Women corporate leaders, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a women leaders' summit have called for urgent action on climate change and the recognition of the role of women in combatting climate change.
23 September 2013: Women corporate leaders, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a women leaders’ summit have called for urgent action on climate change and the recognition of the role of women in combatting climate change.
The statement by women corporate leaders was issued at a special event organized in conjunction with the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York, US, on 19 September 2013, while the Secretary-General’s message and a special declaration by women leaders were issued in conjunction with International Women’s Earth and Climate Initiative (IWECI) Summit held from 20-23 September 2013, in Suffern, New York.
The 19 September special event of women corporate leaders, co-organized by the UNFCCC Secretariat, the UN Global Compact, UN Women and The Rockefeller Foundation, highlighted how women business leaders are playing a role in the transition toward low-emission and high-resilient economic growth. The event featured a UNFCCC Secretariat-led initiative, ‘Momentum for Change: Women for Results,’ which highlights climate change actions led by women.
On 20 September, Ban issued a message to the IWECI Summit stressing the “central” role of women in combatting climate change and underscoring that the pursuit of gender equity and women’s empowerment “is a powerful tool in the race to combat climate change” and key to improving land productivity, improving the availability of clean water, reducing energy poverty, and promoting climate-smart agriculture and low-carbon growth.
On 20 September, the IWECI Summit, organized by the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus, issued a Declaration, titled ‘Women of the World Call for Urgent Action on Climate Change and Sustainability Solutions.’ The Declaration calls for various climate-related actions, including: negotiating and ratifying a binding international climate treaty; putting a price on carbon; implementing carbon fees and Financial Transaction Taxes; prioritizing and increasing adaptation funding; “radically” increasing energy efficiency standards; generating 100% of all new electricity from renewables; dismissing biofuels and mega hydro dams; and rejecting “high-risk technologies” associated with using tar sands, shale gas, nuclear energy and geo-engineering. [UNFCCC/UN Women/UN Global Compact Press Release] [Secretary-General’s Message to IWECI] [IWECI Declaration] [IWECI Summit Website]