Nicole "Nicki" Becker (

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

) is a climate activist from Argentina and one of the founders of Jóvenes por el Clima, part of the

Fridays for Future School Strike for Climate ( sv, Skolstrejk för klimatet), also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday ...

movement. Becker became the youth champion for Escazu Agreement and

Sanitation and Water for All The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) is a global partnership committed to achieving universal access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation. In 2015, 2.4 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation, 946 million people defecat ...

(SWA) in 2021.

Background and education

Becker is the daughter of a father who is a

criminal lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

and a mother who is a math teacher and lives in

Caballito Caballito (; Spanish for "little horse") is a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only ''barrio'' in the administrative division ''Comuna'' 6. It is located in the geographical centre of the city, limited ...

. After realizing climate change had social ramifications as well as environmental ones, Becker changed her course in college from

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

in her first year. She is currently studying law at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

Activism

Since she was eight years old, Becker already joined

Habonim Dror Habonim Dror ( he, הַבּוֹנִים דְּרוֹר, "the builders–freedom") is the evolution of two Jewish Labour Zionist youth movements that merged in 1982. Habonim ( he, הַבּוֹנִים, "the builders") was founded in 1929 in the U ...

and was also part of

Ni una menos Ni una menos (; Spanish for "Not one omanless") is a Latin American fourth-wave grassroots feminist movement, which started in Argentina and has spread across several Latin American countries, that campaigns against gender-based violence. In it ...

. Her environmental activism started in February 2019 when she saw an Instagram video of young people doing a climate march in Europe, and

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

became the center of the topic. Because the first International March for the Climate Crisis was held on March 15, 2019, Becker, Bruno Rodriguez, and their other three friends decided to find Jóvenes por el Clima, a part of Youth Climate, by the end of February 2019. They decided to arrange the march in Argentina, joined by 5,000 people after founding the organization. The organization has been pushing Argentina to do the Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration. The government finally declared on 17 July 2019. In 2019, she received a grant to attend the UN Climate Conference in Madrid on behalf of the Argentine youth. As part of the UnaSolaGeneración campaign on

World Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

and America Solidaria to promote climate change to youngsters around

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Becker became one of the representatives. In 2019, Becker came to the

2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, was the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference. It was held in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019 under the presidency of the Chilean government. The conferenc ...

under the grant as a youth representative for Argentina. Later, she returned to the

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

and met with

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Antonio Guterres Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

Honor

The

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

gave her a diploma and medal to honor her contribution to social action on 10 March 2020. The Access Initiative (TAI), the

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known as ECLAC, UNECLAC or in Spanish and Portuguese CEPAL, is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooperation. ECLAC includes 46 member States (2 ...

(UN ECLAC), and the

Government of Costa Rica The politics of Costa Rica take place in a framework of a presidential, representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and their cabinet, and the President of Costa Rica is both the he ...

appointed Becker as one of the five youth champions succeeding

David R. Boyd David Richard Boyd is a Canadian environmental lawyer, activist, and diplomat. He is United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment. Activism He supported the Escazu agreement. He supported a Jakarta Clean Air lawsuit. ...

on the second anniversary of the Escazu Agreement as UNICEF Youth Advocates in 2020. In 2021, she was chosen as "Young Champion of the program" by the SWA.

Career

Becker became a host of the FutuRöck radio program titled ''Permitido pisar el pasto'' with Rodriguez. She is also a columnist for '' El Diario''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Nicole Women environmentalists Youth climate activists Argentine activists Year of birth missing (living people)