By Katy Neusteter, Director of Communications
A year ago today, I was boarding a flight to Bali for the 2014 Summit on Women and Climate. I’ve been thinking a lot about that moment in my life. I had an 11-month-old son, my husband was one week into a demanding new job, and my mom was entering hospice care.
I was badly in need of a break from my day-to-day. But I was excited and nervous about the Summit on Women and Climate, too.
As a white woman from the United States with a good education and a stable home life, I knew that my privilege offers me a buffer from the realities marginalized peoples—not to mention other women—face all around the world.
What common ground would 96 environmental and women’s rights activists and advocates from 37 countries find? What decisions would we arrive at? What would we change?
I’ve written about many things in the past year, but never my experience in Bali. As I reflect back, I want to share with you two ways the Summit changed me, and where we are a year later. (For a great recap of the Summit, check out “3 awakenings from the Summit on Women and Climate” by board member Maxine Burkett.)
Women find common ground
Over four days at the Summit on Women and Climate, I had the extraordinary opportunity to talk with many courageous women.
Many were mothers like me. Some had been imprisoned for their activism or commonly received death threats. A few had been instrumental in moving forward truly groundbreaking change.
I interviewed Ursula Rakova, who designed a plan to relocate climate refugees from their flooded Papua New Guinea island home. I also talked to Berta Cáceres, who organizes opposition to mega dams that threaten indigenous communities in Honduras. (Berta won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her amazing work.) Read more stories about grassroots women leaders at WomenAndClimate.org.
No matter how different our lives and experiences were, we found solidarity in our shared purpose: Solutions to climate change and other environmental injustices have to include voices of women and men.
Inspiration is a privilege
My daily life is inconvenienced—but not shattered—by the impacts of climate change. Even so, I get overwhelmed by world news, scientific reports, and the enormous challenge of issues like climate chaos and gender inequality. So, I am always fascinated to know what motivates activists to keep going in the face of such extreme hardship.
But asking, “What inspires you to keep going?” implies that this is a choice.
As Mama Aleta Baun—who saved her West Timor community from the ravages of mining—put it so eloquently:
“My people regard the Earth as the human body. Stone is our bone. Water is our blood. Land is our flesh. And Forest is our hair. If one of them is taken away, we are paralyzed.”
For activists like Mama Aleta, there is no alternative but to stand for their values and the protection of their people and planet.
I am continually grateful that I get to choose to work with people and in a movement that represents and upholds my values.
Women’s rights and climate justice have joint momentum
Since the Summit on Women and Climate, I have seen clearly that there are ways forward on climate change and gender inequity. The solutions lie in the people coming up with ideas and ways to challenge the status quo.
Quite fortuitously, I found out today that 45 percent of the value of Greengrants we made in our last fiscal year was to projects with a tie to women’s voices. That’s up 5 percent in just one year. Our goal this year is to reach a full 50 percent.
Imagine how many Ursula Rakovas, Mama Aleta Bauns, and Suryamani Baghats will receive the funds they need to take their activism to the next level.
I feel grateful to be part of this movement for change. This is what keeps me going.
- Global Greengrants, INWF, and the Alliance of Funds published “Climate Justice & Women’s Rights” in March 2015. It offers practical tips for supporting community-based climate projects led by women. To date, more than 600 funders, activists, and academics from 70 countries have downloaded the guide from WomenAndClimate.org.
- Global Greengrants, INWF, and the Alliance of Funds are collaborating across regions to raise funds and support community projects that address both environmental and women’s rights equally. Check out this map of our global reach.
- Berta Cáceres was awarded the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her work to defend indigenous territory in Honduras despite great personal risk. Hear how Berta describes what it’s like to work under threat.