Demonstration Comes as Critical Climate Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate
BANGKOK (October 2, 2009) - Hoisting banners that read ''Justice for Women!'' and ''No Climate Justice Without Gender Justice,'' more than 100 women from both the global north and south marched this week outside ongoing U.N. climate change negotiations in Bangkok. Their aim: put pressure on delegates to frame a new global treaty that recognizes the particular vulnerability – and value – of poor women.
Women often lack the assets they need to build their resilience to a changing climate, said Christina Chan, a CARE senior policy analyst who participated in the march. The missing resources include land, credit, access to support services, new technologies and a place in decision-making bodies. The results can be tragic in disasters such as the back-to-back typhoons ravaging Southeast Asia this week.
''More women are injured or killed during hurricanes, floods and cyclones,'' Chan said. ''They are less likely to hear official warnings and to be able to swim or to escape quickly, especially if carrying young children. They are also less mobile than men, confined to their homes.''
Amid the slogan-ringed umbrellas and placards on display in Bangkok, word spread of an equally important sign – this one from Washington. There, senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.
Dr. Helene D. Gayle, CARE's president and CEO, welcomed the first installment of Senate legislation. ''This is another important step in our march toward climate justice,'' said Dr. Gayle, who testified about climate change before the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee earlier this year. ''We look forward to continued work with the Senate to see that vulnerable groups, particularly poor women, receive the resources they need to adapt to the climate change. As we're hearing from women at the U.N. talks in Bangkok this week, the march is far from over.''
Chan said the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the only legally binding agreement from the1992 Earth Summit that fails to incorporate gender equity. But the world will have a chance to fix that during the December summit in Copenhagen, designed to establish a post-2012 global treaty.
In developing countries, Chan said, women are often the main providers of water, food and fuel. As a result, they possess knowledge on effective and innovative solutions to the growing problems associated with a changing climate. CARE is calling on climate change negotiators to ensure that women have opportunities to make their knowledge part of adaptation strategies at the community, national and global level.
''The global deal must prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable people, and ensure that they have a voice in shaping the world's response to climate change,'' Chan said. ''Women are especially vulnerable. Their lives and livelihoods hang on this deal.''
About CARE: CARE fights root causes of poverty in the world's poorest communities. We place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.
:
Atlanta: Brian Feagans, CARE,
bfeagans@care.org, +1.404.979.9453, +1.404.457.4644
