SHE gives us hope for a fossil fuel free future
Elise Buckle represented SHE Changes Climate this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where women leaders are showing the way towards a fossil fuel-free and nature-positive future, at COP28 and beyond.
What would the world look like if decisions were represented by a diversity of voices? SHE Changes Climate is a women-led movement which advocates for 50% of women at all levels of decision-making. We believe that the climate crisis is also a leadership crisis and this has propelled us to open the doors for women leaders as the first step toward a diversity of decision-makers. We do this because women leaders tend to put the protection of global commons for future generations higher on their agenda.
There is an urgent need to phase out the profit-driven fossil fuel industry
So many of us have been shocked by the appointment of Sultan Al Jaber as COP28 President. Sultan Al Jaber is the CEO of one of the largest oil and gas companies, which is sitting on the 5th largest oil reserve in the world. We also understand that this is the sovereign decision of the United Arab Emirates, as the country that agreed to host this year’s UNFCCC meeting.
Last week in Davos we began raising our voices to denounce this situation of potential conflict of interest. We signed a collective letter to Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC and Antonio Guterres, the UN SecretaryGeneral, together with more than 400 other organizations. It will be made public on the 25th of January.
Some have been courageous enough to share their sobering views, including the UN Secretary General himself who called out the hypocrisy of the fossil fuel industry in an interview covered by the Guardian during the World Economic Forum in Davos. Others have called for joining the online petition launched by Greta, Vanessa, Helena and Luisa (see the online petition here getting close to 1 million signatures) to call on the CEOs present in Davos to phase out fossil fuels.
But we have also been shocked by the public statements of Simon Stiell as the Head of the UNFCCC and of John Kerry, the US Climate Special Envoy, who celebrated the COP28 Presidency announcement.
It is all too easy for people to be lured into the illusion that the money from the fossil fuel industry will save us. The narrative that is currently sold by large companies is the power of financing new technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) or hydrogen. The truth is that CCS is too expensive to truly benefit the communities that need the most “carbon space” for development. And the production of the so-called “green hydrogen” would suck out all the already small part of the energy pie covered by renewables. The rest is “grey hydrogen” which is just a by-product of fossil fuel carbon processing.
Science is clear. Fossil fuels are at the heart of the problem. Burning fossil fuels is burning the planet.
Who is responsible for the burning problem? Policy-makers. But also, who is keeping these CEOs accountable? The ones leading fossil fuels industries, but also the ones financing the sector. We have seen an increasing number of litigation cases against environmental defenders and climate activists, but not many of the CEOs facing a trial in court. The reality is that they have access to a deeper pool of funds to afford good lawyers to avoid it.
As SHE Changes Climate, we looked into the profiles of the top CEOs responsible for the 21 largest oil and gas companies in the world. All of them are men, except one American woman who publicly declared that carbon capture and storage would save us. But beyond being all men, they have one clear objective in common: increasing the production of fossil fuels to increase their short-term profits.
True, some of them started investing in renewable energy sources. But we argue that this is not enough. This little “add-on” will not change the sheer number of oil barrels being put out into the market every day to meet the demand of thirsty fossil fuel addicted economies.
It is also true that we are part of the problem, with both our lifestyles and our energy mix. Our societies have become so dependent on fossil fuels that we all start shaking when Russia turns off the pipe. We could and should have invested in low-carbon solutions, such as geothermal power for heating houses in Europe. But we have been sleeping into our dreamy addiction for too long.
Women leaders that give us hope for a better future
Yet, there is still hope. What gives hope is to see the rise of incredibly courageous and inspiring women, the people waking the world up. And very often, behind their success, there is a strong and supportive man. We do need men and women walking the talk together, hand in hand.
The first woman I would like to highlight is H.E. Mariam Almheiri. She is the Minister of Climate and Environment for the UAE, also in charge of food and water security. As a highly respected diplomat, she was the natural candidate to become COP President. I still think that the best move that the UAE government could do would be to appoint her as Co-President, or if not at least as Special Negotiator and Climate Special Envoy. In addition to gender balance, she has the ability to restore environmental integrity and trust in the COP system. In the same way, Ambassador Khan did for the COP23 Fijian Presidency, she could lead the consultations with Member States and civil society to shape the content of the COP decisions to be adopted in Dubai at the end of the 2-week marathon negotiations in December.
Let’s hope that the UAE will find in this proposal an innovative idea that would make them the most pioneering country in the world, by adopting a gender-balanced co-leadership model, before any other Western country.
And there are so many other movers and shakers. Their leadership style often includes great empathy, courage and perseverance. Together with my team, I want to support them, cheer them on and celebrate their life achievements.
Camilla Douraghy Fischbacher is our second highlight. She was born before the Iranian revolution and experienced the first year of the revolution. In Davos, she shared her story as an Iranian woman fighting for women’s rights and freedom. She is also the mother of three and a talented artist and passionate photographer, even though some of her pictures could send her to jail in some countries. She has launched the first collection of innovative Benu Fabrics, made from recycled materials. With her influence and freedom, she is using her voice to raise awareness and stand up for the harsh realities of Iranian women.
Then Helena Gualinga, the brave indigenous leader from Ecuador, who has stepped up to defend her native land against the intrusion of the fossil fuel extractive industry in the Amazon. Her mother and aunts had to face constant hostility and attacks as they fought for their land. Members of their communities have seen their water being contaminated by oil spills and their health deteriorating. Today Helena has set up a powerful network of support for other women who sometimes need to defend themselves in court against powerful and rich CEOs who can afford legal fees.
Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, gave a powerful speech at Davos. Despite a tumultuous year for her country, she was a present and active member at the forum. It was heartbreaking to hear about the separation of the Ukrainian children from their mothers and their forced adoption by Russian families. Zelenska has become a face for her nation embodying strength, perseverance and determination.
The other woman worth highlighting is Elena Balbekova. She has been working at the UK Embassy in Kyiv as a climate and energy specialist until bombs started hitting her neighbourhood. Elena was also in Davos to tell her story at the “Women of the World” event. Hers is a story of pioneering and championing resilience in the face of unexpected changes. She completed a PhD on energy transition in China. She is also the one who led the Ukrainian delegation at COP21 for the Paris Agreement and started up the first department of climate at the Ministry of Environment in Kyiv.
Last but not least is Marina Silva. Marina grew up in a low-income family in the Amazon region and started her career as a cleaning lady. Through her strength, courage and determination, she climbed the ladder of the political system in Brazil and was elected as senator of the state and later in her career Minister of Environment. As Minister of Environment, she managed to significantly decrease the rate of deforestation by half in Brazil during the 5 years of her term (2003-2008). In 2010, 2014 and 2018, she ran for President and didn’t win. Bolsonaro was elected and destroyed all the systems she had set up to control and fight against illegal logging. The control stations were burnt down, and the environmental officers and guards were fired. And the forest burnt as well. Now she is back and she needs to build back everything from scratch again, after years of violence against indigenous people, crime and drug trafficking. But even after so many years, she won’t give up.
I was lucky enough to meet her in Davos. I walked up to her table and offered to hug her. She felt both so fragile and so strong. A tiny woman fighting for a huge forest. Together with President Lula and all the other Ministries working together on this special intergovernmental task force, they committed to zero deforestation by 2030.
Here again was a demonstration of the power of shared leadership, women and men together sharing the vision and responsibility for collective action. Let’s hope the Lula-Silva tandem will inspire many more in the future.
Elise Buckle is co-founder of SHE Changes Climate, CEO of Climate & Sustainability, UN Advisor and International Gender Champion.
