Once a year, International Women’s Day comes around and conversations arise on the role of gender justice in the fight for climate justice. What many don’t realise, is that women worldwide are living the reality of those very conversations the other 364 days of the year. The fight for climate justice is non-existent without the fight for gender equality.
80 percent of the displaced by climate related disasters and changes around the world are women and girls. When disasters strike, women are less likely to survive and more likely to be injured due to long standing gender inequalities that have created disparities in information, mobility, decision-making, and access to resources and training. And yet, women have proven to be leading the way towards more equitable and sustainable solutions to climate change. Women’s innovations and expertise have transformed lives and livelihoods, and increased climate resilience and overall well-being.
Jannatul Mouwa is a climate activist and Executive Director of BINDU, a youth feminist organization based in Sartkhira, Bangladesh. BINDU is committed to achieving women’s human rights, sustainable development, quality education and environmental justice, and has held womens climate strikes consistently over the past few years.
Women’s climate strike.
Women demand #safedrinkingwater
Climate Justice For women Justice . #WomensClimateStrike-67.Climate Justice For Future Generation. #NewGreenDeal #ClimateAction #climatecrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateJusticeNow pic.twitter.com/FUtYfACVvO— BINDU Nari Unnayan Sangathan (@BinduWomen) October 8, 2021
Bangladesh is ranked the seventh most climate vulnerable country in the world, but these women are not sitting back and waiting to be overrun by climate catastrophe. Watch this video and learn their story.