Women leading climate action
At the occasion of the Women’s Forum Kyoto Roundtable, we have added our name to a very special Charter for gender inclusion to accelerate climate progress.
The Charter we’ve signed calls on governments, businesses and individuals to act in concert for the empowerment and inclusion of women in climate action, across five areas:
- Achieving gender equality in climate decision-making bodies by 2030
- Raising awareness on the gender/climate nexus and providing girls access to education and green jobs
- Enabling women’s full access to means to engage in climate action
- Using gender data and analysis to inform climate policies
- Financing and developing gender-responsive and scalable social, economic and technological climate solutions.
We believe gender inclusion to be a prerequisite for meaningful climate action of the scale that our current climate emergency demands: women’s skills, participation and leadership (in domains ranging from international policymaking to agriculture) are vital to a successful and inclusive green economy transition.
We believe gender inclusion to be a prerequisite for meaningful climate action on the scale that our current climate emergency demands
While the world needs STEM-trained engineers to scale its push into renewable energy, women make up only 20–25% of the energy workforce; and while a quarter of all economically active women are engaged in agriculture, women own just 15% of the world’s agricultural land which, coupled with a lack of access to finance and technologies, prevents them from adopting or scaling sustainable practices and innovations. Doing so could increase on-farm yields by 20–30%.
In turn, green societies and economies create new opportunities for women’s empowerment and advancement: stable conditions enable girls to further their education– for instance.
The Charter was created by the Women & Climate Daring Circle of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society; led by BNP Paribas and L’Oréal, in collaboration with Microsoft and in association with Engie. KPMG and EcoAct supported this Daring Circle working group as knowledge partners.
Among others, the Charter has been signed by Jean-Paul Agon (CEO, L’Oréal), Jean-Laurent Bonnafé (CEO, BNP Paribas), Isabelle Kocher (CEO, ENGIE), Arthur Sadoun (CEO of Publicis), as well as Christiana Figueres, Laurence Tubiana (President and CEO of the European Climate Foundation), Mary Robinson (who has recently launched the Declaration on Climate Justice), Rachel Kyte (CEO of Sustainable Energy for All).
The Women’s Forum will continue to add the signatures and commitments of corporates, individuals and public authorities to this Charter, to build a critical mass of action and communicate the need for an approach to climate that acknowledges and harnesses the leadership of women. The Women’s Forum will continue to engage with governments, business associations and other stakeholders throughout the year to call for further commitment.
When signing the charter, Christiana Figueres remarked: “At a moment in which we have finally realised the climate emergency in which we live, women’s leadership is not only crucial, but urgent.”
We encourage all public authorities, private sector organisations and individuals to sign this charter and join us in committing to gendered climate action.
#women4climate #womenleadclimate #timetoact
