Robyn James, is the Global Director of Gender Equity for The Nature Conservancy and (lucky for us!) a proud WELA Board Member. Last month, Robyn attended Climate Week NYC. We’re grateful she took the time to share with us all her top five takeaways from a week attending private and public events focused on women’ leadership, feminist principles and a socially just energy transition.
Climate Week NYC is the largest annual climate event of its kind, bringing together over 900 events and activities across the City of New York with leaders from business, tech, politics, academia, and civil society. The event runs alongside the United Nations General Assembly.
Here are my five takeaways from Climate Week NYC:
The world is being forced to see the power and potential of women to address the climate crisis – but power is not ceded without intentional effort. It was an honour to appear alongside Loren Mayor, Mona Sherpa, Iris Mwanza and Madhuvanti (Madhu) Deshmukh at the event led by The CARE-WWF Alliance and Cheryl Margoluis to discuss solutions that elevate women’s climate action. Gender is not considered in climate action because we are nice people – it happens when we intentionally work to dismantle unfair systems.
Together, women are galvanizing in ways that are increasingly hard to sideline, like Women Leading on Climate, a band of climate sheros. Launched at hashtag#NYClimateweek by Catherine McKenna, María Mendiluce, Jennifer Morgan, are collectively pushing for greater country action on climate plans by early 2025. Women’s movements around the world are tackling the climate crisis, demanding serious action on climate, gender equality, and social justice while advocating for nature.
It must be JUST. To do that context matters and power matters! So many incredible changemakers are working to disrupt and challenge inequitable systems that keep people poor and women excluded. This event highlighted again what got us here will not save us: from unfair debt rules to labor, trade and tax policies, we cannot keep exploiting others. For example, should women in Zimbabwe be in grinding poverty near a lithium mine so the rest of the world has the lithium needed for renewables? NO.
The women of these movements put care and thought into their events. I am still energized by the rare chance to meet in person and see firsthand the effectiveness, vision, bravery, collaboration and kindness of women leaders including Mamta Borgoyary, Bianca Pitt, Kathy Baughman McLeod, Rachel Kyte, Zainab Salbi, Bridget K. Burns, Ronda Carnegie, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, Laura Clarke OBE, Jeannette Gurung and the groups they lead – SHE Changes Climate, Climate Resilience for All, Daughters for Earth, WEDO, Project Dandelion, Women’s World Banking, ClientEarth and Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN)
The simple act of walking can also be challenging when women are expected to wear uncomfortable dress shoes at meetings and events. Additionally, long bathroom queues further impede women’s participation in discussions and meetings. Let’s continue advocating for inclusive meeting spaces that cater to everyone, irrespective of gender or abilities. Grateful to leaders like Mary Robinson and Pat Mitchell of Project Dandelion for stepping out from Day 1 with comfortable shoes! With events all over the city and the roads and subway gridlocked by the UN General Assembly walking was the easiest way to get around the city. I walked miles every day. Walking freely and safely is a fundamental human right, yet many women and gender diverse people worldwide face safety concerns, especially at night. This impacts their ability to attend events like COPs and Climate weeks, hindering their participation and safety in navigating different parts of cities.
Excited to work with all the wonderful WELA community on progressing next steps in strong partnership and collaboration for our shared planet!