Brianna Fruean defends Ugandan Activist Vanessa Nakate
Climate Activist from Uganda Vanessa Nakate called out organisers at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue. She delivered a speech highlighting how she felt about the censorship that she and Samoan Climate Activist Brianna Fruean experienced in the organising of the dialogue. Vanessa said that they were made to submit their presentations for approval in advance, were banned from criticising any of the politicians involved, and that their time was continuously cut.
The Dialogue was attended by high-level officials such as German economic and energy minister Peter Altmaier, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. In her speech Vanessa highlighted the prevalent youth voice censorship and said “It’s the leaders who have failed us, not the young people....this is not naming & shaming...it is just telling the truth. Why are you so afraid of hearing the truth?”.
The following day after the Ugandan activist's keynote delivery a number of people started questioning the legitimacy of Vanessa's claims and questioned whether she was telling the truth. Organizers of the event went on to explain two of Vanessa's claims but did not address the claim that she and Brianna were told not to “name and shame”.
This is where the Samoan climate activist came in and took to Vanessa's defense. Brianna went online to say “I wasn’t going add on because Vanessa said everything that needed to be said. Then today I saw various people gaslighting Vanessa’s experiences. People questioning her. Well I can confirm she was 100% honest about EVERYTHING!”. She also went on to make the comparison of how when European youth speak out they are taken for their word but when the youth of colour do the same their integrity is questioned. Fruean said, “the climate crisis is embedded within a global context of a racist world and I’m seeing this come to play this week in insidious ways.“
The Coconet team spoke to Brianna this morning and she said that she is proud to stand by Vanessa Nakate. “Climate Change is impacting Uganda in extremely harsh ways, as it is impacting Samoa. Floods, drought, extreme weather, and more, we share these common experiences with Uganda. I will always stand by young people like Vanessa because we share a unique vā connected by the need to defend our homes” she said.
Vanessa took to social media to thank Brianna for backing up her claims and coming to her defense. She wrote, “thank you for saying this, my lovely friend”.