‘Under Her Eye: Women and Climate Change’ — Invisible Dust
“This isn’t Climate Change — this is EVERYTHING change.” — Margaret Atwood
‘Under Her Eye: Women and Climate Change,’ was an international Summit and Arts festival held at the British Library on 1–2 June 2018. A range of speakers from a wide array of disciplines spoke at the summit and was followed by a festival of public art installations, workshops, screenings and performances curated by the incredible, Invisible Dust. The summit itself culminated in a fantastic conversation with ambassador, climate change activist and writer, Margaret Atwood.
Christiana Figueres, former UN Climate Chief, who delivered the Paris climate change deal in 2015, began the day with a conversation with Swaga Pattanik, Global Economics Editor at Reuters. With the enormity of the threat of climate change, she suggested that perhaps humans would respond to the call for behavioural change with the urgency needed if we could only make the invisible visible (Invisible Dust’s central premise). As Figueres imagined, if we could only ‘paint each molecule of CO2 in incandescent colours so they could be noticed day and night.’
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas followed Christina Figueres in a panel discussion and highlighted women’s role in grassroots climate activism:
“Women are on the front line of climate change — organising and resisting. Women are an essential part of the solution. [We] have different stories to tell based on our different experience.”
“It’s not enough to challenge an old narrative… you have to replace it with a better one.
There were several breakout sessions throughout the day and they presented intriguing intersections between disciplines. For example, art/ science or policy makers/ artists. One panel with an international lawyer, the CEO of a Renewable Energy Association and the CEO of a charity supporting artists to act on climate change. In the mix, international lawyer Ana Stanič provided fascinating insights into the fossil fuel companies she’s represented as well as where human rights and environmental law converge with energy law.
We also heard from Kate Raworth, renegade climate economist, who explained why climate change requires a structural change to the economy and business practice. Businesses must ask “are we making a profit at the expense of people’s human rights and the planet?” She went on to say “Our current financial system is incompatible with life.”
One of the breakout sessions, ‘Health, Wellbeing and Future Cities’ was led by our very own project manager, Georgie Street! She opened the discussion about healthier, cleaner, less congested future cities by introducing the Euston Green Link as a great example of a commitment to improving green space, protecting local air quality and contributing to a city-wide effort to create a more sustainable future.
On another panel, ‘Institutions, Science Communication and Climate Change,’ Laura Tenenbaum, a globally recognised innovator in science communication, discussed how she was censored after the US election for talking out about climate change, so she’s “glad to be travelling the world speaking out about climate change” She was asked, “How do you feel you can engage young people that feel disempowered by the world as it is?” And she said, “The power of imagery and series such as Frozen Planet are great for reaching out to as many people as possible.”
Furthermore, Kath Clements spoke at the conference as the campaign and marketing manager for UK company Mooncup, which makes re-usable menstrual cups as an alternative to disposable sanitary products, she cited the environmental impact of the “1.5 billion menstrual products flushed in the UK annually,” and spoke about alternatives.
Overall, the day brought to light the key issues surrounding climate change, with discussions on plastic, fossil fuels, the role of business, policy, art, activism and health and wellbeing in future cities. Centred around women, the day also felt extremely positive in terms of what we collectively must do to spark change.
Keynote speaker — Margaret Atwood
The day ended on a high hearing Margaret Atwood’s remarkable and sometimes witty insights. The closing conversation was with award winning journalist and broadcaster, Samira Ahmed. In exploring the reflections of society in her ‘MaddAdam Trilogy’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ Atwood was mischievous and inspiring, highlighting the importance of writing in addressing the issue of climate change and making the invisible visible. She focused on how the future of humanity is closely linked to the survival of the ocean’s ecosystems.
“The link between climate change, poverty and women is very, very close,” she said. Commenting on ocean plastic pollution, she said: “Something has to be done…If the ocean dies, so do we.” She went on to say that climate change disproportionately affects women on a global scale. In addition, their voices are “too rarely heard” in top level climate change discussions. Having written frequently in her novels about the impacts of climate change, Ms Atwood described the conditions which she believes currently disadvantage women.
“In a lot of the world women are in fact the food producers, and they’re also the people who care for their families. The hotter it gets, the lower your harvest is going to be. If you have a flood, that’s going to wipe you out.”
Under Her Eye Arts Festival — #HumanSensorLDN
Saturday 2nd June involved a range of arts workshops, talks, drop-in sessions and a microclimate sensory banquet by Gayle Chong Kwan. The day finished with an incredible performative artwork from creative technologist, Kasia Molga and it followed our Euston Green Link route to Regent’s Park.The work explores Londoners’ daily exposure to air pollution through a combination of cutting edge wearable technology and performance. It was commissioned and produced by Invisible Dust in partnership with Euston Town BID as part of Under Her Eye.
The whole weekend was a great success and an exciting event to be a part of! We can only thank Invisible Dust for inviting us and we will be ruminating ideas shared with such open-hearted intent at Under Her Eye for some time to come…
Find out more about Invisible Dust here.
