandan Parliament after learning about Thunberg’s school strikes.
READ MORE: COP26: Spotlight on Scotland as Nicola Sturgeon interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour
Nakate’s protests encouraged other young people to act in Uganda – she is now considered to be one of the most influential young Africans by YouthLead.
This year the founder of the Rise Up movement was placed on Time Magazine’s TIME100 Next 2021 List in honour of her extensive work on environmental matters.
Walker later wrote a follow-up correction tweet, tagging both Nakate and Thunberg and adding: “Doesn’t it tell us all we need to know that these three were not invited to speak at the opening ceremony, or on the main platform during #COP26.”
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