BOLD Women, BOLD Climate Leadership
Combat Climate Change Today
Save Our Happy Place is a climate action newsletter dedicated to making it easy for you to help protect the places you love from climate change, written by Lindsay Nunez. Read on for simple yet effective climate actions, and sustainable + eco-friendly lifestyle tips.
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Happy International Women’s Day! This week we are joined by my friends at Women and Climate, a nonprofit and community for women interested in climate to share best practices, ask questions, discuss ideas, and create new solutions. I’ve been actively involved with the NYC chapter of WAC for the past year and have gotten so much out of the experience. Finding and cultivating a community within the climate space, especially for women, is so crucial to maintaining momentum and recharging. I’ve personally found it to be such an inspiration to surround myself with so many other women who care and are actively engaging in the climate space. Now I’ll hand it off to them to talk about a world in which women lead and how you can get involved this International Women’s Day.
By: Carter Schmitt - an active Women and Climate volunteer currently working in climate technology commercialization at Columbia University in NYC.
If you’ve been in the climate space for a minute, you may have noticed that the sector is much less male-dominated than more traditional industries. Across policy, activism, education, corporate sustainability, and beyond, the boldest climate champions are often women.
At Women and Climate (aka WAC), we are well aware of this! WAC was founded to create a safe and joyful space for women and gender-diverse individuals to share information, best practices, and community around climate and sustainability. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re hosting BOLD – a virtual summit to discuss BOLD climate topics like Degrowth, Population, and “What if Women Led ____?”. Register for the March 7th event here.
I’m incredibly grateful to have found Women and Climate, but honestly I didn’t fully grasp the link between gender and climate until I heard this podcast (seriously go listen right now) from two of my climate heroes in 2021. As it turns out, the intersection of gender and climate change has serious implications for our future.
How is Gender Tied to Climate Change?
Disclaimer: It is essential to note that gender is a social construct that is not biologically determined, exists on a widely varying spectrum, and has significant nuances at the intersection of race, class, geography, and religion. With that in mind, gender does deeply affect how we exist in the world, and this piece focuses on how individuals socialized as female are uniquely impacted by (and suited to address) climate change.
Some research indicates that up to 80% of people displaced by climate change are women. Since women are globally a) more likely to experience extreme poverty and b) more likely to be responsible for other dependents, this results in much greater vulnerability to climate displacement. In the event of life-threatening climate disasters, gender norms (for example, caretaking responsibilities, restricting clothing, and lack of access to activities like swimming) negatively impact women’s ability to survive.
These vulnerabilities are compounded by our lack of representation in rooms where climate decisions are made. That’s why we need BOLD female leadership across all facets of climate advocacy. The good news is we’re already making huge strides in this direction, and there is a decent amount of research suggesting that the world is better off for it.
Women Lead the Charge
When Women are able to lead on climate decisions, everyone benefits. Women legislators overwhelmingly favor stricter climate policy. In business, female-led companies outperform their male-led counterparts, and women and people of color are often better at assessing financial and technological risks. Finally, women are powerful motivators and excellent crisis mitigators; Many of the most effective conservation movements have been led by indigenous women and women of color, and in the US two-thirds of recent climate strikes were women-led.
All of this data, history, and progress validate the fact that female leadership is essential to a sound climate future. If you’re still not convinced, here are 10 more reasons why women are “Eco-Superheroes”.
So why is it that women seem to be more likely to be taking action against climate change? And how might things be different for the climate if women led more male-dominated industries like finance, government, or media?
Tune in to Women and Climate’s “BOLD” on March 7th to hear our thoughts!
Join Women and Climate at BOLD
On March 7, 2023, Women and Climate will convene for a virtual International Women’s Day summit to spark conversations on BOLD topics. In this 1.5-hour session, attendees will hear about:
WOMEN-CENTRIC LEADERSHIP
POPULATION
DEGROWTH MOVEMENT
Additional topics such as climate justice, equity, biodiversity, women's health, youth, and more, will be explored through hot takes. We will also be inviting women-led startups to pitch. Attendees will celebrate with our global community and walk away with renewed inspiration, ideas, and solutions for tackling climate change. No climate experience is necessary to attend.
Thank you for the perspective shift!