Patience Nabukalu giving a speech in Amsterdam. Photo by Patience Nabukalu. Used with permission.
By Jacob Weissman
In the heart of East Africa, where the fertile green of Uganda’s countryside meets the resilient spirit of its people, a battle is unfolding — not one of arms or armies, but of resistance, resilience, and voices refusing to be silenced. At the center of this struggle is Patience Nabukalu, a 27-year-old Ugandan climate activist, whose dedication to environmental justice has become a powerful symbol of youth-led resistance to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The controversial oil pipeline
A map of the proposed oil pipeline which would run from Uganda to the Tanzanian coast. Image from Wikicommons. CC BY-SA 4.0
The EACOP, a controversial USD 5 billion project, is poised to become the world’s longest heated oil pipeline, stretching 1,443 kilometers (896.64 miles) from the oil fields of western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga. It is being constructed by a consortium led by the French oil giant TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, with the backing of the Ugandan and Tanzanian governments. The pipeline is designed to transport 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day, cutting through more than 400 villages and posing grave threats to water systems, farmland, and wildlife corridors.
Opposition to EACOP has grown in both intensity and scale. Environmental experts warn of the pipeline’s potential to emit up to 379 million metric tons of CO over its 25-year lifespan — more than the annual emissions of some industrialized nations. The pipeline’s route also crosses ecologically sensitive areas, including Murchison Falls National Park and the Lake Victoria Basin, home to tens of millions of people who depend on it for drinking water and agriculture.
Patience Nabukalu’s work and motivation
For Patience, these aren’t abstract concerns — they are lived realities. She grew up witnessing the degradation of natural resources in her community and felt the weight of climate inaction from a young age. In response, she emerged as a powerful voice in the Fridays for Future movement, inspired by Greta Thunberg but firmly grounded in the context of the Global Majority. Her activism blends deep local knowledge with a global perspective, and she has become a key figure in Uganda’s climate resistance.
Patience protesting on Climate Emergency Day. Photo by Patience Nabukalu. Used with permission.
Patience’s work with groups such as Fridays for Future Uganda and Rise Up Movement has led her to organize protests, give public talks, and engage in cross-border collaborations. One of her central missions is to raise awareness of the human cost of fossil fuel development in Africa — a cost that is too often ignored in the boardrooms of the Global North. In Uganda, activism comes with risks. Peaceful climate protesters have been arrested, harassed, and even beaten. The government’s close alliance with oil interests means dissent is not always tolerated.
Gaining international traction for climate activism work
Despite this, Patience refuses to be silent. She has brought her message to the international stage, participating in climate conferences such as COP26 and COP27, where she delivered powerful speeches about the realities communities like hers are facing. “I believe in people power,” she said.
We want solutions, not promises. We want implementations, not pledges.
Her speeches are marked by a rare combination of personal authenticity and strategic clarity. Rather than simply reacting to crises, Patience and her fellow activists are helping reframe the conversation around climate change. They emphasize the injustice of countries that contribute the least to global emissions being the ones most vulnerable to its consequences. For Patience, climate action must go hand in hand with equity, land rights, and democratic accountability.
Through her involvement with Young Planet Leaders and other youth coalitions, Patience is part of a rising tide of activists who are not only resisting harmful projects like EACOP but also proposing alternative futures. These young leaders are using technology, storytelling, and nonviolent direct action to shift the narrative and mobilize support. They are not waiting for permission to lead — they are already leading.
The campaign against EACOP, organized in part under the banner of #StopEACOP, has also gained traction internationally. Environmental NGOs, legal experts, and faith-based organizations have joined forces to challenge the project in court, pressure financial institutions, and raise global awareness. More than two dozen banks and insurance companies have already ruled out financing the pipeline due to reputational risk and climate concerns. Yet the project moves forward, bolstered by state support and new financiers from China and the Middle East.
A web of uncertainties
Meanwhile, on the ground in Uganda and Tanzania, many villagers remain caught in a web of uncertainty. Some have already been displaced or lost farmland to the pipeline. Others live with the fear of what will come. While compensation was promised for those who lost their land, it had been delayed, and some communities report a lack of transparency and consultation. It is in these vulnerable spaces that activists like Patience do their most vital work — educating, organizing, and giving voice to those who have been marginalized.
Her story is part of a broader shift — a generational uprising rooted in love for the Earth and anger at the exploitation of its people. Youth movements in the Global Majority are increasingly defining the future of climate activism, not as victims or side players, but as central protagonists. They are confronting not only fossil fuel dependency but also the legacy of colonialism, extractive capitalism, and political repression.
The fight against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline is emblematic of a larger, global reckoning. It forces society to ask: Who pays the price for progress? Who gets to decide what development looks like? And can we truly speak of climate solutions without listening to those on the frontlines?
As the world grapples with the accelerating climate emergency, people like Patience Nabukalu offer not only critique but vision. Her leadership is a reminder that another world is possible — and that it is being fought for right now, with courage, clarity, and boundless resolve.
