On 17 March, WHO along with the United Nations Foundation and the Government of Norway, co-sponsored the event “Changing legislation: when women move mountains” on the margins of the sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), which took place virtually from 14 to 25 March 2022. The purpose of the side event was to highlight women and girls’ crucial leadership and decision-making roles in sustainable development and responding to health emergencies including climate change.
With knowledge of the climate crisis more widespread than ever and its detrimental effects increasingly undeniable, there is an understanding that important actions must be taken. A healthier planet leads to healthier people, and the role of governments to achieve both is fundamental.
Yet women and girls often carry the burden of climate change. The reasons for this are rooted in the norms, roles and relations that relegate them to care-taking roles, poverty and increased dependence on the natural resources threatened most by environmental degradation. Despite these challenges, the world is waking up to the collective power of women and girls.
Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, Co-Founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation, shared how she became an important advocate for health and clean air quality after her daughter, Ella, passed away at nine-years old following three years of seizures and 27 visits to the hospital for breathing problems. Thanks to Rosamund’s determination, Ella’s death certificate is the first one in the UK, and potentially the world, that has air pollution listed as the cause of death – a massive achievement towards the formal recognition of the harmful health effects of exposure to air pollution. “I believe that Ella’s right to life was fundamentally breeched, and that is the situation with lots and lots of children all across the world,” Rosamund said. For her, the approximately 500 thousand children that die prematurely before the age of 5 due to air pollution represent a global public health crisis and she hopes to use her voice to amplify this message.
While on maternity leave, Jemima Hartshorn was so inspired by Ella and Rosamund’s story that she co-founded the group Mums for Lungs, mobilizing people to change actions, agendas and policies around air pollution and climate change, mostly at the local level. Through community and local work, we are reminded that everyone can make a difference.
As highlighted by Lucie Greyl, climate litigation promoter at A Sud, changing legislation, while not easy, can be extremely effective. “It’s complicated getting to a legal pathway. It’s very technical, and you need a lot of support, but you can have a very strong impact,” she said. A Sud’s work on climate justice and equity is centred around issues of territory management, natural resource management and environmental contamination, often in direct relation with Indigenous and farmer communities, many of whom hold sacred relationships with the land and air.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment David R. Boyd pointed out the historic resolution from the UN Human Rights Council, which last October recognized for the first time at a global level that “everyone everywhere has the right to live in a clean sustainable environment”. This was the product of work by women and girls around the world, whom he called “the leaders of this movement.”
The movement towards climate justice has been helmed by young people, especially young girls, whose voices were present at this event. Raseel Arora, Co-Director of Global Community at ClimateScience, spoke passionately about climate action and gender equality. In her view, education is key. “My goal is to make more people understand what climate change is, what gender inequalities are, how they intersect and how they impact everyone.” More than talking about numbers, she reminded the audience that is important to talk about the people that are affected.
The youth activists showed they are undaunted by the road ahead and instead highlighted the need for systemic change and the optimism with which they approach their work for a healthier planet. ”I believe that all in all, it’s recognizing that these problems have to be solved,” said Jessica Vega Ortega, Co-Chair of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and the Network of Indigenous Youth of Latin America and the Caribbean, echoing the need for transformative change. “As guardians of our Earth, we know that we can’t change the climate but we can change the system,” she said.