THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS A FEMINIST ISSUE
This essay was written by members of a collective from @badactivistcollective, @fridaysforfuturemapa, #CodeRedActNow series and @futurosindigenas submitted by climate justice activist, Dominique Palmer.
Read this in the FEMINIST ZINE
The climate crisis is a feminist issue: the role of climate and gender, and the importance of intersectionality and empowering women within the environmental space.
“Love of nature is a process of becoming aware of and unlearning ideologies.”
Due to gender inequality, women are disproportionately impacted by climate and ecological breakdowns, such as extreme weather events and food & water scarcity, in comparison to men. This is because gender inequalities affect the allocations of resources, the divisions of labour, representation and power in decision making spaces. Therefore, women face barriers to access to resources, economic independence, and decision making, which has put them in a vulnerable situation in times of crisis. This position means that exposures to climate disasters are more frequent. A staggering 80% of people displaced by climate change are women (UN). Many of the impacts of the climate crisis put women and girls at increased risk of facing gender based violence and having to drop out of education. In addition, environmental disasters themselves, especially those related to water scarcity, can hinder and interrupt access to sexual and reproductive health services, which are a fundamental human right. Oppressive patriarchal control and legacies of colonialism are at the root cause of women and girls placed in a vulnerable position to the climate crisis. This is why we must have equity in our solutions, and for the incredible women leading grassroots communities, environmental movements and creating change to be represented in decision making, especially indigenous women and women of colour at the frontlines.
Ecofeminism is both political activism and an intellectual critique. It brings together feminism and environmentalism, in which ecofeminism explores the connection between the oppression of women and climate breakdown. Ecofeminists highlight that these are consequences of domination and control from capitalism, of which patriarchy is complicit. It highlights the normative ‘value dualisms’ upheld by western culture = the concept in which the world is categorised into a binary, with one side deemed superior and one inferior. This is rooted in domination and creates exploitation, for example, the normative value dualisms such as ‘human/nature’ and men/other genders (women, non-binary people and other non conforming genders). With the environment, we can see how this binary has led to exploitation of natural elements. In its early thinking, ecofeminism analysed women's oppression’s linkage to domination of nature under colonial and capitalist forces. This body of thought has evolved from its roots of ‘cultural ecofeminism,’ which claimed that women have an essential, biological connection to nature that is universal to all women, which reinforced harmful stereotypes. Today, ecofeminism has developed through a generation of leading activists and academics to understand that many systems of oppression are mutually reinforced including racism and classism.
Ecofeminism now recognises that women’s relationship with the environment is socially constructed. It looks at the social, material and political relationships in society and how an unequal crisis shapes one’s role in climate justice.
Women have a powerful and important body of knowledge and expertise that is crucial to climate crisis mitigation, disaster reduction, and adaptation strategies. Women’s leadership in the climate movement extends beyond cisgender and/or heterosexual women. Queer women, trans women, gender non-conforming people, femme-identifying people are all an essential part of the climate conversation. Women’s climate leadership also extends beyond representation — women need to be in meaningful positions of power, where their voices hold weight. Indigenous women are safeguarding our biodiversity, and their voices must be heard.
“In times of global disease, the indigenous women who defend life and territory are the cure of the earth. The world that puts money above life is coming to an end and the voices of other worlds are the hope of the future.”
“We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the Earth or we are not going to have a human future at all.”
Cura Da Terra seeks to put the voices and stories of indigenous women who defend their bodies, territories and spirits at the centre. You can support their work by :
Streaming the documentary on Youtube: Cura Da Terra
Streaming the podcast in Spotify (spanish): Futuros Indígenas
Follow: Futuros Indígenas (Indigenous Futures) a collective of primarily women from various indigenous communities in México, Guatemala and Brazil working towards climate justice action (@futurosindigenas)
“Climate feminism is exactly what we need, because our planetary crisis has never been gender neutral.”
Gender must be higher on the policy agenda, right alongside substantial climate action. This means widespread access to reproductive services, protections for queer people, expansion of women’s education, and more. A collective is only as strong as the people that are in it. We are all more effective when we work together to uplift each other’s voices and strive towards equity.
This essay was written by members of a collective from @badactivistcollective, @fridaysforfuturemapa, #CodeRedActNow series and @futurosindigenas:
Dominique Palmer is a UK-based climate justice activist working with Fridays For Future. (@domipalmer)
Farzana Faruk Jumu is a climate justice activist based in Bangladesh, working around the Fossil Fuels Non Proliferation Treaty (@farzanafarukjhumu)
Andrea Ixchíu is a K’iche activist, land defender and journalist based in Totonicapán, Guatemala (@andreaixchiu)
Maria Reyes is a climate justice activist with FFF MAPA based in Mexico and working with UN Women in the Generation Equality Forum (@mar1a.reyes)
Lauren MacDonald is a UK-based climate justice activist and lead organizer with the @StopCambo campaign (@laurenthesunflower)
Fridays For Future MAPA is a climate collective of activists and organizations from the most affected peoples and areas of the climate crisis (@fridaysforfuturemapa)
Mikaela Loach is a British climate justice activist and medical student living in Jamaica, leading the @paidtopollute initiative (@mikaelaloach)
Re Cabrera is a climate justice activist for Fridays For Future based in Mexico
Danielle Sams is a U.K based neuroscientist and climate justice activist (@daniellesams)
Rhiannon Osborne is a UK-based medical student and climate justice activist with @StopCambo and the People’s Health Movement. (@osborne_rhiannon)
Tori Tsui is a UK-based (environ) mental health & climate justice activist and co-founder of the Bad Activist Collective (@toritsui_)
Amber X. Chen is a climate justice writer and advocate based in the USA (@amberonradio)
Zahra Biabani is a climate optimist, writer, and the co-founder of In the Loop (@soulful_seeds)
Bad Activist Collective is a collective of change-makers, artists, story-tellers, and activists dismantling perfectionism & fighting for liberation for people & the planet (@badactivistcolletive)