Nearly 3000 people, including some of the most powerful business and political leaders in the world, gathered at the forum this year. Hamblin Wang, the Chief Operating Officer of MCi Carbon, was there on a mission to impress upon world leaders what needs to be done in this decade to reach net zero. 

Speaking to Women’s Agenda upon her return to Australia, Hamblin Wang said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to be in attendance at the forum. 

“I’m not a world leader or a head of state or business tycoon or a spiritual leader,” Hamblin Wang said. “It’s not lost on me what a significant opportunity this was.”

“The challenge and the urgency of climate and climate technology development is extremely important right now. And I felt like my contribution was definitely important in the dialogue of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024.”

Hamblin Wang explained that she had meetings and engagement from 7am to 2am every day for the five days she was at the World Economic Forum, which was a significant opportunity to network and influence key decision-makers.

“The people who get stuff done are all there. There’s not only policymakers but also the key decision makers of the world are networking and making decisions while they’re there,” she said.

“I definitely felt like there was an opportunity to really call the world leaders to action and make them aware of what can be done and what should be done in this very, very crucial decade to reach Net Zero.”

Hamblin Wang was at the World Economic Forum in her capacity as Chief Operating Officer of MCi Carbon, a forward-thinking clean tech company transforming carbon dioxide into building materials and other valuable products for the circular economy. It’s providing a decarbonisation pathway for hard-to abate sectors including steel, cement, mining, chemicals, and manufacturing.

MCi Carbon received a $14.6 million grant from the federal government in 2021 to build a decarbonisation plant demonstrator. It’s currently being built in Kooragang Island in Newcastle and will lock away more than 1000 tonnes of carbon dioxide permanently and safely into building materials.

Debunking myths on carbon pricing

At the World Economic Forum, Hamblin Wang spoke on a panel called Debunking Myths on Carbon Pricing alongside Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Maros Sefcovic, Executive Vice-President for European Green Deal and Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy of Québec, Canada.

Hamblin Wang used her time to talk about three key things: intention, integrity and courage.

“For me, my life purpose is around ensuring that we keep our world at a 1.5 degree target,” she explained. “We need to remediate climate change and intention is really important in that.”

“I talked about my daughter, which I think is sometimes like a ‘no no’ in a professional setting but I was saying that when we talk about net zero by 2050, it’s kind of obscure, but the reason why we decided on net zero by 2050 was because we want to keep 1.5 degrees alive for the year 2100.

“And that although that is really far away in the future, my daughter is still going to be alive in the year 2100. It is a real time in the future and we want to still have the Great Barrier Reef then.”

Hamblin Wang said that any new technologies that are invested in need to have integrity.

“We need to be able to measure, report and validate what actions we’re taking to make sure that the technologies that we invest in and we spend our finite time and resources behind, don’t give license to companies to emit more. It’s important that they actually work and they don’t just make promises and then under deliver. The integrity behind technologies is of crucial importance,” she explained.

It’s not just that we don’t want to spend money on things that don’t work, according to Hamblin Wang, it’s also that the public needs to have trust in what the technology is doing.

“It needs to be beyond politics. We need to urgently reduce emissions and remove emissions from the atmosphere,” she said. “We need to be doing that whilst having integrity behind what we’re doing so that the public is along for the ride. At the end of the day, it’s communities that are actually going to be adopting the technologies. It’s not just companies operating in obscurity.”

Hamblin Wang also wants to see more courage from those who have the power to invest.

“There is not enough climate capital being unleashed in the world. We need to be unlocking orders of magnitude more investment into climate capital but the global investment community hasn’t quite stepped up,” she said.. 

“We’re almost seeing a breakthrough there but we need patient capital that’s investing in things that both have a return on investment but also an emissions reduction outcome.”

What about climate hope?

While Hamblin Wang still wants to see more investment into climate technology, she said she is filled with hope that the word will rise to the challenge that climate change presents.

“I’m definitely a strong believer in climate hope. Because we’re actually doing it right now in Australia and the technology works and the business model works. 

“My true feeling is that the world will get there, and we will get climate change under control. It’s just about how late we leave it and how much it’s going to cost. If we act with the urgency that is required right now, that we know that the climate science has told us, it will be less costly and less painful.

“If we leave it too late and we dilly dally, or we don’t act with conviction, and with the investment and adoption that’s needed. It’ll be a lot more expensive and costly in many other ways.”

Feature Image credit: World Economic Forum.

The post We need ‘intention, integrity, courage’ on climate: Sophia Hamblin Wang at the World Economic Forum appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The AI-based sewerage system maintenance business was backed by Dutch water technology specialist VC PureTerra Ventures, supported by US engineering and construction software giant Autodesk.

“As a women-led start-up, we understand the unique hurdles women face in leadership and funding, and we’re thrilled for VAPAR to be part of the positive change,” the company tells Women’s Agenda.

“We hope that we can inspire other women and the start-up support network to continue backing women and providing a diversified space for all entrepreneurs to drive change.”

Co-founded in 2018 by two engineers, Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar, the innovative startup was inspired by Siquiera’s experience as an engineering intern. She would manually review sewer inspection videos for 8-hours a day, an error-prone and subjective process that ignited the idea for a streamlined, tech-driven, AI-based solution.

“VAPAR’s technology unlocks the necessary efficiencies in pipeline investment decision-making,” Siqueira said. 

“Billions are spent every year by global water utilities on fixing their pipes, over half of which is spent in North America. Despite the massive investment, there isn’t enough data and dollars available – utilities must commit to doing things differently.” 

“Artificial intelligence can unlock unprecedented efficiencies. Our vision is to create a world where critical infrastructure investment meets the needs of our communities.”

Over 3 billion feet of sewer pipes are inspected globally each year, according to VAPAR, with sewer overflows and flooding becoming more common as a result of aging pipes, climate change and growing populations. 

VAPAR currently serves water authorities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with a multi-regional team of 17 members. 

With this new $5 million investment, the company plans to build on its established customer base in these regions as well as fuel further expansion across North America to transform aging infrastructure. 

“The face of AI is changing rapidly, and we’re proud to be pioneering this deep learning technology in such an impactful way for the water industry,” said Aguilar.

“With our increasing customer base, we now support a wide range of industry standards, time zones and languages. Investing funds to double our team, add new verticals and start our North American office will ramp the number of customers that can benefit from this technology.”

For the past four years, VAPAR’s revenue and product usage has doubled annually. 

Alex Crowell, Partner at PureTerra Ventures, praised the startup’s performance, calling it a “standout in the evolving water management technology space”. 

“Showcasing their strong customer advocacy, a quick-to-adopt product and an impact-driven team made our decision an easy one,” he said, referring to their backing of the company.

“This investment will not only expand VAPAR’s customer reach but also substantially reduce pipe failures, which reflects our shared commitment to sustainable water infrastructure development globally.”

The post AI-based sewerage maintenance: Women-led startup from Sydney raises $5 million appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The Melbourne plant-based leather business has received the backing from Startmate, The Austin Group, Robyn Denholm’s family office Wollemi Capital Group, and LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund along with strategic angel investors.

‘It’s exciting to see the appetite for climate-tech from Australian investors – the impact of climate change is the most pressing issue of our time, and our world-class tech provides a commercial opportunity for investors wanting to make a positive environmental impact,” Alt. Leather’s founder, Tina Funder tells Women’s Agenda.

Alt. Leather is Australia’s first 100 per cent bio based leather alternative that turns waste and regenerative plants into textiles for use across fashion, footwear, furniture, automotive interiors, etc.

Identifying a gap in the market, Funder first launched a vegan handbag label LOM Australia in 2022 using cactus and apple leather. Now, she’s working to step into the carbon-instensive and petroleum based synthetic leather market with Alt. Leather. 

“I tested many of the bio based alternatives on the market and coudn’t find a suitable material that was petrochemical-free,” says Funder. “Given the current climate, it felt like a significant commercial opportunity with the benefit of a positive environmental outcome.”

Chief Scientific Officer of Alt. Leather, Dr. Tuan Nguyen said Alt. Leather’s use of globally abundant regenerative plant derivatives as well as waste streams makes it a reliable and sustainable material.

“By adopting green chemistry innovation, we have developed patentable material composition technology to produce a leather alternative that is both durable and commercially stable,” said Dr. Nguyen.

During 2023, Alt. Leather’s research team grew from one to four, and made progress on achieving a base material that looks and feels like leather. The team is aiming to become the default choice to traditional leather and eliminate the need for petroleum-based synthetic leathers.

Exceeding their initial target of $750,000, Alt. Leather secured the upper limit investment of $1.1 million at the seed round running from October until around Christmas last year, with intense interest from investors.

Alt. Leather will use the funds to file its provisional patent, kick off small-scale sample production with a range of Australian brands and gain access to university-housed advanced equipment and student researchers.

The fashion industry accounts for about 8-10 per cent of global carbon emissions, and nearly 20 per cent wastewater. One of the biggest material culprits towards environmental destruction is leather. 

According to the Material Innovation Initiative, the global synthetic leather wholesale market is estimated at around US$70 billion with 3 per cent of that attributed to next-gen alternatives, and almost the entire industry still relying on petroleum-based plastics in production.

“That’s millions of tonnes of fossil-fuel derived plastic that we can eliminate from the world, the impact we can have is enormous,” says Funder.

Among the Alt. Leather’s seed round investors, Wollemi Capital Group CEO, Victoria Denholm says creative entrepreneurs like Funder help us “reimagine a world where we can enjoy beautifully crafted goods in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.”

The post Female-founded startup Alt. Leather secures $1.1 million backing from investors appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In that time, it has been rewarding to witness the increased recognition for women leading action on climate change in areas where they have previously been marginalised, including politics and international negotiations. Alongside this welcome rise in women’s influence, there has been increased understanding of the disproportionate impact that climate change has on women and girls, and increased emphasis of this as the reason why women should be included in decision making.

While this is good on the one hand, some caution is needed so that the real value of women’s leadership is not overlooked in the emphasis on women as victims.

I take my hat off to the international women’s organisation She Changes Climate for calling out the unequal representation of women at the annual UN Conference of the Parties (COP) events – starting with COP16 in Glasgow and intensifying their campaigns at COP27 and CO28. Their open letters to the COP Presidents, and campaigning across country negotiating teams to encourage 50:50 representation has garnered increasing support and media attention. So much so, that when the President of Azerbaijan recently published a 28-person all-male organising committee for COP29, condemnation from She Changes Climate, in collaboration with other groups, hit the media big time. The Azerbaijan administration has responded quickly with the addition of 12 women. This is still far short of equality and gives the impression of the women being the ‘B-team’ – but let’s hope that it is the start of a proper collaboration.

In 2022-23, I noticed a sharp increase in the rhetoric around the impact of climate change on women and girls. It is now usually the number 1 response in most discussions and articles about why women need to be at the decision-making table. This is a significant change from when I founded the WCC in January 2020. At that time, the impact of climate change on women and girls was less well understood and rarely mentioned in relation to women’s leadership. And yet women’s leadership was still seen as an important key to unlock the political gridlock surrounding action on climate change. At the time, in a discussion paper that prompted the formation of the WCC, I wrote:

“Women’s nurture of life is axiomatic. Their leadership style tends towards compassion, inclusion and collaboration.  These combined attributes are essential in times of emergency when life is threatened. They are also essential for effective mediation … Women who have managed to break into the previously male domains have been constrained by organisational cultures that favour a more top-down, hierarchical style of leadership. Women have therefore not yet experienced a level playing field to contribute more relational processes and perspectives. And yet history has shown that when women act together without the influence of existing political cultures they have developed visionary plans like that of the largely forgotten 1915 International Congress of Women in The Hague, which has underpinned much international progress in human rights.”

I am concerned that if we overstress the disproportionate impact of climate change on women as the key reason why women should be included in decision making, we might be inadvertently maintaining an underlying status quo that does not acknowledge the agency of women as women — as the bringers of new life who experience the cycles of life in our bodies – a truth that would be just as valid if women and girls suffered the same impacts of climate change as men and boys.  

In the way that Indigenous cultures recognise ‘women’s business’ as different to ‘men’s business’, it is important that women do not accept leadership only on the basis of being victims – or accept solutions that arise from a system built on centuries of patriarchy, however well-meaning these might be.

The international women’s movement has also stressed the role of women as innovators and bringers of solutions for climate change, which is abundantly clear from the increasingly well-networked women’s groups working for change, including the foregrounding of Indigenous voices  and women from the Global South, and raising international ambition towards a phase-out of fossil fuels. However, these activities are often seen as arising from the impact that climate change has on women rather than from a feminine outlook more generally.

Indeed, acknowledgement of an underlying quality of ‘womanhood’ is seen as problematic by some feminists (with some justification). But it is a conversation that we need to have if we are going to upend the status quo in a way that truly allows women, in all their diversity, to take a full role in governance in a proper partnership with men.

Feature Image: Janet Salisbury.

The post Women’s agency in leadership is key to unlocking climate gridlock appeared first on Women's Agenda.

According to a report from the University of Newcastle, women in the Northern Rivers were subjected to high levels of violence and sexual assaults, resulting in unplanned pregnancies.

The researchers – Associate Professor Wendy Foote, Professor Margaret Alston, Dr David Betts and Dr Tracy McEwan – said the emergency centres established in response to the floods did not adequately consider the safety of women and children.

They suggested separation of men and women and children in emergency centres, as well as more triaging, would have avoided the increased rates of gender-based violence and sexual assaults.

MSI Australia, a leading reproductive healthcare clinic in Australia, provides contraception and abortion care to people and communities who have been affected by climate-related disasters.

Head of Policy and Research at MSI Australia Bonney Corbin told Women’s Agenda unplanned and unwanted pregnancies can often go unnoticed during times of crisis, including during climate-related disasters.

“There’s an assumption that we don’t have sex when we’re displaced, but the evidence shows that both rape and sexual activity increases in times of emergency,” Corbin said.

“When we are displaced, we lose routine, and we’re more likely to forget where we are at in our menstrual cycle. Pregnancy can go unnoticed.

“Dissociation following sexual violence and rape can mean that victim-survivors delay making choices about their pregnancy.”

Following the February 2022 floods in northern NSW, MSI Australia clinics were providing care to some women who did not realise they were pregnant until they were beyond nine weeks in pregnancy gestation. This meant they could no longer access medical abortion care and were only able to access surgical abortion.

The financial impacts of a climate-related disasters can also impede a person’s ability to access abortion care, as well as a range of other compounding factors that arise during times of crises.

“Some people realise they are pregnant and want to have an abortion, but are in financial distress with other priorities of food and accommodation, so can’t afford to pay out of pocket abortion costs,” Corbin said.

“Following the floods we provided care to women who had delayed accessing an abortion by a number of weeks.”

It is never a victim’s job to prepare for or prevent rape from happening, Corbin said, but the solution to unplanned and unwanted pregnancies is access to the “full spectrum” of healthcare: products, information and services.

“People need access to long-acting reversible contraception all year round, so that they already have access to contraception when disaster hits,” Corbin said.

“Access to health services is important but it isn’t enough. We need access to the spectrum of health products, and information that people need for reproductive autonomy.

“In the aftermath of a disaster, people need immediate access to health products including condoms, menstrual management, dental dams, pregnancy tests.”

A study from the United Nations Population Fund in 2022 found nearly half of all pregnancies around the world are unplanned or unwanted. This equates to around 121 million pregnancies every year, due to gender inequality, lack of sex education, poverty, limited healthcare services and more.

Rates of unplanned pregnancies spike in times of crisis – not just environmental crises, but also times of war, conflict, food insecurity and more. It is expected that in Afghanistan alone, by 2025, there will be an estimated 4.8 million unintended pregnancies.

The post New research finds women faced higher rates of unplanned pregnancies in 2022 Northern Rivers floods appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Unfortunately, this intentional hunt for women only came after international condemnation of the petrostate of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, having the audacity to go public with a committee that failed to include a single woman.

Indeed, there were more fossil fuel executives than there were women when the committee was first announced. And there were more men named Anar, than women, including Assistant to the President Anar Alakbarov and Urban Planning State Committee chair Anar Guliyev.

Incredibly, President Ilham Aliyev only took a couple of days to unveil the 12 women they had found, including Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva and Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva. At the same time, Aliyev also found another two men, creating a 42-person committee.

When Aliyev announced the 28 all-male committee last week, the international condemnation came swiftly and quickly.

While it would have been nice to hear from more prominent current and former country leaders, women’s voices were notably the loudest.

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was “appalled” by the move. Teresa Ribera, the deputy Prime Minister of Spain declared, “no woman to host … may mean… no woman willing to come… resulting in… no COP” on social media.

Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief responsible for the groundbreaking Paris Agreement, and arguably one of the most successful climate negotiators of all time, described the all-male committee as “shocking and unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, 75 female business and political leaders worldwide sent an open letter to the president declaring that the best outcomes could depend on the president including “as many women as possible” on the committee. The letter from the We Mean Business Coalition said the eyes of the world will be on Baku, and noted that “gender diversity is crucial to successful negotiations and decision-making, bringing with it better, bolder decisions that have been shown to last.”

The Coalition also highlighted the role of women in some of the most successful COP negotiations, including the Paris Agreement, which was led by women — a notable success, given just five women have even been presidents of these global climate negotiations.

Women’s leadership at international negotiation tables is already lacking, making the need to intentionally include women in organising committees like this one all the more essential. At last year’s COP, just 15 out of the 140 speakers on the main stage were women, a slight increase from the number in 2022.

This is despite the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls, including how extreme weather events impact women’s safety and contribute to gender-based violence, the evidence that child marriages increase in areas impacted by climate risks, especially drought, as well as how climate change further prevents girls from accessing education.

As Women’s Agenda shared last year in The Climate Load, climate change is and will continue to affect the safety and health of women in Australia, while women must be included in the massive industry upheaval required ahead if Australia is to be successful in meeting our emission reduction targets.

The swift action taken by the president to appoint 12 women to the committee was “warmly welcomed,” according to Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition.

But the fact that in 2024 a president is appointing 28 men and no woman to any organising committee is nothing short of jaw-dropping, let alone a committee tasked with organising critical global climate negotiations.

The post Women found! But only after all-male climate committee called out appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, where more than 60 heads of state attended, began on Monday, with the final day of the conference to begin today.

Other experts, advocates and stakeholders attended the five-day conference, including Jane Goodall, who has worked for more than 60 years preventing the extinction of chimpanzees.

As an environmental advocate, Goodall told reporters at The National UAE that people should think about the children and grandchildren in generations to come before “destroying their future” with reckless environmental policies.

“I hope to reach into a few hearts,” she said. “I think people change from within.

“The world is in a mess – politically, socially, economically… instead of making a world that will last, we’re really destroying their future.”

"We're really destroying their future"

Renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall urges people to "look into their heart" and take climate action for children and grandchildren #Davos2024 pic.twitter.com/3iWteg64HO

— The National (@TheNationalNews) January 17, 2024

Goodall, the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace, urged people to look into their hearts and their humanity to save the planet.

“Unless you reach the heart, you’re not going to make a real impact,” Goodall said.

Goodall is 89 years old and has not slowed down in her conservation efforts, particularly in her work to save chimpanzees from extinction.

She was just 26 years old when she first travelled to what is now Tanzania in 1960 to live side by side with a community of chimpanzees. Back then, the world knew very little about the species and just how similar they are to human beings.

Now, more than 60 years on, she continues to be an environmental warrior for the sake of future generations to come.

“We haven’t just compromised their future,” Goodall told Time on Monday. “We’ve been stealing it – and we’re still stealing it today.

“We need not just talking. We need action.”

World Economic Forum

More than 60 heads of state from around the world gathered in Davos, Switzerland on Monday to kick off the 54th annual WEF. 

This year’s WEF theme is “Rebuilding Trust”, and so far, several of the world’s biggest challenges have been discussed, including AI, global governance, energy transition, climate change and more.

President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen told the Forum on Monday that the theme couldn’t be more fitting as the world embarks on 2024.

“The sobering reality is that we are once again competing more intensely across countries than we have in several decades,” she said.

“This is not a time for conflict or polarisation. This is a time to build trust. This is a time to drive global collaboration more than ever before. This requires immediate and structural responses to match the size of the global challenges

“I believe it can be done, and I believe that Europe can and must take the lead in shaping that global response.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a more reformed, inclusive and networked global governance ahead of the new year.

“We can’t build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents,” he told the Forum.

After 2023 was announced the hottest year on record, climate change has been a big topic of discussion at the WEF.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva was one leader who spoke on working together to tackle climate change.

She urged for financial resources to be moved from places “where they hurt” to places “where they help”.

The post Conservationist Jane Goodall urges leaders to act on climate change in Davos appeared first on Women's Agenda.

According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average temperature in 2023 was 0.17C higher than in 2016, (the previous record year) with the causes of increased global heating attributed largely to record emissions of carbon dioxide along with the natural climate phenomenon El Niño.

It was so hot in fact, that C3S director Carlo Buontempo described it yesterday as “a very exceptional year, climate-wise… in a league of its own, even when compared to other very warm years.”

But it won’t be exceptional for long. Ten days into 2024, there’s no sign of relief. While the world is yet to breach the 2015 Paris Agreement target of preventing global warming surpassing 1.5C, climate scientists warn that the figure is likely to eclipse that this year.

And we know that it’s women who will bear the brunt of climate change impacts both in Australia and across the world. It’s women who will lose job and education opportunities. It’s women who will face a myriad of adverse health affects. It’s women who will be left most vulnerable.

And it’s this knowledge of the escalation of climate change and ongoing heatwaves, coupled with the sheer injustice of society’s expectation on women to cover up, that really tips me over the edge.

Living on the Northern Rivers of NSW’s far north coast, days here in Summer regularly climb well beyond 35 degrees.

And, do you know what I see? I see women all around me suffering. I watch as they throw themselves down in coffee shops, breathing heavily and wiping sweat from their faces. Their visible bra lines digging into their shoulders, and shirts clinging mercilessly to sticky bodies. I see them grappling with small children and laptops and mental loads the size of Antarctica (which is incidentally where they’d rather be).

Men on the other hand? They casually stride around shirtless; on the street, in shopping centres, at parks, at the beach.

They don’t feel unsafe to do so. They don’t feel embarrassed. They don’t feel ashamed. They don’t (generally) feel uneasily sexualised and objectified.

While in Australia, indecent exposure laws only refer to the genital area, you will rarely, if ever, see a woman expose her breasts in public. You won’t see a woman, no matter how fed-up, hot or grossly uncomfortable she may be, casually strip off her top and stroll into the local IGA. (In recent days, I’ve seen six men do exactly that).

Why? Because we know that the simple action of making ourselves more comfortable would set an instant target on our backs. Not only of being publicly abused and ridiculed, but also the very serious threat of predatory behaviour; sexual harassment and assault. We know that male aggressors would be given greater licence by police to perpetrate these crimes than we would be to bare our breasts.

Moreover, despite federal laws supporting both men and women’s right to public toplessness, local councils impose their own rules. Topless women are often slapped with vague charges such as being a public nuisance, or committing offensive behaviour.

The double standard, when you sit and think about it for even a second, is incensing.

And with 2024 set to be hotter than the year before, perhaps a public protest of angry, topless women is high time.

Who’s in?

The post It’s a million degrees and I’ve never been more incensed by shirtless men appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The study’s findings are outlined in the For Our Futures report, which was co-researched by young people in Plan International’s Youth Activist Series’ across Australia, Nepal and Indonesia. 

The research comes as more than 20 schools were closed in NSW, Australia, on Friday, due to the current heatwave impacting the state and the risk of bushfires.

The study consulted more than 500 people aged between 10-24 (the majority being girls) from Australia, Nepal and Indonesia about the ways that climate change is impacting their education. The research methodology involved a series of survey questions and a data collection method called photovoice, which enables people to share their views through photo and video content.

Researchers found that climate change and climate-induced disasters exacerbate the challenges girls already face. Research by the Malala Fund predicts that by 2025, climate change will be a contributing factor in preventing at least 12.5 million girls from completing their education each year. 

Adding to the evidence base, the For Our Futures report revealed that 98 per cent of respondents were very concerned or somewhat concerned about how climate change is affecting their school life or how it will affect them in the future.

Sixty-two per cent of respondents had experienced disruptions to their travel to and from school due to climate change, and more than one in three had seen their school closed, damaged or destroyed due to climate change-related events.

Thirty-nine per cent were concerned about finding the job they want in the future because of the way climate change is impacting their education, and almost half of the respondents felt unsafe either at school or while travelling to school due to climate-related disasters.

“Less power to make decisions about my future,” was what 69 per cent of respondents in Australia said was one of the top concerns they had about how climate change was impacting their education. 

Over 50 per cent of Indonesian respondents were concerned about climate change disrupting their academic performance.

And in Nepal, 25 per cent of respondents had their textbooks or learning materials damaged or destroyed, with one Nepali respondent saying that “even if you go to school, books and textbooks get wet when you are soaked in water … There is a different kind of weather than it used to be; sunny days in rainy season and no rainfall in rainy season or no water because of rise in temperature”. 

“We won’t cop it”, said Plan International Australia 2023 Youth Activist Georgia Shakeshaft, regarding the climate injustice her generation faces. 

“Working on the For Our Futures report, I got to see how badly climate change is affecting my peers– in Australia, and overseas in Indonesia and Nepal,” she said, adding that “some of the stories we heard were shocking.”

“We need to listen to the voices of girls and young people, who are experiencing the effects of climate change firsthand. The climate crisis is robbing so many young people around the world of a smooth education. We are being robbed of a future.”

Speaking on behalf of their generation, the youth activists are using the results to call on wealthy countries like Australia to commit to the Loss and Damage Fund to support the most vulnerable in dealing with the climate crisis.  

Climate change is not gender neutral

The climate crisis “is impacting girls first and worst”, said Susanne Legena, Plan Australia’s CEO, adding that this is particularly true for girls in the poorest countries, who are “least responsible for climate change”. 

Household responsibilities become intensified by climate change, meaning that girls who most often take these on have less time to attend school. Water scarcity also makes it difficult for girls to manage their periods safely and with dignity at school. 

One in two survey respondents wanted girls to be taught more about how to prepare for disasters.

Legena described the climate crisis as “an intergenerational and gender injustice”. She says the For Our Futures report highlights the resilience and agency of young people. 

“Girls around the world are taking collective action to advance climate justice, and we are working with these girls and their communities to reduce climate risks, adapt to climate change, strengthen resilience, promote girls’ leadership and increase their political empowerment.”

Loss and damage fund

As the world’s most influential climate experts convene for another week in Dubai for COP28, two of the Plan International Youth Activists who worked on the report – Georgia Shakeshaft and Iremide Ayonrinde— will present the For Our Futures report at the international climate conference. 

Shakeshaft and Ayonrindw will make three specific recommendations, which include calling on the Australian Government to make a commitment at COP28 to contribute to the UNFCCC Loss and Damage fund. This fund aims to to support the most vulnerable and poorest countries to keep up with the rising costs associated with weather events related to climate change. 

They will also call for ‘disruption to education’ to be recognised as a specific form of non-economic loss that should be recognised by the UNFCCC Loss and Damage fund. 

Finally, they will call for the establishment of a National Council of Young Women on Climate to amplify diverse voices, focus on young women with lived experience of the impacts of climate change and enable direct communication between young women and decision-makers. 

Echoing their calls, Legena said the youth activists’ agency gives them hope for their futures. But she added that wealthy countries such as Australia, along with big polluters, must take responsibility and step up to take meaningful action by committing to the loss and damage fund.

The post Girls’ education is being impeded by climate change in Asia Pacific youth activists tell COP28 appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The Former Secretary of State appeared at an Atlantic Council event titled “Empowering communities: Women at the heart of climate resilience” where she acknowledged the concerning decline of women’s rights and opportunities across the globe — a situation she believes is leading to fewer women in decision-making positions.

“It’s not only that we have to do more to make sure women’s voices are heard, we have to be conscious of the fact that we’re now sort of swimming against a tide that has turned against women in many parts of the world,” Clinton said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hillary Clinton (@hillaryclinton)

“In many of the governments that are here represented at COP, there are some governments that have no women and some governments with very few women. And so how do we get the concerns of women particularly when it comes to climate to be heard, and that’s, you know, what events like this are about.”

Clinton described the important role policymakers have in encouraging more women to enter climate change discussions. 

“We have seen repeatedly that women’s lives, women’s works, is often an afterthought, if it’s a thought at all. And it just doesn’t doesn’t rise to the level that it needs to in order for policymakers to pay attention and to act. So therefore it’s been a kind of absolute necessity over years to try to lift up women leaders and women.” 

Clinton said she was concerned about the “pushback” of women’s rights and opportunities in places like China.

“The leaders of a number of big countries have basically sent the message out that women need to get out of the formal workforce, women need to get home, women need to have more babies. That was an explicit statement by Xi Jinping, the president of China last month.”

“We also see changes in legislation to both encourage and undermine the role of women in the sense that [they are] encouraged to sort of withdraw from the formal economy.”

This year’s summit sees 140 world leaders scheduled to speak with only 15 of them women. This 10 per cent is actually an improvement from last year’s summit which saw only 7 women represented out of 111 speakers (roughly 6 per cent). 

At her discussion on Monday in Dubai, Clinton also acknowledged the disproportionate impact women face by the effects of climate change. 

“Whatever the climate change is, it’s going to impact whether it’s increasing climate shocks, weather patterns, storms, droughts, heat,” she said. 

“They’re going to impact women and children more dramatically, everywhere. So I think there’s just we need to see it as a political movement that we are all part of.”

Clinton’s comments comes after the Guardian revealed that the president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, said controversially last month that there is “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”.

Al Jaber, who is the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc, was speaking to former UN climate envoy Mary Robinson during a virtual event last month when he said: “Show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”

On Monday, he addressed the comments he made in November, saying: “We very much believe and respect the science.”

“I respect the science in everything I do. I have repeatedly said that it is the science that has guided the principles or strategy as COP28 president. We have always built everything, every step of the way, on the science, on the facts.”

“I have said over and over the phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable. In fact, it is essential.”

“I know that there are strong views among some [countries], about the phase-down or phase-out of fossil fuels. Allow me to say this again: this is the first [Cop] presidency ever to actively call on parties to come forward with language on all fossil fuels for the negotiated text.” 

One of the most contentious issues at this year’s summit rests upon the extent and severity of expression used to describe the the final COP28 agreement. Over a hundred countries have already supported a phase-out of “unabated” fossil fuels, though some believe the description should be tampered to “phase-down”. 

The definition of “phase-out” and “phase-down” has not been agreed upon by all nations. 

If countries reached an agreement to “phase out” fossil fuels, it would be “one of the most significant events in the history of humanity”, according to former US vice-president Al Gore. 

Gore told the Guardian in Dubai it would be a “welcome surprise” if leaders at COP28 agreed to call for an end to fossil fuels. 

“If there were a decision here to surprise the world to say ‘OK we get it now, we’ve made enough money, we will get on with what needs to be done to give young people a sense of hope again and stop as much as suffering as possible and start the phase-out of fossil fuels’, it would be one of the most significant events in the history of humanity,” he said. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ina-Maria Shikongo (@inamariaeshitoshikongo)

UN secretary general, António Guterres said last week, “The science is clear: The 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce, not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”

Climate scientists have criticised Al Jaber’s comments, describing them as “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”. 

Namibian climate activist Ina-Maria Shikongo said: “We are here in response to [Al Jaber’s comments] making loud and clear. There is no debate whether we need a fossil fuel phase-out to stick with the Paris agreement. The science is clear.”

Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands, Tina Stege, said of Al Jaber’s comments —  “We will hold him to that.”

“If 1.5C is the north star, in practice what that means is a phase-out of fossil fuels; that is what the science has said,” she said. “We can’t pretend there are other pathways to achieve 1.5C when so many lives are at stake.”

Over the weekend, she wrote on X: “We need to marry the tripling of renewables to a fossil fuel phaseout, underpinned by the necessary finance, to drive a just and equitable energy transition.”

The post Hillary Clinton slams COP28 for lack of women appeared first on Women's Agenda.

After this ruling, Sharma launched a campaign to legislate this duty of care through the Federal Parliament, and successfully saw a bill for this tabled in the Senate. 

As a prominent voice for the climate rights of her generation, Sharma was recognised as the 2023 Emerging Leader in Climate & Sustainability at the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards in October with judges noting her particular brand of “courageous leadership”.

Here, Anjali tells Women’s Agenda what this award and recognition mean to her, and why establishing a duty of care for young people is so critical for climate justice.

How does it feel to win?

It’s surreal to win and I feel so honoured! To win an award from Women’s Agenda, who has done such important work in the space of female empowerment, and with past Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards having been given to some of my role models, I feel really grateful to win. It’s a boost of motivation and reassurance that I’m on the right track, in a sector that can often feel quite devoid of hope and good news, especially as a young person.

You launched a campaign to establish a duty of care owed by politicians to young people, and successfully saw a bill tabled in the Senate to do so. Tell us briefly why this is critical for climate justice and how people can get involved.

We all know and honour our duties of care to each other in daily life. A road user has a duty to another, a doctor has a duty to their patient, a teacher to their student. But as the law stands, there is no policy mechanism that compels politicians to keep in mind the effects that their decisions will have on young people in the context of climate change. This duty does not exist, and this allows politicians to continue to make climate-wrecking decisions that aren’t in the best interests of young people, falling victim to short termism and election-cycle thinking, rather than adopting a long term view. 

Young people deserve to be handed a world in which to create our lives which is safe and liveable, and policy mechanisms should exist which facilitate that. That’s why this duty of care is so important! To pass, we have to show the government that there is a broad base of support for it from around the country, and so people can help us do that by signing our petition. 

Additionally, the bill is before a Senate Inquiry right now for review, and people can make a submission, and there are resources on our website to help people make a compelling submission. Lastly, call or email your MP and tell them you want to see this bill put into action!

The judges described your climate justice work as having “broad reaching and profound implications for the whole country”. What does this recognition mean to you?

The statement from the judges is recognition that this bill, if passed, could change the way that decisions are made around climate change. This is exactly what I want to see happen, because I believe that the decision-making process currently is not serving young people, and so this statement makes me feel really happy that my aim and work is being recognised.

What are you hoping to achieve in the next twelve months, and what do you foresee to be the greatest barriers you’ll face to accomplishing it?

I want this bill to pass when it’s brought on for debate mid 2024. But the obstacle is that it can so easily be voted down by the government, which holds a majority in the lower house. As the Australian public, we cannot let them feel comfortable enough to do this and must hold them accountable to making policy decisions that match their rhetoric on climate change. They’ve said that they want to secure a safe climate future for young people, and we must pressure them to take this opportunity to do it, rather than let them think that they can get away with voting the bill down.

The post Anjali Sharma on giving young people a voice about the issue that matters most to them appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Amongst the sea of men in suits, female faces are largely absent despite the well-known fact that women are more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change. This gender disconnect begs the question of whether female voices will be adequately listened to in the global climate conversation.

With 140 world leaders scheduled to speak at this year’s COP28, only 15 of them are women. And this measly 10 per cent is actually an improvement from last year’s summit which saw only 7 women represented out of 111 speakers (roughly 6 per cent). 

The gender balance of party delegations is also skewed as only 38 per cent of representatives are female, while 62 per cent are male.

Representing women at the summit are a small group of powerful voices, including President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottely; Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen; President of Honduras Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento and Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir.

Phasing out fossil fuels

As COP28 kicked off last week, the debate surrounding fossil fuels came to the forefront of the conversation, following comments from the summit’s President, Sultan Al Jaber that scientists have said echo the views of climate change deniers. 

During a She Changes Climate online event, Al Jaber– the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil firm, Adnoc– said there’s “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C.”

Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.

Climate scientist Joelle Gergis called Al Jaber’s comments “disgraceful”, saying they dismiss “decades of work by IPCC scientists”. 

Advocating for renewable energy, President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen took to the stage at COP28 to call for more support for the global clean energy transition. She said the EU will push for key global emissions milestones, including global emissions peaking by 2025, a phasing out of fossil fuels and reaching 2030 targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency. 

“Climate change is the challenge of our century”,” says von der Leyen. “Our ambitions must match that challenge”.

Running out of time

The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that 2023 is assured to be Earth’s hottest year in history, with scientists everywhere warning that the world’s most important climate goal– constraining global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius– is becoming increasingly out of reach. 

The climate crisis is reaching a breaking point, and those most affected are struggling to have their voices heard in the race towards solutions. 

Women are at greater risk of poor physical and mental health when climate disasters disrupt health services. Evidence shows an increase in family and domestic violence following these disruptions, and an increase in economic disparity as women are forced to take on more unpaid work. 

Extreme weather caused by climate change increases food insecurity which exacerbates the risk of stillbirth and severely impacts maternal and newborn health.

The research shows women are missing from most national climate plans, and yet gender equality is strongly linked to climate justice. For progress’ sake, it’s time women’s voices become central to the narrative, which includes an increased leadership presence on the world stage.

The post Only 15 out of the 140 speakers at the COP28 climate summit are women appeared first on Women's Agenda.