Dear Future Activists: How to Lead Intersectional Climate and Environmental Action

The final chapter of the book reflects on key learnings from our nearly 39 contributors, a majority of whom are based in Africa. Drawing on the wealth of practical and grounded examples, we highlight the importance of intersectional climate actions that not only seek to curb environmental catastrophe triggered by erratic weather, heatwaves, floods and droughts in one of the most climate vulnerable regions in the world, but focus on transforming the inequalities that drive present and historical social and economic injustices. We centre the direct voices of climate leaders on the frontline of the movement for intersectional climate justice to underscore not just how climate change compounds existing inequalities, but the urgent need for intersectional, inclusive actions led by local researchers, activists, practitioners and movements, that focus on the root causes of inequality and injustice, and the interconnections between multiple forms of marginalization and oppression. In doing so, this final chapter, and the book more generally, shift our gaze beyond vulnerabilities, to action and response, celebrating local diversity and highlighting myriad creative pathways to activism and adaptation.