Let’s face facts: solving the climate crisis requires everyone’s involvement, and sidelining 50% of the population is straight-up self-sabotage.
Not to be dramatic, but the data speaks for itself. While the world debates whether climate change is a women’s issue, we’re asking: is women’s empowerment actually THE climate solution?
The Invisible Carbon Footprint of Gender Inequality
The numbers don’t lie: countries with higher female parliamentary representation are more likely to ratify environmental treaties and implement stricter climate policies. Meanwhile, companies with gender-diverse boards show significantly better environmental reporting and climate governance.
It’s not just correlation—it’s competence. Research shows women tend to bring longer-term thinking and collaborative approaches to environmental challenges. While some executives are still obsessing over quarterly profits, women-led organisations are more likely to be planning for 2050’s climate realities. Just saying.
Climate Change x Intersectional Feminism.
Intersectional feminism is a real fancy word for looking at how different forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. In this case looking at how climate risks are more prevalent for Indigenous, migrant, or Afro-descendent girls and women, older women, LGBTQAI+ people, women and girls with disabilities, and those living in rural, remote, or conflict-prone areas.
What We’re Loving Right Now
How Women Are Saving the Planet
In wealthier societies, women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing decisions. That’s not just buying power—that’s world-changing power. Studies show women are more likely to recycle, minimise waste, buy organic food, and save water and energy. Every time you choose a sustainable product, you’re voting for the future you want. And women are casting those votes in overwhelming numbers. Aside from that, recent elections in Germany show that women are also casting these votes in real life, where women were more likely to vote for a party that supports climate policies.
Indigenous Women: The Overlooked Powerhouse of Global Food Security
Across the world, women depend more on natural resources, yet have less access to them. In many regions, women bear (literally) a disproportionate responsibility for securing food, water, and fuel.
But did you know women are responsible for half of the world’s food production? In developing countries, it’s a staggering 80%! Yet despite their crucial role, women farmers face a frustrating reality: less access to production resources.
Ready to be mind-blown? If women had the same access to productive resources as men, farm yields would increase by 20-30%, potentially feeding an additional 100-150 million people. Talk about an untapped solution to world hunger!
Climate Resilience Needs Women
When climate disasters strike, guess who bears the heaviest burden? Women carry 2.5 times more unpaid household and care work than men, and this disparity only grows during crises. Despite being disproportionately impacted, women are largely excluded from shaping disaster resilience policies. The irony? When women are involved in building climate resilience and capacity building, these initiatives are demonstrably more successful. Maybe it’s time we stopped treating half the population as victims and recognised them as the solution drivers they are!
SUSTAINABILITY HEROINES EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW…
LĂşcia Xavier
Brazilian social worker and activist
Her work intersects anti-racism, LGBTQAI+ issues, women’s and children’s rights, as well as housing and healthcare issues. “These women don’t change the world because they suffer,” she says. “They change it to create lives filled with more happiness, joy, and opportunities. That wisdom, that legacy, that way of thinking and living is incredibly inspiring.”
Matcha Phorn-In
Lesbian feminist human-rights defender in Thailand
“If you are invisible in everyday life, your needs will not be thought of, let alone addressed, in a crisis situation,”. Often humanitarian programmes tend to be heteronormative and reinforce patriarchal structures even more.
Florence Driciru
Farmer, and mother of 5 lives in Uganda
She already feels climate change today. Yields are poor, rain comes late. Together she and other local farmers participated in programs to learn about how to improve their farming practices. These practices helped her get better yield, and in her community, they plan to cooperate for a grain store, to sell collectively and bargain for better price.
Rawan Rajab
22y/o Palestinian woman
Rawan founded “Blue Stone” an environmentally conscious business that turns recycled glass into eco-friendly stones. She also began a glass-sorting initiative The initiative engages both women and men, helping to drive equal participation in recycling efforts and to increase awareness of women’s roles in non-traditional industries.   Rawan helps to lead community-based dialogues around gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
Wanjira Mathai
Kenyan humanitarian
Wanjira’s expanding the legacy of her Nobel Prize-winning mother Wangari Maathai by integrating women’s empowerment with landscape restoration across Africa.
Helena Gualinga
23 y/o environmental & human rights activist from Ecuador’s Amazon
Her elder sister, aunt and grandmother are fighting for Indigenous’ women’s rights in the Amazon and environmental causes, so she has witnessed the persecution of her family for standing against the interest of big oil multinationals. Today, she is showing the world how indigenous women’s knowledge systems are essential for biodiversity protection.
Dandara Rudsan
Brasilian Black and trans activist and an environmental racism specialist
She showcases the connection between all fights for justice and liberation. She talks about trans visibility in the Amazon and the hardship of defending women’s rights as a trans-woman.
This Women’s Day, commit to supporting female environmental leadership in all its forms, from the boardroom to the farm to the voting booth.
Here’s to a future where “women’s empowerment” and “climate solutions” are recognized as two sides of the same sustainable coin!
Sincerely, despite the circumstances
Lea and the Faircado team
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