The North American Association for Environmental Education has selected 30 young people under 30 years old around the world for the class of 2022

Founder and director of the EmpoderaClima initiative, Renata Koch Alvarenga, 25 years old, is the only Brazilian selected as an environmental educator in the 30 Under 30 class of 2022 of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The award recognizes environmental educators around the world who provide impactful changes in the education field. They receive mentorships, attend classes to expand even further their environmental work and they join the association community, which has been active for over 50 years.

In 2022, the selected few include people from 19 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Philippines, Italy, Guatemala, Iran, Nigeria and Rwanda. Renata has been recognised for her climate activism and for an extense and robust trajectory in international spaces, including the United Nations and attending COPs (Conference of Parties, the supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), as well as promoting the intersection between climate justice, gender and youth.

The work of the Brazilian, born in Porto Alegre/RS, is mainly done through partnerships with global organizations and events, frequent interventions and participations in global decision-making spaces, being the first brazilian to speak at the opening for the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) back in 2021, side by side with the Secretary-General for the United Nations, in addition to climate educations projects with the Malala Fund and the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI). 

Renata founded EmpoderaClima in 2019, after initiating her activism at 18 years old at the Brazilian NGO Engajamundo. Since then, she has been working with advocacy and promoting climate education with a gender justice lens in Brazil and around the world.

Currently, EmpoderaClima is run by over 20 volunteers from everywhere in the world and it’s a pioneer initiative on gender and climate in Brazil, featuring a database translated to four languages with curated material on climate change and gender, original articles, and also representation in international spaces such as the UN, the World Bank and the British Government.

“Representing Brazil on this renowned list of young environmental educators is a huge honor and an achievement that I share with all the incredible volunteers of EmpoderaClima and the mentors who helped me come this far”, says the Brazilian, who is also pursuing a Masters degree in Public Policy at Harvard University.

About the award

EE 30 Under 30 aims to empower young exceptional leaders in environmental education in order to increase their impact. The class of 2022 will join the North American Association for Environmental Education global community, stationed in the United States, receiving support to expand their actions through networking, mentorship among peers, global recognition, development opportunities, and scholarships. Since 2018, the program has recognised, through this award, over 210 professionals from 42 different countries in the environmental education field.

About EmpoderaClima

EmpoderaClima is an multilingual initiative that fights for climate justice with a gender and youth lens, focused on the global South. Founded in 2019, it has over 20 volunteers from all around the world divided between researchers, translators, comms, national mobilization and national engagement. The volunteers help building networks and using advocacy to promote youth empowerment, especially of young women, in order to increase the active participation of groups that are most affected by climate change in decision making spaces, like the climate negotiations.

In over three years, EmpoderaClima has attended several COPs and has organized pioneer events about young women leadership over the climate crisis, with partners like the Malala Fund, Global Landscapes Forum, Latinas for Climate, and UNGEI.