Women bear the brunt of the the climate emergency by carrying the burden of environmental, economic, and social shocks, yet are excluded from decision-making due to pervasive and entrenched gender inequality.
"By harnessing local expertise, situational nuance, and capitalising on the existing, yet often hidden, skills that women have, women's empowerment in disaster risk reduction improves resilience overall. While every disaster context is different, there are great examples yielding tangible results," . Climate change is already impacting communities across the globe, and the work and leadership of women are more essential than ever to help vulnerable communities adapt.
Every day, we see forest fires burning all over the world, massive flooding, extreme droughts, and people losing their livelihoods and lives, we are in an emergency. And yet we know that climate solutions exist, and that we can mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis and that women, feminists and gender diverse organisers are leading the way, says Osprey Orielle Lake the Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network International.
The Congo Basin is one of the largest and most important forests in the world, only second to the Amazon in terms of size. Damaged land is being reforested, lands that due to extractive industries and agricultural businesses have been completely turned into deserts. The forest which has an array of wildlife from forest elephants to mountain gorillas, is in trouble from logging and mining activities. But initiatives by indigenous communities could reverse the damage.