Diana Nabiruma is one of the Ugandan climate activists who joined an #StopEACOP tour in Europe organised by 350.org in March 2022. The delegation visited France, Germany, Switzerland and the Vatican and met 16 financial and political institutions as well as government officials, UN representatives and the Pope.

She is an experienced journalist and researcher, who works for the Africa Institute for Energy Governance, a 350.org partner organisation. Diana’s activism started in 2013, when she realised that healthy ecosystems are important for healthy human beings. Diana developed asthma because of the heavily polluted air in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, where old imported cars are a big part of the problem. As she researched and learned more about fossil fuel pollution, she soon realised its relationship to climate impacts affecting the lives and livelihoods of Ugandans.

“I care about people’s wellbeing, and I love nature. And therefore, I fight to protect both. The #StopEACOP tour was a huge help for us towards avoiding more harm to communities and ecosystems where I live. It mobilised mass support against EACOP, and the people we met engaged in actions such as protests, writing to banks and export credit agencies, and participating in online activities. 

As a worldwide movement, 350.org is crucial in building a wide network to stop EACOP. They ensure that the voices of Africans are brought to global fights, a much-needed service”.

As a Catholic, Diana’s favourite part of the tour was meeting Pope Francis and telling him how fossil fuel projects have impacted, or stand to impact, people and nature in East Africa. She is also proud of the results of their meetings with financial institutions, with some of them dropping their support for EACOP following the tour.