India Logan-Riley is a Māori climate justice activist from Aotearoa New Zealand, believed to be in their early thirties.
They are best known for co-founding Te Ara Whatu, an Indigenous youth climate group, and for their address at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
Logan-Riley has spent close to a decade pushing Indigenous rights into the center of global climate talks.
Who is India Logan-Riley?
India Logan-Riley is an Indigenous climate activist, archaeologist, and community organizer. They belong to the Kahungunu, Rangitāne, and Rongomaiwahine iwi of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Their activism centers on Indigenous sovereignty and climate justice. Logan-Riley argues that colonialism and the climate crisis are deeply connected issues.
That framing has made them a distinct voice at United Nations climate negotiations. Few young activists have addressed a full plenary session at a UN climate summit.
Logan-Riley first attended UN climate talks in 2015. Since then, they have built a career around linking Indigenous knowledge to global environmental policy.
Early Life of India Logan-Riley
Logan-Riley grew up in the Hawke’s Bay region on New Zealand’s North Island. Their childhood was shaped by local land disputes and environmental threats.
They have described attending council meetings as a child. There, they watched community elders argue against development on ancestral land.
Wildfires and rising seas were part of everyday conversation in their community. That early exposure to environmental stress stayed with them into adulthood.
India Logan-Riley Age
Logan-Riley has not publicly shared an exact birth date. In their 2021 COP26 speech, they noted that international climate negotiations began the year they were born.
That reference points to 1992, the year the UNFCCC was adopted. Based on that account, Logan-Riley is approximately 33 or 34 years old as of 2026.
India Logan-Riley Ethnicity and Nationality
Logan-Riley is Māori, with iwi affiliations to Kahungunu, Rangitāne, and Rongomaiwahine. They are a citizen of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Their Indigenous identity is central to their activism. Logan-Riley often frames their work as a continuation of generations of Māori resistance.
India Logan-Riley Education
Logan-Riley studied archaeology and Māori history at university. Their academic background has shaped how they connect pre-colonial history to present-day environmental advocacy.
They describe themselves as an archaeologist in training. That identity sits alongside their activism rather than apart from it.
Their studies gave them a framework for understanding land, culture, and colonization together. This combination is unusual among climate activists internationally.
India Logan-Riley Activism Career
Logan-Riley’s public activism began with international climate diplomacy. It later expanded into founding their own organization.
Early UN Climate Talks
Logan-Riley attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015. They were one of the first young Māori delegates to attend the talks.
They returned in 2016 as part of the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus. Those early conferences convinced them that Indigenous voices were missing from mainstream climate solutions.
The experience became a turning point. It pushed Logan-Riley toward building something of their own.
Founding Te Ara Whatu
In 2017, Logan-Riley co-founded Te Ara Whatu, a Māori and Pasifika youth climate initiative. The group became the first Indigenous youth organization from Aotearoa to have a presence at UN climate conferences.
Te Ara Whatu campaigns both internationally and at home in New Zealand. Locally, the group pushes the New Zealand government to include Indigenous perspectives in climate policy.
Their approach blends grassroots organizing with formal diplomacy. Few youth-led groups operate at both levels at once.
COP26 Address
In 2021, Logan-Riley was asked at short notice to address the opening session of COP26 in Glasgow. They used the moment to link colonialism directly to the climate crisis.
Logan-Riley told delegates to “get in line or get out of the way.” The line was widely covered by international media, including RNZ.
That speech was described in the same breath as the activism of Greta Thunberg. Even so, Logan-Riley has kept the focus on collective, Indigenous-led organizing rather than individual fame.
India Logan-Riley Awards and Recognition
Logan-Riley’s activism has earned formal recognition beyond the climate movement itself. Their most notable honor came from Stanford University.
In 2021, they received the Stanford Bright Award for environmental sustainability. The award included a prize fund of 100,000 US dollars.
Stanford Law School said the award recognized individuals with an outstanding impact on environmental preservation. Logan-Riley said they planned to use the funds to support paid roles within their organization and fund Indigenous land campaigns.
That recognition placed Logan-Riley among a small group of Indigenous activists honored at that scale. It has not changed the grassroots nature of their day-to-day work.
India Logan-Riley Social Media
Logan-Riley is active on both Instagram and X, where they post under the handle IndiMiro. Their Instagram bio identifies them as an activist and archaeologist in training.
On X, Logan-Riley describes their iwi affiliations alongside their climate work. They have used the platform since 2014 to share updates from UN climate conferences and local organizing efforts.
Their online presence stays closely tied to their activism. Personal content takes a back seat to campaign updates and Indigenous rights advocacy.
The Bottom Line
India Logan-Riley has built a distinct place in global climate activism by centering Indigenous sovereignty rather than treating it as a side issue.
Through Te Ara Whatu and their COP26 address, they have pushed Indigenous perspectives into rooms that often exclude them.
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