Mikaela Grace Loach
Mikaela Loach is a climate activist, podcaster, writer, and medical student. Her work focuses on making the climate movement more inclusive and focusing on the intersections of the climate crisis with oppressive systems such as white supremacy and migrant injustices.
1998
Kingston, Jamaica
Jamaican mother and British father
2019 – joined XR protests
2020 – launched podcast, nominated for awards by BBC Woman’s Hour, Forbes, and Global Citizen
2021 – sued the British Government
2022 – still campaigning, and now living in Colombia taking a break from her university degree
Loach was born in Jamaica but lived in Surrey, England from the age of three. She is a medical student at Edinburgh University.
As a teenager she became aware of the refugee crisis in Europe, and became involved in the politics of migrants, including a spell volunteering in a Calais refugee camp. Learning about the true costs of fast fashion, and the positive climate impact of veganism followed. She believes strongly in the intersectionality of the climate crisis with the refugee crisis, and how they are also connected to the legacy of colonialism and racial injustice.
Whilst still a student at Edinburgh University, and prior to the Covid 19 pandemic, Loach actively campaigned on climate justice issues. In 2019 she camped outside Westminster with Extinction Rebellion (XR). She kept a diary of the week which can be read on the Herald Scotland website (see link below). She campaigns with Climate Camp Scotland, part of whose mission is to prevent the expansion of Scotland’s fossil fuel industries.
Loach writes for eco-age and has circa 135K followers on Instagram where she focuses on making sustainable, ethical choices, particularly around fast fashion. She also co-hosts the Yikes Podcast with Jo Becker.
For her activism work, in 2020 Loach was named as an influential woman by Forbes, on BBC’s Woman’s Hour Power List, and nominated for a Global Citizen award.
In 2021 Loach took the UK Government to court for using taxpayers’ money to fund oil and gas companies, with the Paid to Pollute campaign which argued that the British Government had given billions of public funds to North Sea oil and gas companies and that this was unlawful. In January 2022, the case was rejected by the High Court, and the group decided not to appeal the decision, but to continue to campaign outside the legal system.
She took a sabbatical from medical school and relocated to Jamaica for six months whilst she reconnected with her roots and recovered from the strains of campaigning at COP26. As of April 2022, she is living in Colombia.
Her favourite colour is pink. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo is her favourite book of all time and she would like to swim with whales.
https://eco-age.com/resources/author/mikaela-loach/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikaela_Loach
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/mikaela-loach-climate-race-activism-fast-fashion/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/solitairetownsend/2020/11/16/100-uk-leading-environmentalists-who-happen-to-be-women/?sh=1daaebbf2451
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49976827
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17964895.young-protestor-shares-experience-exctinction-rebellion-protests/d
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/10053076/sustainable-ethical-fashion-activist-women
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5f6X3JsVjcGXfXstdbYxhkk/womans-hour-power-list-2020-the-list
https://www.vogue.com/article/climate-activist-mikaela-loach-cop26-taking-the-uk-government-to-court
Q&A: Getting Into Climate Justice with Activist Mikaela Loach
https://www.kerrang.com/mikaela-loach-interview-climate-activist-earth-day-stop-jackdaw-cambo-environment-cover-story
