Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus  

The Women's Earth and Climate Caucus is working as a collaborative organization to create an international campaign to reduce carbon emissions and to foster a post-carbon economy and energy future, while also addressing societal transformation.

Upcoming events, click here!

Initiatives:

1. Programs with African women for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies in Africa. Women’s Research and Resource Centre (WRRC) and First Ladies Action on Climate Change (FLACC).

2. Ensuring that women are seated at the decision-making table, especially women in developing countries and Indigenous women.

3. Convening and collaborating with women who are leaders in the built environment, renewable energy technologies, policy, climate science and climate finance.

4. Addressing long-term cultural and societal narratives, education, values and lifestyles. How do we change the thinking that got us into the climate crisis?

Scientists around the world agree that we must act now toward substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction in order to avoid their worst effects. Climate change has already resulted in regional scarcities of water, food, and land. Increases in droughts, floods, and wildfires will result in worldwide hardships while sea-level rise will force migrations resulting in hundreds of millions of global climate refugees.

The Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus provides a richly personal, as well as a project-based, approach to speed progress towards mutual goals of reducing carbon emissions and creating sustainable communities and lifestyles. As many of us realize, we are in a critical time, requiring a new level of collaboration. The Women’s Caucus is an international group that honors diversity, and addresses both the immediate actions required to stop global warming as well as the long-term societal and personal transformation needed for systemic, creative, and enduring change. Men are also very much welcome to the Caucus and are central participants in our work.

We have been asked, Why a Women’s Caucus?

Women leaders have unique and essential ideas to offer at this turning point in history when humanity is making decisions about our very existence and how we are treating our Earth--and each other.

On the ground level, providing support to women benefits entire communities and society overall. United Nations studies show us that worldwide, when women are empowered, local economies improve, populations stabilize, and children’s health and education improves.

In many countries, women get out the vote and vote more often. It has been shown that women are an essential component -- and in some cases the main one -- in peace-making. Concerning the environment, women are the main recyclers in the home, and often decide how the family income is spent.

Women as a constituency are a relatively untapped and potentially strategic force for helping to make the societal changes we need for a clean energy future. For instance, women in North America now control over half of the wealth and are behind 80 percent of all consumer purchases.

We believe that women leaders can make a major contribution by developing new levels of cooperation among many established and new organizations for the most effective results in climate solutions.

Women’s leadership is emerging in a variety of fields and consistently reflects a propensity toward generative approaches, relational perspectives, distributed networks of leadership, non-linear thinking, emotional intelligence, and collective movement toward change – all capacities that are essential to addressing this complex global problem.
 


We also need to bring to light and take action on the disproportionate burden women face, especially in low-income communities and developing countries, from the impacts of climate change. Women in these communities know what is most needed and what will create the most effective, long lasting results. Giving voice to these women will accelerate progress in these communities and guide best practices. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for women to have a greater role in climate change debates stating: "The special perspective of women is often overlooked in global discussions on climate change." Because climate change-related weather events claim between two and three times as many female as male victims, according to the Asian Development Bank, women need to sit at the decision-making table.

At the core of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus is a commitment to meet the increasing social and environmental challenges of the climate crisis in order to support a flourishing Earth and a just global future. We are a solution based alliance and intend for this inspirational, emerging Women’s Caucus to be a powerful game-changer.

Osprey Orielle Lake
State of the World Forum
Director Women's Earth and Climate Caucus

Some of our Previous Events:
Women’s Caucus
Facing the Climate Crisis, Collaborating for Solutions
Bay Area Conference
Saturday March 27th 2010, 1:00-6:30

Presenters:
Zenobia Barlow --Executive Director and Cofounder of the Center for Ecoliteracy
Elizabeth Lindsey --National Geographic Explorer
Claire Greensfelder --International Forum on Globalization
Kirstin Miller --Executive Director, Ecocity Builders
Belvie Rooks --Co-Founder Growing A Global Heart
Susan Griffin --Poet, Essayist, Playwright
Lisa Bennett --Communications Director, Center for Ecoliteracy
Gemma Givens --Delegate for Indigenous Environmental Network and Youth
Robin Quarrier --Women of Wind Energy , Green-e Analyst & Counsel
Osprey Orielle Lake --Director Women's Earth and Climate Caucus,
State of the World Forum, Conference Convener