Nate Wilbourne in the running for Young New Zealander of the Year
Seventeen-year-old Nate Wilbourne, a globally recognised youth and nature advocate from Nelson, New Zealand, has been named a semi-finalist for the Young New Zealander of the Year award for the second time, recognising his exceptional leadership, advocacy, and impact in driving climate action and empowering young people across Aotearoa and beyond.
This recognition highlights a year of remarkable achievements by Wilbourne, during which he mobilised thousands of individuals, contributed to national and international environmental policy discussions, and inspired young people to take meaningful action for the planet.
Key achievements from July 2024 - July 2025 include:
Following the 8 June 2024 March for Nature protest in Auckland, Wilbourne played a pivotal role in raising public awareness and keeping conservation at the forefront of political decision-making. He was part of the driving force that empowered 27,000 New Zealanders to submit against the Fast-track Approvals Act, which passed into law in December 2024.
On 27 July 2024, he was a keynote speaker at New Zealand’s largest youth climate conference, The Climate Action Conference, in Auckland, where he spoke on using social media to mobilise people for environmental change.
Between July 2024 and July 2025, Wilbourne engaged directly with over 2,000 students nationwide, empowering them to follow their passions and take action within their communities. This followed his role as a keynote speaker at National Young Leaders Day across May and June 2024, where he spoke to and empowered 10,000 students across New Zealand.
On 20 September 2024 and 14 February 2025, Wilbourne participated in Fridays for Future climate strikes in Freiburg, Germany, joining hundreds of thousands of people worldwide demanding urgent climate action.
On 16 October 2024, he spoke at Hohenheim Palace during a World Food Day event, addressing the role of young people in sustainable agriculture and climate solutions in New Zealand.
On 30 January 2025, Wilbourne joined nationwide protests across Germany opposing the rise of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the 23 February general election.
On 9 April 2025, Wilbourne spoke and collaborated at the New Institute in Hamburg, Germany, during a Mobilising Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA) congress focused on transforming global governance to address the planetary emergency. He worked alongside leading international lawyers and contributed to developing policy recommendations and solutions to the climate crisis.
From 30 June to 2 July 2025, he served as a Youth MP, delivering a speech on the “war on nature” and calling on government ministers to uphold accountability for environmental protection. The speech reached over 110,000 people across New Zealand online, with 2,400 individuals expressing that they felt inspired or impacted by his message.
In July 2025, Wilbourne was commissioned by Fairtrade Australia New Zealand to collaborate on a campaign promoting sustainable consumer choices, reaching 5,200 people. He was also commissioned by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy to work on a campaign advocating for climate finance to support local government climate initiatives in New Zealand, reaching 4,800 people.
Wilbourne founded Gen-Z Aotearoa in January 2024, serving as Director before becoming Co-Director in August 2024. Under his leadership, Gen-Z Aotearoa has reached over 2 million people and directly empowered more than 500,000 people to take action in their communities, including attending events, promoting campaigns, writing submissions, and signing petitions.
On 17 November 2025, Wilbourne was a keynote speaker at a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) event titled “The Future of Land Is Listening”, where he highlighted how young people in New Zealand are actively working to protect and restore nature.
This semi-finalist recognition reflects Wilbourne’s continued dedication to environmental protection, youth empowerment, and climate advocacy on both national and international stages. His work demonstrates the transformative power of youth leadership and the impact of mobilising communities to take urgent action for the planet.