Precious Kalombwana

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About Precious!

She is from Zambia, Southern Africa. She’s 29 and is a climate activist. She started getting involved in climate activism about 3 years ago. She grew up surrounded by forest which nurtured her love for nature. However, the forest was slowly cleared. As she mourned, she got inspired to plant trees. 

Precious Kalombwana is an energetic advocate for youth climate justice in Zambia, dedicated to addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change and unjust debt. Having graduated from the Spring 2023 FXB Climate Advocates program, Precious gained recognition at COP 28, representing Climate Live—a youth-led climate education movement that organizes international concerts annually in over 60 countries.
As a prominent figure associated with organizations such as Extinction Rebellion (XR), Zambia Climate Save (CL), Debt for Climate Zambia (D4C), and Fridays for Future (FFF) Zambia, Precious channels her efforts into local community initiatives inspired by a global perspective. Her approach involves thinking globally while acting locally, with the overarching aim of fostering a flourishing, environmentally sustainable future free from unjust debt.
In her capacity as the founder of the Citizen's Network for Community Development Zambia, Precious established the organization to champion climate change advocacy, conduct awareness campaigns, and devise local solutions to climate-related challenges. Moreover, she holds positions as a trained Climate Reality Leader and Climate Clock Ambassador, facilitating connections with like-minded individuals globally who are dedicated to similar causes.
The primary objective of Precious's organization is to connect and educate young people, empowering them to actively participate in local political processes and contribute to positive change. Through these collective efforts, she envisions a future where communities are well-informed and engaged in sustainable practices, paving the way for a greener and fairer future.
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Some of the environmental campaigns that are close to Precious’s heart include: Rise for Climate, Plant 8 billion trees and Africa day of action.

Precious’s parents, family and community have been supportive of her climate activism. Since she embarked on her journey, Precious has managed to create awareness in her village about planting trees.
This has been a great achievement both at a personal and at a community level.
Precious has also had NGOs reach out to her for support in their tree planting activities. This shows that her community at large recognizes her dedication.
She has engaged her agency as an activist to address pollutive operations of some companies in Zambia and is proud to report that there have been some wins.
With regard to climate awareness, Precious says she would rate Zambians as a ‘5’ on a scale of 1 to 10. ‘1’ representing zero awareness and ‘10’ representing utmost awareness.
She explained, that this does not affect her activism; which is no surprise. It corroborates her love for nature. When asked whether the level of awareness in urban is more than that in rural areas, Precious said yes, it is.
The main challenge she has encountered as an activist in Africa, is in her endeavor to create awareness. “How does one convince people that there is climate change? How do we make them aware of the challenges and impact climate change has?”
Another challenge that Precious discussed was the issue of mental health. She has suffered mental distress as a result of her activism. However, she also reports that she sought help and was able to get herself to a ‘healthy’ mind space.
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Q&A

Do you think African activists are willing to work with each other for the continent?
Yes
Please give an example of this:
Activists have come together to create awareness about the impacts of climate change and engaged in discussions around climate solutions.
Why is awareness for climate change in Africa important?
It is very important because we need to save our planet from fossil fuels
If we fight climate change, with coordinated action everywhere, Africa will:
be free from fossil fuels
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