Women’s empowerment, diversity and inclusion are essential to advance climate policies and implementation
My name is Elise Buckle, I am Co-Founder of SHE Changes Climate, Co-President of Climate & Sustainability and the proud mother of two children Lucas and Leïla.
On behalf of SHE Changes Climate and partners, we express our deep gratitude to the COP27 Presidency for this invitation. There is tremendous support from around the world for a 50:50 vision. Men and women share the responsibility for both leadership as well as delivery of outcomes for the success of COP27. We also would like to congratulate the COP27 team on a more diverse and gender-balanced team.
Today, we are facing a planetary emergency: a triple crisis for climate, people, and nature. This crisis is also a leadership crisis. There is no time. According to science, we only have 2 or 3 years left to cap carbon emissions and return to a safe trajectory for the future of humankind.
At COP 27 we are working as One team for One Planet, going beyond egos, logos and institutional boundaries, bringing everyone on board on this collective journey, with women, youth, and indigenous people through a new model of shared leadership and what we call “radical collaboration”.
Inclusion and diversity are key to unlocking the systemic transformation of society.
And more importantly, we are on this path together as women and men. Because we are complementary. We can’t solve this crisis unless we walk this path together. We must sail the world towards a more sustainable and inclusive future, with a woman and a man as captains of the sailing boat. We cannot sail with one eye patched up. We need this 360-degree vision.
This is why, SHE Changes Climate, together with 1000+ leaders and change-makers who signed the letter to the Presidency, as well as all the partners who joined us during our online Summit on November 4th, we ask for a 50:50 vision at the top, and at every level of decision making:
At least 50% of women on the Presidency team
More than 50% of women on the delegations team
More than 50% as Heads of delegations
And most importantly at the very top: as Co-Presidents.
Therefore we would like to request, dear Presidency teams, to consider this innovative solution to appoint a woman and a man to preside over these climate COPS every year, as co-chairs.
Since COP1, in 1995, when Angela Merkel (as Minister of the Environment) was the first COP President, only 4 other women have been appointed as COP President. One of the most successful COPs was COP21, when Laurence Tubiana and Christiana Figueres, with the support of many other outstanding leaders, gave birth to the Paris Agreement. Let us build on that successful legacy.
We strongly encourage the UAE to appoint a woman as COP President for COP28 - Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment. The Minister of Energy His Excellency Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei could be co-president, which would send a powerful message to the world: a man and a woman working together for a sustainable future. We are pleased to hear that the COP28 high-level climate champion will be a talented woman… But this must be the case for the formal negotiations too.
There is plenty of data and research showing that when we have women at the table, we deliver better outcomes and we know that based on reality and experience/ evidence shows that the inclusion of women in decision-making whether they are in board rooms or governments makes a fundamental difference to the outcomes:
At the government level in countries and cities
In delegations- the Netherlands and many other countries here have more than 50% of women on their delegation but what about the Heads of delegations?
In parliament- Rwanda is a good example where 61% of Members of Parliament are women and the country has been adopting very progressive environmental legislations;
When women, and also young leaders are on Boards of companies
Better results for finance, better legislation and decisions for climate and for a better future.
We must make sure women are back at the centre of the solutions.
As solutions multipliers for Nature-based solutions here in Africa to feed their families while restoring forests and ecosystems
Back at the centre for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine
Back at the centre of transforming the financial systems,- only 2 % of bank CEOs are women
Back at the centre of politics to follow the example of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand and adopt a well-being budget
Going beyond GDP growth
The real value is what counts for us, our health, our families, and our future. The education of our children. And Nature. We are part of nature. And human nature is universal. We must bridge the divide.
We are all brothers and sisters and children of Mother Earth. The 21st century needs to balance masculine and feminine energy in leadership. Or else our world will collapse.
Today, as a mother, I worry about the future of my children. Every day I wake up, remembering that every step on Earth is a miracle.
How long will this miracle last? Will they thrive and survive? What about all the children of the Earth?
We may not have the same skin colour, we were born on the same planet and will die on the same planet. Today I worry: will they have a peaceful life, or a life of chaos, inequality, war and despair?
Let’s look at a brighter future. We all agree on this, let’s make it happen together. We have no choice. We must continue to act as, action-oriented optimists. We cannot give up, because of their young eyes: they are looking at us, looking up. We don’t want them to look down.
Making space for all these voices. Making sure none is being left behind.
To conclude, I would like to share these words of wisdom by Mahatma Gandhi:
“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization”.
This speech was delivered by Elise Buckle, Co-Founder of SHE Changes Climate and Co-President of Climate & Sustainability, on the 14th of November 2022, on behalf of the SHE Changes Climate Partners, during the official event hosted by the COP27 Presidency.
