But Greta Thunberg is not an outlier. She's exceptional, but she's not alone. Women around the world have been demanding action and crafting solutions to local and global matters for time immemorial, and the climate movement is similarly made possible by the fearless and persistent activism of feminists.
We've explored the intimate connection between gender justice and environmental justice, and the eco-feminist movement, at great length at Ms. for decades. This week, I'm highlighting pieces from our archives that examine the feminist fight for environmental justice—and lay out blueprints for activism for anyone interested in continuing the charge in their own communities in the weeks, months and years ahead.
From Bella Abzug to Greta Thunberg, women and girls are and have always been at the forefront of the climate justice movement, applying solutions and demanding accountability. It’s time that more of them to step up, connect with one another and be recognized as the leaders that this movement needs—because the leadership that women and girls exercise when they are connected is more than inspiring: It’s revolutionary. And that’s exactly the kind of leadership we need to address the climate crisis.
As a 30-something American woman, I literally have felt the pit of my stomach leap into my heart innumerable times over the course of this past year. At the same time, as a climate activist and attorney, I have felt my heart drop to the pit of stomach more times than I can keep track of this past year. During these crisis moments, the intersection between what I do and who I am has never been clearer. The foe in both contexts is one and the same.
Fires are raging. Sea levels are rising. While the scale of the climate crisis has grown, so has the band of passionate grassroots leaders hard at work to turn things around. More often than not, those leaders are women.
With the Green New Deal resolution now before Congress, Sunrisers are working to make life miserable for its Republican opponents and pressing Democratic presidential candidates to back the measure. Sunrise has become a powerful expression of generational politics, but also one rooted in feminist values. More than half of Sunrise’s steering team members are women, as are most of its principal staff, and in January founder Prakash became Sunrise’s first executive director.
“Securing the rights of women and girls can have a positive impact on the atmosphere, comparable to that of wind turbines and solar panels and forests.” I talked to author and expert Katharine Wilkinson about the key ways that empowering women and girls can help stop global warming.
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