For a young boy, there could have been no more exciting introduction to the wonders of nature than growing up near Victoria FallsThe waterfall is located on the Zambezi river, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia.. One hundred metres high and 1,700 metres wide, the waterfall is possessed of awesome power: locals call it "the smoke that thunders". But one day, staring at a rubbish dump close by, Nkosilathi Nyathi realised that all was not well.

"I noticed something that affected the poverty of my community, of my family and friends, just as much as all the economic and social problems and political issues we face in my country," he says. "It was the environment."

Waste was not the only problem. In recent years, ZimbabweFormerly known as Rhodesia, it took its current name in 1980. has suffered from worsening heatwaves, droughts and floods, and violent storms. Almost 8 million people - half the population - are experiencing food shortages after a drought and cycloneAn area of low atmospheric pressure accompanied by strong winds. in 2019 and low rainfall last year. Farmers have had to change the cropsPlants that are grown on a large scale by farmers, such as vegetables, fruits and wheat. they grow because the weather is so erratic.

Nkosilathi started campaigning for climate action by making videos. He interviewed the head of the local power station about pollution, and made a record of soil erosion.

Carbon emissions in Zimbabwe are largely due to deforestation and the use of firewood for fuel. Each year it loses over 800,000 acres of forest; since 2014, the proportion of land given over to trees has dropped from 53% to 45%.

In 2016, Nkosilathi won a $1,000 grant to install an anaerobic digesterMicro-organisms produce biogas in it by digesting food leftovers and cow dung. at his school, so that biogas could be used. "Biogas," he explains, "does not pollute the air around us and should be made accessible to everyone because it is safe and decreases the chances of cutting down firewood."

When a change like this is made, he adds, it raises a community's awareness of the advantages of clean energy. He is now helping set up a solar water pump.   

His confidence as a public speaker earned him an invitation to Cop25The last UN Climate Change Conference, in 2019. The 2020 conference was postponed until this year because of the pandemic.. He also spoke at last year's Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development.

"Young people are the agents of change," he says. "Some of us will be leaders of tomorrow, so it is a must that we are informed about what is happening around us so that we can plan better, sustainable solutions for the future."

He is now working with another campaigner, Collette Levy-Brown, to build up a Zimbabwean branch of Fridays for FutureThe student movement is supported by many teachers and scientists, including 26,000 German-speaking academics who formed Scientists for Future.. They are making, he says, "a tool to bring one voice to our leaders on environmental issues."

Some say, no. The science of climate change is incredibly complicated, and you need years of study to understand it properly. You also need a great deal of political experience to persuade people to go along with your ideas. Young people are often very idealistic and do not understand the compromises that have to be made if an objective is to be achieved.

Others argue that since young people are the ones who will be most affected by climate change, it is only right that they should have a say in how it is dealt with. Nkosilathi has a perfectly good understanding of the issues, and has already shown older people the way forward with his school's anaerobic digester. Greta Thunberg has proved a more effective campaigner than any politician.