One Boat wins nine-way auction for climate activist Nakate

Pan Macmillan's sustainability imprint One Boat has triumphed in a nine-publisher auction for A Bigger Picture, billed as “part rousing manifesto, part poignant memoir” from Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate.

Nakate was embroiled in a famous incident at Davos in January 2020 when her image was cropped out of a photo featuring four other activists, all white, including friend Greta Thunberg. Nakate went public and the ensuing outrage propelled her work to global attention and brought to light the issue around the white and Western interests in the climate change movement. In A Bigger Picture, she addresses the incident and demonstrate how it is indicative of a far larger problem.

Publisher Carole Tonkinson acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, for A Bigger Picture from Carrie Plitt at Felicity Bryan Literary Agency. It is set to publish in November 2021, to tie in with Nakate's planned visit to the UK for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. North American rights have been sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, at auction.

One Boat said: “When it comes to speaking or writing about climate change, voices and stories of people of colour, and those from the Global South, are often omitted, even though these communities often contribute the least to the problem and suffer its consequences the most. Vanessa shows that without addressing this important gap, without highlighting the real and immediate danger communities like hers and so many others face, we have no hope of making progress in the race to save our planet.”

Nakate, 24, has seen the effects of climate change play out first-hand. Growing up in Kampala, she began to notice that the huge climate problems the African continent was facing—including the destruction of the Congo rainforest, sharply rising temperatures and droughts—were being ignored on the global stage. Witnessing this suffering propelled her into action and she became the first climate striker in Uganda at the age of 23. In A Bigger Picture, she “traces the links between climate crisis and anti-racism, feminism, education, economics and even extremist radicalisation, as well as telling the inspiring personal story of how she found her voice, and shows readers that no matter your age, location or skin colour, you can be an effective activist”.

She said: “It is important for people to understand the intersection of climate change, racial justice, social justice and sustainable development goals. If we want climate justice, then everyone must be involved in the process. I am thrilled that One Boat will be publishing my book and amplifying this message.”

The author founded the Rise Up Climate Movement, now known as the Ponya Earth Foundation, and the Green Schools Project, which aims to put solar panels on all of Uganda’s 24,000 schools. She is also spearheading a campaign to raise awareness of the destruction of the Congo Basin Rainforest Ecosystem. She was named a UN Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, and was recently interviewed for TIME magazine by Angelina Jolie.

Tonkinson said: “I am thrilled to be working with Vanessa Nakate on her important, empowering book. At 24 years of age, Vanessa has already made a huge international impact and helped people connect the dots between anti-racism, the climate crisis, gender equality and more. We want to champion Vanessa and her message, particularly her invitation to everyone to get involved in activism however they can, wherever they are.”

Plitt added: “As soon as I met Vanessa, I knew I had to work with her. She is an amazing young woman bringing attention to issues of racial and geopolitical inequality that we must address if we are going to tackle the climate crisis. I hope this book will change people’s minds, but also inspire them to become activists themselves.”