Inspired by the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and by Pakistani education rights champion Malala Yousafzai, Francisco became an environmental activist at the age of nine, in March 2019, when he saw images of wildfires scorching across the Amazon and the forests of Australia
Colombian climate activist Francisco Javier Vera, 12, poses at the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow Image: Andy Buchanan / AFP
Wearing a confident smile and an oversized hoodie, 12-year-old Francisco Javier Vera climbed onto a table and told cheering COP26 protesters of the activism that has earned him death threats.
The bespectacled school boy has become something of a sensation in his native Colombia, where he has earned a following for his charismatic championing of the environment and human rights.