WomEnergy

Last Thursday the ball was dropped on a major climate change bill intended to reduce carbon emissions seen as a cause of climate change. Convinced that he did not have enough votes, Senate majority leader Harry Reid tabled this long-time effort and instead chose to focus on a more contained approach to strengthen energy efficiency and respond to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The news is deeply disappointing.

In Thomas Friedman’s We’re Gonna Be Sorry Op-Ed, one of a slew of climate pieces in The New York Times last weekend, he quotes the environmentalist Rob Watson as saying, “Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology and physics. That’s all she is.” In Friedman’s own words, “You cannot sweet-talk her. You cannot spin her. You cannot tell her that the oil companies say climate change is a hoax. No, Mother Nature is going to do whatever chemistry, biology and physics dictate.”

The simplicity of Watson’s words are in stark contrast to the tit-for-tat hullabaloo of Washington. In Watson's world - our world - there are no gray areas. It’s hell or high water – or both. This is not a political issue like its being played out in Washington. Mother Nature does not care if the markets go up or down, if you’re a Democrat or a Republican – she does not care about your paycheck.

So what does this have to do with women?

It was at the June UNIFEM conference where I first heard about the Women’s Environment & Development Organization (WEDO), which, according to their website, is a women’s global advocacy organization based in New York City with a mission to empower women to achieve economic, social and gender justice, a healthy, peaceful planet, and human rights for all.

When I first heard about WEDO, I did not really “get it.” What do climate change and women have in common? It turns out – a lot.

Among the many helpful resources on the WEDO website is a Climate Connections booklet, which helps to explain why women are disproportionately affected by climate change. Here are some straight statistics from the booklet:

• Women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men during natural disasters.
• The 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh killed 140,000 people— the mortality rate of women over 40 was 31 per cent.
• More than 70% of the dead from the 2004 Asian tsunami were women.
• Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, predominantly affected African American women—already the region’s poorest, most marginalized community.

The reasons are complicated and yet - surprisingly simple.

If you live in a society with gender inequality where you are already at a disadvantage and have minimal resources, then when disaster strikes you are going to be the least equipped to bounce back and rebuild your life.

According to the booklet, if women lack access to an education, then obtaining information on the weather and climate change is certainly not going to be a possibility, leaving them at a loss to take action. Further, in some societies women cannot leave their homes without a male companion, thereby potentially limiting their ability to respond to a natural disaster in the most effective way. Other potential impacts include women suffering at a greater rate due to lack of survival skills regularly taught to boys and finally – the fact that women are regularly excluded from disaster recovery decision-making – and that’s what WEDO is all about – ensuring that women are a crucial part in the climate change discussion.

And natural disasters are only one example. What about the women who rely on farming to bring in food for their children and families? What happens when there is limited rainfall and a low yield of crops?

Through researching the WEDO website, I learned that international development organization Oxfam is also taking a lead with women and climate change by spearheading a Sisters on the Planet initiative to bring together US women leaders to spread awareness about women and the changing climate, to ensure that vulnerable communities are able to cope with this impending environmental crisis.

I especially appreciated one particular Sisters on the Planet video, included on the WEDO website, documenting how women there are affected by low rainfall. It looks like the video was posted to You Tube in 2008 – but I’m hard pressed to think that much has changed for the better since then.

Grab a water bottle – you will get thirsty just watching.



I would strongly encourage you to check out the WEDO website and read more about their work and rich history dating back to the early 1990s (I know – I make it sound like that was so long ago!) with the likes of Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinem.

And if this blog post is not enough to whet your appetite, perhaps I can tempt you into a hypnosis session with Libana, a global women's music group I just discovered that sings the message loud and clear:

The Earth is our mother. We must take care of her.