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Defenders of forests in India, courageous activists in the provinces of Kenya, rangers in Africa, founders of Greenpeace – why are there more and more women on the eco-agenda?
For many companies, increasing the number of women among employees is becoming one of the priorities in the ESG development strategy. It is believed that their inclusion in key corporate decision-making not only allows for a faster move towards gender equality, but also makes the company more sustainable.
So according to According to a study by the Global Labor Organization (GLO), countries with a large number of women in parliament take more eco-initiatives, and in the business environment they are more likely to promote sustainable development strategies, as well as increase spending on health and education.
The attitude of society towards the connection of environmental protection with gender is also interesting. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania found out that reusable shopping bags and other eco-themed attributes are considered exclusively female in society.
Gender differences in attitudes towards climate change, identified among the general public, allow to suggest that women are more aware of and concerned about climate change than men—hence the rise of the ecofeminism movement.
What is ecofeminism and when did it originate?
Ecofeminism is a social movement whose supporters fight for both women’s rights and the protection of nature. The concept is to draw a link between gender inequality and environmental degradation.
The term was first used in 1974 by the French writer and feminist Francois de Bonne in her work Le Féminisme ou la Mort (“Feminism or death”). She wrote about the problem of the oppression and control of women by men, which will lead to overpopulation of the planet and drastic negative changes in nature.
According to de Bonne, the main task of ecofeminism is the formation of respectful partnerships in society, in which care and a proportional distribution of responsibilities predominate.
How climate change affects women
Climate change leads to an increase in violence against girls and women. Researchers from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) believe that environmental degradation is increasing gender-based violence in the regions.
Global warming is putting pressure on resources as extreme weather (heat, drought, floods and storms) become more frequent and destructive. Because of this, many areas suffer and become poorer, unemployment and hunger arise, which force people to turn to not always legal ways of earning money (poaching, slave trade, etc.).
This situation particularly affects women, who in disadvantaged areas often lack land and legal rights and are therefore vulnerable to exploitation. In some communities, girls marry at a very early age because their families are facing hardships that climate change is exacerbating.
Women and girls in disadvantaged regions are burdened with finding water and firewood that are in short supply due to drought, and this increases their likelihood of violence.
Gender exploitation (domestic violence, sexual assault, forced prostitution, forced and child marriage) hinders humanity’s ability to overcome crises. Human trafficking grows precisely in those areas where natural resources are treated irresponsibly and consumeristically.
There is a direct link between gender-based violence and environmental crimes such as poaching and illegal resource extraction. Study Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) and Northeastern University (USA) proves that people who are prone to cruelty to animals can also be a danger to people.
One reason is desensitization to the negative situation: participating in or witnessing repeated acts of cruelty to animals renders both the perpetrator and the bystander insensible. And this means that in countries where poaching and the depletion of the planet’s resources are ignored, violence also gets away with it.
However, projects aimed at preserving and improving the environment or addressing the climate crisis demonstrate recognition of these problems (at least at the initial level). Many of them involve women who care about the fate of the planet.
Akashinga Detachment, Zimbabwe
Since 2017, a special squad of female rangers has been engaged in nature protection in Zimbabwe.Akashinga (“brave” in Shona) is a division of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF). It was founded by Damien Mander, a former Australian sniper and military diver. He planned to put together a team that would fight poaching and protect Africa’s wildlife.
Initially, Mander thought that only men would join the detachment, but it turned out that many women were ready to sacrifice their lives to protect nature. In order to become Rangers and be prepared for extreme situations, they undergo rigorous training in the style of special forces training, learn how to handle weapons, overcome hunger, exhaustion, cold and dampness.
Thanks to the support of the project, female rangers (most of whom have experienced violence) have been able to buy real estate and build houses, send their children to school, get a driver’s license, graduate from high school and go to college, fully provide for themselves and their families.
According to According to IAPF, during the existence of Akashinga, poaching has decreased by 34% on the territory of the Fundundu National Park within a radius of 80 thousand km² and the number of plants and wildlife has quadrupled.
Once in the ranger team, women feel needed, earn their own money (about $ 400 a month, which is four times the average salary in Zimbabwe), and many have a close-knit family for the first time. Their task is not just to catch poachers, but also to educate the local population about caring for wild animals.
Every day new members join the squad, the main goal of the IAPF is to hire more than 2 female rangers by 2030 to protect 120 km² of African wildlife.
Green Belt Movement, Kenya
Action The Green Belt Movement was founded by Professor Wangari Maathai in 1977. Due to deforestation caused by illegal logging and drought in Kenya, local women had to search for firewood far from the villages, which meant they had less time to care for their homes, crops and children.
Women faced environmental degradation: drought of streams, deforestation and food insecurity. Behind all this were the problems of powerlessness before the authorities and the loss of traditional values that did not allow communities to protect their rights.
To address these issues, Professor Wangari Maathai founded the Women’s Environmental Movement to empower communities in Kenya.
The Green Belt encouraged rural women to work together: plant trees, conserve rainwater, provide the group with food and firewood.
Since 1977, members of the movement have planted more than 51 million trees on watersheds in the highlands, on private and public lands, in schools and even on military grounds in Kenya.
The Green Belt is dedicated to improving food security and water harvesting, participates in the development of a system for estimating CO emissions2 in forests, restores coastal lands, and also helps women and children – over 5 kindergartens have been opened in Kenya in a few years.
Members of the movement also form eco-consciousness among the population: they hold seminars on civic and environmental education in rural communities and schools, teaching the basics of conscious consumption. They tell local people why they lack the freedom to change their political, economic and environmental realities.
Chipko Movement, India
Women in India also solve environmental problems. They are organized the Chipko social movement, using the non-violent method of satyagraha (attaching oneself in protest to trees that are about to be cut down).
The movement arose in the Himalayas due to the growing concern of the population about the rapid reduction of forests. Women who are solely in charge of growing crops, raising livestock and raising children have lost everything they had. All the fault of floods and landslides due to deforestation.
First known promotion passed in 1973. A group of peasant women from the village organized protests to prevent the cutting of trees and regain their traditional rights to forests.
Very quickly, hundreds of similar actions took place throughout the state of Uttar Pradesh (northern India). In one decade, the movement spread throughout India. By 1980, the Chipco protests had won a major victory: they won a 15-year ban on commercial greenspace logging in the Himalayan forests in several states.
This movement has inspired many people to hold peaceful protests to prevent deforestation and protect the environment.
After many decades, protests in the spirit of the Chipko movement continue in India. So, in 2021, more than a hundred residents will again tried to stop the cutting of more than 2 thousand trees to expand the tourist route, and since April 2022, several small villages have been fighting to save 841 hectares of forest.
How ecofeminism helps the planet
The climate crisis is negative affects indigenous peoples who depend on traditional activities (fishing, hunting, gathering, etc.).
There are indigenous people, or aborigines, on every continent: it is about 5 thousand very different cultures, which make up more than 6% of the world’s population (476 million people in 90 countries). Indigenous people are almost three times more likely to live in extreme poverty than non-indigenous people.
People face the challenges of food insecurity and hunger every day. And indigenous women try to solve them on their own.
For example, Ecuadorians grow orchards without chemicals to adapt to climate change. In Panama, women have come together in communities to tackle hunger and restore food security. Venezuelan activists are fighting for the conservation of forests and biodiversity.
Women come together in organizations to save the planet for future generations. So, for the 50th anniversary of Greenpeace was published an article about the contribution of activists around the world to the creation and development of the project half a century ago and now.
In 1971, activists decided to organize an expedition to the island of Amchitka (Alaska) to stop the US nuclear tests. This episode is considered the beginning of Greenpeace. For 50 years now, the media have been publishing a photo of the first crew, in which only men, but few say that women were among the initiators.
The idea for the expedition was conceived by Mary Bohlen, a pacifist and ideologist for the future organization, and several other women spent months raising funds and preparing for the trip.
It should be noted that environmental and gender issues are interrelated, they need to be addressed simultaneously and comprehensively. Such projects help society to move from consumer behavior to conscious behavior, gradually changing attitudes towards the environment, resources and women towards partnership and respect.
October 25 will hold the second ESG Congress of Responsible Business. Among the main topics of the congress are global ESG practices, their implementation, ESG standards, driver regions of ESG initiatives.