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Women Leaders

Solutions

What are the solutions which can address the particular ways in which women experience and fight climate change?

Actions

Want to cut to the chase and find out what you can do? Check out our actions below for links to genuinely meaning, impactful and above all, empowering climate action.

The Solutions

Empower women through closing inequality gaps and accelerating climate action

human rights

Research shows that women are disproportionately impacted by climate change and that they are also the key to solving the environmental crisis. Ecofeminists argue that the historical oppression of women is incredibly similar to the domination of the land, and that their salvation goes hand in hand. And indeed, evidence shows time and again that women’s empowerment and advancing gender equality can improve things across many different sectors, including the environment. Economic security can improve, health, access to food, and even more environmentally friendly decision making at both household and national levels. Research has also shown that women adopt innovative and preventative measures at a faster rate than men. Furthermore, countries with more politicians that are women pass more ambitious climate policies. Empowering women through closing the large structural gaps that create gender inequality and accelerating climate action is essential for combatting climate change.


Amplify the voices of marginalised women and support their work

human rights

The environmental movement is often wrongly viewed as a middle-class, white movement. Mainly because it’s often the middle-class and white people who are given more press and attention, as epitomised through the cropping of Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate justice activist, from a picture with four white activists (one among them being household name Greta Thunberg). Women of Colour, Queer Women, Neurodivergent and Women with Disabilities are often side-lined, but it is imperative that their voices are amplified. Prevailing burdens from structural inequality also often means they bear a significantly heavier burden from the impacts of climate change. Moreover, in many countries in the Global South women are more vulnerable to extreme weather as they are responsible for their family’s food, water, and energy needs. To ensure climate solutions recognise the knowledge and needs of these groups, and to achieve climate justice, their voices must be amplified and their work must be supported.


Shift away from capitalism and competition towards cooperation

education and discourse

Competition has been a driving force in our destruction of the world. The pressure to produce and consume has drained our resources. To the point that the Earth Overshoot Day in 2021, the day in which globally we consumed the level of resources that is sustainable for the planet, was at the end of July. Of course, countries, industries, and individuals vary in the amount of resources they consume, but the concept of the Earth Overshoot Day highlights there is something systemically wrong with how we are globally consuming. Alternative approaches are needed to not only stop this insane level of extraction but also to help restore and regenerate what we are currently losing. Our planet will benefit from a shift away from a capitalist and individualistic mindset, towards what has been traditionally viewed as the more feminine domain of cooperation and nurturing.

The Actions

Learn

Learn About Ecofeminism

  • Watch this video of an introduction to Ecofeminism and explore why ecology and feminism are seen as intertwined.
  • Learn about eco-feminist approaches to addressing climate change and inequality
  • Read this article about Ecofeminism and a culture of cooperation, not competition.
  • Look at this reading list to help with a more in-depth understanding of Ecofeminist scholars work.


Support

Donate to Organisations

  • Support organisations addressing gender inequality and climate change.
  • Support Action Aid in their work to help women to take on leadership roles, and ensure their voices are heard, in some of the world’s poorest countries.
  • Donate to the Greenbelt movement, recognised as one of the first hugely influential ecofeminist organisations, started by Wangari Maathai.

Support Women in the Environmental Movement

  • Follow Women leaders in the environmental movement. There are so many inspiring Women in the climate movement, such as Rhiana Gunn-Wright, President Hilda Heine, Sunita Nurein, and Vanessa Nakate. In addition, you can also look for articles highlighting women’s work for climate action, such as this article by the Global Citizen and this article by TIME. Look out for ways the educators you follow suggest you can support them!


Participate

Join Women Environmental Networks

Politically Advocate for Justice

  • Join protests and sign petitions advocating for climate justice and gender justice.


Lead

Join the All We Can Save Project

  • Start by reading All We Can Save, a book edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and  Katharine K. Wilkinson of writings by 60 women at the forefront of the climate movement.
  • Lead by hosting your own Circles, to extend dialogue and dive deeper into building a community to address climate change. The website includes guides to help you facilitate.  

Fight for Environmental Justice

  • Start a movement and fight environmental injustice. Lois Gibbs is now at the forefront of climate action in the USA and is the founder and director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ). However, she started with local activism, after realising her son’s elementary school in Niagara Falls was built on top of a toxic waste site. She knocked on doors, created petitions and eventually got the area cleaned up. Follow her lead by addressing local issues, and if you are in America Her organisation, the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, guides local organisations in holding the American government to account. Follow her lead and use the resources of organisations like CHEJ to help you.

you can still watch
our speaking events

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Spotlight: My Journey Into Activism

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Today at 6pm UK time

Ignite Session: Why Intersectionality Matters

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Ignite Session: Earth Economy

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In Conversation: Climate Migration

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Ignite Session: A Just & Green City

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Spotlight: Women's Rally

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Ignite Session: Business for Good

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Spotlight: Communities Unite Against Extraction

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Pass the Mic: Voices of the Land

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