Connecting climate change with gender equality is a challenge
While the issue of climate has become politicized in recent years, it has always unequally affected women and girls, truly making it a women’s rights issue. Addressing the climate crisis is an opportunity to address gender norms and change them as we build a better world for women and girls.
This Earth Day, we are taking a “Step Forward for Equality.” This campaign will focus on Zonta awareness and education, highlighting the links between gender equality and climate justice. While climate justice has been a challenge to embrace, Zontians have always been first to understand how women are disproportionally affected by climate crises. By focusing on gender-equality in climate policies and taking local actions, we know that we will be taking a step in the right direction.
The campaign will use the symbol of the footprint. This symbolizes:
- The carbon footprint we leave on the planet.
- The process of understanding how climate justice takes steps and cannot be solved overnight
The connection that every step toward climate justice or every step toward gender equity correlates with a step forward for the other issue.
Goals
- Raise awareness on the impact that climate change has on gender.
- Educate simple actions to take that take action for both gender equality and climate justice.
- Showcase stories of Zontians taking climate action around the world and their plans to continue to take steps forward.
- Increase amplification of like-minded organizations through an endorsed statement.
Planned Actions
1 | Step Forward Activity
Through a physical activity (directed by Zonta Headquarters through the toolkit), members will gain an understanding of how climate change affects everyone across the globe. Climate related questions will be asked one at a time and members will be asked to “take a step forward if” that event has occurred in their lifetime (for example: not being able to access prenatal healthcare because of a climate related disaster preventing them from physically getting to it.)
2 | Pairing Gender Equality with Climate Justice
Just as our shoes are a pair, so are the issues of gender equality and climate justice. Using a template included in the toolkit, members will be asked to draw or write about why gender equality is important to them on the right shoe (gender RIGHTS). On the left shoe, members will be asked to color or write about what impact they want to make on the globe to secure climate justice (what will be LEFT?).
