Environmental issues just aren’t that sexy. Maybe it’s because hot eco topics like fracking and climate change only ever seem to be discussed between stuffy old blokes in suits and white crusties with dreadlocks and a fear of deodorant.
And do you ever get the feeling, when sorting your recycling, refusing to litter, cycling instead of driving and using recycled plastic bags when you go shopping for food, that everything’s gone to shit already and you’re just one person rallying against this landslide of climate damage?
Because it seems like in the same way Generation Y has resigned itself to the grim inevitability we’ll never be able to buy our own homes, we’ve just given up on the environment.
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But, this weekend, we need to sit up and take notice of the way climate change is impacting our world. Why this weekend? On Saturday from 8.30-9.30pm, it’s the World Wildlife Foundation’s (WWF) Earth Hour, where everyone in the world is encouraged to turn off their electricity and power to do something good for the world. And perhaps appreciate how precious our power is.
It might not always feel like pollution is that damaging – even when there’s a toxic cloud of factory fumes in Britain’s airspace for an entire week – but it is having an effect, and guess what? It’s affecting women the most. We spoke to Georgie Johnston, an intern at the Women’s Environmental Network, to find out why we need to start giving a crap about climate change.
Do women actually care about the environment?
They do, but the problem is a lack of representation at decision-making level. Decision-making on things like energy and food happens in boardrooms, behind closed doors. All of the directors of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies that are blocking the advance of renewable energy [windfarms, water power, solar power energy that will go on and on as long as the Earth keeps turning], are men. And in Parliament, there is not a single woman on the Energy and Climate Change Committee.
But around the world, women rule the grassroots. Sometimes it’s because this is the only place they can make change, but also women demonstrate a greater interest in environmental justice. More women are ethical vegetarians than men. Women are more likely to support policies that tackle rising pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s why it’s vital that more girls take paths into environmental sciences. We’ve left it up to men for the past 100 years, and look how that turned out!
Do women cause much climate change?
We contribute far less to climate change, in fact. 70% of the people around the world living below the poverty line of $1 a day are women, and as a general rule, the richer you are, the worst you are for the planet. Women in poverty contribute almost nothing to climate change, yet bear the brunt of its devastating effects.
How are women affected worse than men?
Hurricane Katrina wasn’t entirely caused by climate change – but looking at how women fare in disasters like these is a good idea of what will happen to women in the next 100 years if climate change and gender equality aren’t both sorted out. Even though women made up 54% of New Orleans, which was particularly badly affected by Katrina, 80% of those left behind in the city were women. Many couldn’t leave; they didn’t have access to private transport, and couldn’t pay for petrol or accommodation to leave the city. Women were left on the roofs of their houses, crying out for help that didn’t come.
Climate change will cause natural resources like water and farmland to be scarce, and as a result whole continents will be ravaged by resource conflict. War isn’t great for anyone – apart from arms dealers and security companies – but if you look at the Darfur conflict, where rape has been used as a weapon of war, fewer resources = more conflict = increased violence against women.
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We hear a lot about what’s going to happen for future generations of the planet, but what’s going to happen to us as we get older?
I’m 22, and I plan on living for another 60 or 70 years, by which time, if we don’t take drastic action now, the world will be a very different place…
In the past 100 years, we’ve lost 97% of seed varieties. This means we might end up growing old in a world without most of our favourite food. And what’s bad for us will be worse for farmers.
To put the potential full-scale global famine in reverse, try to grow lavender bushes where you can. Bees love them, and bees are important; they help to pollinate a third of our food and a lot of them are being killed out by a lack of wild flowers for them to eat and those toxic pesticides.
And what can we do at a small level to halt climate change?
To make a sweeping generalisation, women and girls love shopping. Mums do the food shop, teenagers trawl ASOS. As key consumers, they have the responsibility to affect massive positive change.
Cheap, throw-away fashion is terrible for the planet. Cheap cotton means unthinkable quantities of toxic pesticides, which pollute the air, water and soil and poison cotton field workers. It also takes up loads of water. Ever heard of the Aral Sea? Well, don’t worry, it’s pretty much gone anyway because cotton farms suck it dry.
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Try to look for brands using organic cotton, and have a serious commitment to green production. And instead of 20 items because they’re cheap, save up and buy one really amazing thing that will last you longer, that looks better and does better for the planet.
Anne Hathaway, Ellen DeGeneres, Kate Winsley, Natalie Portman, Ellie Goulding, Ellen Page and Grimes all have one thing in common; they’re famous, yes, but they’re also all vegetarian. The meat industry is the single biggest contributor to climate change. Seriously. If you go vegetarian, it’s estimated your climate impact is as low as half that of the average meat-eater. You don’t have to give it up, but if you cut down a bit, like having meat-free Mondays, for example, you’ll be contributing to the solution.
Great, thanks Georgie!
We also got this from Emma Penchbeck, the Head of Climate and Energy Policy at the WWF: 'women across the world are also forces for progress in the fight against climate change. In the UK, women should call for action from our Government to cut our own carbon emissions, push for a global deal on climate change this December, and support countries most vulnerable to climate change.'
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.