THE WORLD NEEDS WOMEN TO MAKE PROGRESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Wangari Maathai
By Wangari Maathai (*)
NAIROBI, DEC (IPS) A year after much-touted climate change summit in Copenhagen, country negotiators from around the world are together again to work out an international response to climate
change. While many believe we should lower our expectations for this year’s climate change summit underway in Cancun, this would be a mistake. As global temperatures rise, so do the challenge’s for
the world’s poorest citizens- women, especially those living in developing countries.
Women are living on the frontlines of climate change, and are ready
to be active partners in dealing with climate change. The
negotiations in Cancun should be an opportunity to empower women
and make concrete commitments that will turn some promises of
earlier negotiations into a fair, binding, and legal document.
From food shortages to forest degradation and new and more complex
health risks, as well as an increased likelihood of conflict over
resources, the impacts of climate change threaten to further
jeopardize the lives of women and girls. But just as many women are
bearing the greatest burden of climate change because of their role
as providers for their families, it is women who are developing the
solutions that will save our world from the impacts of global
warming.
Take, for example, the challenge of ensuring that our world shifts
to a ‘low carbon’ future. The success of investment in developing
states to circumvent development reliant on fossil fuels depends on
local co-operation, and capacity on the ground. This is where women
are key.
Through its green technology initiative in India, the Self-Employed
Women’s Association has helped provide over 150 000 women with
microcredit and training required to take advantage of new green
technology. While the developed world talks about action, women
from the poorest sectors of India’s economy are cutting carbon
emissions by ending their reliance on coal, re-using forms of solid
waste and promoting the merits of alternative energy.
Similarly, in regions where women are able to be decision-makers
over land use and resources, they are proving to be a positive
force for sustainable change. With women at the forefront, the
Green Belt Movement in Kenya has planted ten of millions of trees
to restore local habitats and reduce fuel wood reliance on precious
finite forest resources. In Malawi, women farmers have joined
together in ‘farmers’ clubs’ where they share information on seeds
and cultivation techniques that are able to adapt to the
degradation of soil and changes in rainfall patterns caused by
global warming. This reduces their vulnerability to climate change-
induced drought and prolonged crop failure.
But it is not just women in the developing word who are taking on
the challenge of climate change. As the research from North
America, Europe, and India demonstrates, women around the world
demonstrate greater scientific knowledge of climate change, show
more concern, and are more willing to adopt policies that are
designed to address global warming. Internationally, women leaders
are at the forefront of a global civil society network working to
hold government, international institutions, and the private sector
to account for their promises on climate action.
Yet despite their willingness to take political and individual
action, entrenched inequality between men and women continues to
pose a critical obstacle to global efforts to address climate
change.
The most fuel-efficient stove ever produced will do little to bring
an end to deforestation or reduce carbon emissions if women do not
have access to the training required to use it, the micro-credit
needed to buy it, or the financial freedom to control household
expenditure. For example, it was shown that in Zimbabwe in the
1990s solar cooking stoves failed to be adopted largely because men
objected to women purchasing or learning how to use the new
devices.
In many parts of the world women do not own collective or
individual title to the land from which they live. This lack of
control means they are less able to implement sustainable
agriculture or adapt forest management strategies that contribute
to climate change mitigation as their voices are not heard when
decisions are made. It also impedes their ability to participate
effectively in programmes such as REDD+, which offers financial
incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation.
REDD+ will only work if policy makers are willing to learn from
grassroots women. One of the key lessons is that focusing on carbon
as the sole measure of the success of a climate change project has
the potential to derail international efforts to combat climate
change. Moving forward, we need to also take into consideration
community rights to land and carbon, the livelihoods of people in
communities, and issues related to governance.
Women need to be part of the decision-making process. At present
women are vastly underrepresented in decision-making roles. In
March this year, when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a
climate finance panel expected to mobilize USD100 billion dollars
a year to help those most affected by climate change, the 19-person
panel did not include a single woman.
This is unacceptable. Not only should women be represented on a
climate change finance panel. Every effort possible must also be
made to ensure that women have access to the education, training,
and finances needed to adopt sustainable technologies and
participate in the green economy. Women and girls also need the
land and resource rights to implement progressive forestry or
agricultural practices. Last and certainly not least, women need
the basic democratic rights that will enable them to vote for and
promote green policies at the local, national, and international
level.
Citizens everywhere are waiting for real action on climate change.
If the international community is serious about addressing climate
change, it must recognize that women are a fundamental part of the
climate solution. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)
(*) Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work
on the environment and democratic participation in Kenya. She and
her five sister Nobel Peace Laureates created the Nobel Women’s
Initiative in 2006 to work on human rights and climate justice.
