Emily Wanjiru Nderitu, posing for a picture, during the COP30 Climate Conference in Belém,Brazil, November, 2025. Photo: Seth Onyango, bird story agency via Africa Solutions Hub
Kenyan filmmaker Emily Wanja Nderitu is shaping a new approach to climate communication. She places African voices and lived experience at the centre of the global discussion. Her work makes climate change understandable. It also ensures it is relatable. The subject is grounded in the realities that communities across the continent face every day. [globalvoices.org]
Nderitu attended the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil in November 2025. There she continued to call for climate narratives that reflect African knowledge. She believes global conversations often overlook the continent despite its exposure to climate shocks. Her mission is to shift that imbalance by building stories that are culturally grounded and backed by local experience. [africasolu…diahub.org]
Through her work with Doc Society, Nderitu connects filmmakers, activists, researchers, and policymakers across Africa. She supports the development of storytelling projects. These projects are designed to influence decisions and empower communities. They ensure African perspectives are represented in both global diplomacy spaces and everyday public conversations. Her projects include Climate Story Labs and the Democracy Story Unit, which link creative expression with policy and science. [globalvoices.org],
Nderitu first entered the climate storytelling field in 2016. She began as the impact producer for Thank You for the Rain. This documentary followed Kenyan farmer Kisilu Musya. The experience showed her how powerful community‑based storytelling can be when trying to shape climate policy and inspire change. Since then, she has helped storytellers across the continent highlight daily experiences that explain climate change in simple terms. These include the timing of rains, crop failures, and livestock losses. [africasolu…diahub.org]
For Nderitu, climate communication should not be technical or disconnected from the people most affected. She argues that Africans already hold deep environmental knowledge and that storytelling can connect this wisdom to global policy spaces. Her work continues to influence how climate narratives from the continent are framed, shared, and valued.
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