What do you want to see leaders do to meaningfully involve young women at climate events like COP27?
In Assembly’s “Around the world” series, girls sound off on the topics that matter to them, from the companies they’re dreaming up to the issues they wished more leaders talked about.
Want to share your thoughts? Use our submission form to be featured in a future issue!
(Courtesy of Hamira Kobusingye)
“Leaders should keep in mind that the majority of young women are affected by the climate crisis, and that every time a young person decides to speak out and demand action, thousands and millions of lives depend on her voice being heard.
I want our leaders to aggressively include women in areas where decisions are made. This involvement ought to take place in situations or ways that will allow them to have an impact. For instance, the access and badge supply structure at COP should be altered to a more flexible one where badges are distributed equally among men and women. Speaking panels should also have the same gender balance, with the goal of adequately representing the majority of the impacted areas. Women have been given places, but solely as tokenism. Without young women and their contributions, the world must realize that the fight against the climate crisis cannot be won.”
— Hamira Kobusingye, climate and gender justice activist, Uganda
(Courtesy of Maria Reyes)
“At COP27 I want to see political will from governments to put the money on the table and finance climate reparations for the Most Affected People and Areas. Women and girls in Latin America are severely affected by water scarcity, land grabbing, pollution from fossil fuels and criminalization for defending the environment. We deserve not only to be heard but to be respected, along with our communities and the land that we belong to.”
(Courtesy of Mariel)
“Young women need to be at the center of the fight for climate justice — when we center the lives and the voices of society’s most vulnerable groups, we all benefit. Their full and equal participation in the climate movement (and at climate events like COP27) starts with reimagining what it means to have expertise in the field of climate science. Young women and girls, and other marginalized peoples who are the most impacted by climate change, often don’t have the resources to achieve the academic qualifications necessary to be considered an ‘expert.’ But their lived experiences and their roles as organizers and leaders make them some of the most qualified individuals to speak about how climate change is affecting their communities and what resources they need to adapt.”
(Courtesy of Melisa)
“Make COP27 a real opportunity for youth to be involved — not a summit that's ‘too pale, too male and too stale’ as Mary Robinson put it and filled with youth tokenism. I would like to see more young people and women activists out there not only raising their voices but also participating in actionable decision-making with leaders at COP27. As the group that is the worst affected by the climate crisis, leaders need to involve young people and women in all climate change solutions and to take them seriously. Each of their voices is valuable to represent groups affected by climate change.”
— Melisa, 22, Indonesia
(Courtesy of Varsha Vajman)
“Women are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. It is now more urgent than ever to not simply consult women at events like COP27 but ensure that these groups are leading the discussions for solutions to the climate crisis.”
(Courtesy of Denise)
“I would like to ask non-female leaders: When sitting at a conference and looking around, if you don’t see any woman, do you feel comfortable? If the answer is yes, then something's wrong and you need to fix it because you’re ignoring the stories and knowledge of half the world’s population. If the answer is no, then do something about it. Not only do you have to include women in your debates but when you do so, you also have to actually listen to them and take action accordingly.”
Read more
