Nkosilathi Nyathi

Nkosilathi Nyathi (born 2003) is a Zimbabwean UNICEF Climate Advocate. He started campaigning at the age of 10 and advocates for youth inclusion in decision making roles. He is of the opinion youths’ efforts towards climate justice can not materialize if they can’t make calls at decision making platforms. Nkosilathi was at 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP25 in Madrid campaigning for more climate actions and youth inclusion from world leaders.

Environmental Activism Nkosilathi Nyathi was raised in Victoria Falls. He traced back his environmental activism journey to the day he stood up with consciousness at a garbage dumping site at Victoria Falls and becoming more aware of the environment issues in his immediate community. He started noticing the effects of climate change in his environment at the age of 11 in Grade 5 at Chamabondo Primary School in Zimbabwe. Victoria Fall witnessed the worst drought in a century in 2019. 7.7 million Zimbabwean people are food insecure and 45 million people of southern Africans at risk of hunger. There is also an unprecedented acute malnutrition rates of over five per cent in eight of the Zimbabwean’s districts.

He was a leader in his primary school climate club, Ozone Defenders Club. The biogas station is now used for preparation of student’s food. His continuous usage of his oratory skill to call on the government to address environmental issues and pay more attention to climate change earns him recognition by UNICEF to attend the 2019 edition of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) that took place in Madrid, where he shared a panel with some of the world's influential leaders like John Kerry the first United States special presidential envoy for climate.

Awards and Recognition

UNICEF Youth Climate Ambassador for Zimbabwe in 2015. Youth Ambassador for Greenline Africa since 2014.