Kenyan environmentalist features in TIME Magazine’s top 100 list
Wanjira Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist who has been recognised by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential persons of 2023. She is the only Kenyan featured in the list.
What you need to know:
- Environmentalist Wanjira Maathai is the only Kenyan recognised in TIME Magazine's 2023 most influential persons.
- The only other African woman featured on the list is Tanzanian Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema.
TIME Magazine has recognised Kenyan environmentalist Wanjira Maathai as one of the most influential persons of 2023.
Ms Maathai was lauded for shaping philanthropic work on the continent by directing attention, research and funding, to helping the most climate-vulnerable places and communities. She was recognized under the Innovators category.
As a managing director at the World Resources Institute and Chief Africa Adviser to the Bezos Earth Fund, she has led the iconic Green Belt Movement, and is driving a movement to restore 100 million hectares of African land.
The only other African woman featured on the list is Tanzanian Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema.
Annual listicle
Ms Mrema is a biodiversity leader and lawyer who was recognised for brokering one of the decade’s biggest environmental wins (an agreement to conserve or restore nature on 30 per cent of the world’s lands and waters by 2030).
The recognition took place during the Convention on Biological Diversity in December last year. She shepherded about 195 countries’ negotiators to agree to an agreement that would help boost finance for developing countries, phase out subsidies that harm nature, and protect the rights of Indigenous communities.
Time 100 is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world. First published in 1999, the list is now a highly publicised annual event. Appearing on the list is often seen as an honour, and Time makes it clear that entrants are recognized for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
