This archive report was first published on 5 September 2019.
On September 21, 29-year-old Francis Kamau will address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly Week in New York, sharing his vision for a greener future.
Selected from over 7,000 applicants worldwide, Kamau is a social entrepreneur and agribusiness consultant at Agrieal Africa. He will speak ahead of the Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit on September 23.
"My business is in the area of agroforestry, but I've for the last two years promoted the planting of high-value trees not just in wood lots but also belts in homesteads in a bid to reach Kenya's target of 10 per cent forest cover," Kamau explained in a letter from the UN.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti is in the running for the UN Environment Programme's 2019 Young Champions of the Earth prize. If she wins, she will join Kamau at the General Assembly on September 26.
Wanjiru, from Kiandu village in Tetu, Nyeri County, has been championing environmental awareness among children through her Green Generation Initiative, which has encouraged thousands of children to plant and adopt trees since 2016.
The UN's recognition of these two young Kenyans is part of a broader effort to engage millennials in conservation and climate action.
