“Impressive story”
Former US President Obama praises German activist
Updated April 23, 2026 – 8:03 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Barack Obama puts Luisa Neubauer in the spotlight. The ex-US President shares her story on Instagram – and sends a clear message.
Barack Obama honored the work of German climate activist Luisa Neubauer on his Instagram profile on Tuesday. The former US president shared several photos and videos of Neubauer, both in a post on the platform and in his Instagram stories.
Obama wrote in his contribution: “The young people in our Obama Foundation’s leadership program give me hope” – Neubauer is one of them. She is working to combat climate change and recently even traveled to Antarctica. On Earth Day, which takes place worldwide on April 22nd, he called for people to take a look at their “impressive story.”
In a video that Obama also shared, Neubauer describes her current trip: She was part of the Obama Leaders program and is currently in Antarctica. There she spent a month on the research ship “Malizia Explorer”, together with scientists, sailors and other activists and supporters.
In view of accelerating climate change, there is a lot of bad news. At the same time, Antarctica is a place of hope for them. “It is the only continent protected by international cooperation and an Antarctic Treaty,” she says. The existence of this protected space seems almost utopian in today’s world – and is a reminder of “what is possible when people come together and work for peace and the protection of our planet.”
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In his contribution, Obama also gives Neubauer the floor. In it she describes her path to climate activism – and the moment that brought about change for her. That was during a trip to Tanzania in East Africa after graduating from school. There she wanted to visit a water system supported by her church community – but once she was there she was confronted with a different reality.
“When we got to the top, I couldn’t believe my eyes: a lot of the water never reached the village,” she reports. To achieve this, the crops were irrigated higher up. Rain used to be enough, but the climate has changed. Rainfall has become unreliable, crops have failed – and drinking water is now needed to grow food at all. At the time, she had the feeling that she was disappointing the local people and decided to do everything she could to ensure that Germany kept its commitments from the Paris Climate Agreement.
