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President William Ruto is among five Kenyans topping The Independent Climate 100 List 2024 world’s foremost environmentalists. The list, published by the British newspaper The Independent during Climate Week in New York City, features the 100 most influential figures driving climate action worldwide.

“The climate crisis is the defining issue of our age. By now, dealing with it should be at the top of every country’s priority list,” said Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change.

Perhaps Thunberg’s words are what inspired President Ruto, Wanjira Mathai, daughter of Nobel Peace Laureate, Wangari Maathai, climate activist Mithika Mwenda, entrepreneur Charlot Magayi, and Kenyan-American climate leader, Wawa Gatheru.

Ruto has been vocal on advancing Kenya’s renewable energy sector, in which he took a personal commitment to focus on geothermal, wind, and solar power.

At his swearing-in ceremony as he assumed power in September 2022, he made an ambitious pledge to ramp up clean energy and phase out fossil fuels for electricity by 2030. “In our country, women and men, young people, farmers, workers, and local communities suffer the consequences of climate emergency,” said President Ruto, singling out climate change as key to the government’s agenda.

“We must act urgently to keep global heating levels below 1.5 Celsius, help those in need and end addiction to fossil fuels,” he added, echoing calls by the United Nations Secretary-General to cut the world’s reliance on coal, oil and gas.

Financial commitments

Under his leadership, Kenya hosted the first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi in September 2023, which resulted in a united call for greater financial commitments from major polluters to support vulnerable nations. Additionally, Ruto introduced an annual tree-planting holiday, part of a national goal to plant 15 billion trees over the next decade.

“We remain firmly on course to meet the pollution reduction targets under the Paris Agreement. We are also taking decisive steps in our shift to zero-emission,” he said.

The UK newspaper recognized Wanjira Mathai for her work with the Green Belt Movement, which has facilitated the planting of over 51 million trees in Kenya since She also leads the World Resources Institute Africa, empowering female entrepreneurs and advocating for climate justice, especially in global financing.

Her mother, Wangari, an environmental and political activist became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, for her work in fighting deforestation and encouraging sustainable development.

Another environmental champion, Mithika Mwenda, co-founder of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), was marked in the list of the most prominent global climate conscious leaders for his advocacy in shaping African climate policy. PACJA unites more than 70 organizations across the continent to address the climate crisis with solutions tailored to Africa’s unique needs.

Sting influence

He has worked in the climate sector for a decade and has a strong influence over climate policy, constantly advocating for sustainable solutions that are specifically tailored to the needs of African countries rather than those of the Western world.

“It’s hard to see al-Jaber leading objective, science-backed negotiations in the interest of the most vulnerable,” he criticised the decision to appoint oil executive Sultan al-Jaber to lead Cop28, terming the move the “lowest moment” for the UN.

In May, the PACJA hosted the UN Civil Society Conference in Kenya – the first time the event has been held there – as a precursor to the Summit of the Future at the UN in New York this month.

Inspired by her humble upbringing at the heart of the sprawling Mukuru slums in Nairobi, the Independent recognized Charlot Magayi’s invention of a clean biomass stove that cuts pollution by 90 percent.

Her company, Mukuru Stoves, sold over 400,000 units in 2023, earning her the prestigious Earthshot Prize. Magayi is now working on a 30,000-square-foot clean energy campus in Kenya to develop more sustainable fuels.

Magayi was employed as a charcoal seller to enable her to take care of a daughter she delivered at a tender age of 16. On seeing the effects of charcoal fumes on her village and both her and her daughter’s health, Magayi invented a clean stove in 2017 that uses biomass to cook.

Wawa Gatheru, a Kenyan-American climate activist, was recognized for founding Black Girl Environmentalist, an organization supporting women of color in climate activism. Her work has made her a leading voice for inclusivity in the global environmental movement.

She was aware of the climate crisis while growing up, but came to the realisation that those most affected by it – people of colour – were generally not the same people making the decisions.

She saw that the narrative for people of colour was more likely to be “victim” than “problem solver”, and also recognised that women had even less of a voice. Black Girl Environmentalist’s aim is to champion Black women as the leaders they already are.