Many of the most inspirational leaders in the growing climate movement are women. It's only appropriate. Women have not only lead many of the successful social movements of the past, they're also those most impacted by the climate crisis.
At the UN climate negotiations in Bangkok today, women from around the world spoke out about the ways the climate change is impacting their lives and those of their sisters back at home.
"In climate change induced disasters it is primarily the poor who have suffered the most, the majority of which are women," said Anne Maine of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). "This is the result of women's marginalized status and dependence on local natural resources, which in turn increases their domestic burdens."
PACJA is part of a coalition of groups, including Jubilee South, Friends of the Earth, and others, who are concerned that not only the climate crisis, but its potential solutions, could unduly impact women.
Not only are the current proposals insufficient to deal with climate change, argued Meena Raman of Friends of the Earth International, a pledge and review system — which activists fear would let developed countries off the hook for their emissions and force developing countries to take on unfair commitments — "shifts the burden of cutting emissions to poor women across Asia, Africa and Latin America."
The leaders who spoke today called for polluters to pay their dues by reducing emissions in line with the science; rejected the pledge and review system that deregulates emission controls; and demanded reparations of "climate debt" owed by rich countries for over-consuming atmospheric space and causing climate harms to women.
At 350.org, we look forward to working with women all around the world who are fighting for climate justice (and the men that support them!)