There’s a common thread that runs through audience comments I receive after I speak: the most touching and sincere are almost always from women and girls.
My social media accounts tell a similar tale: the most caring climate change insights often come from women, and the most passionate climate activists are typically girls.
This month marks personal two milestones. First, it’s the month I’m finally getting to reading All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, an anthology of writings by 60 women and girls around the world. In just the first few pages it’s already reaffirming my own observations: that traits we most associate with the feminine – love, kindness, collaboration, sharing, nurturing, empathy and more – are precisely what we need more of to get us through our climate crisis and into a world of sustainable prosperity; and some of the greatest accomplishments to date have been made thanks to the leadership of women.
(And don’t believe science isn’t a feminine trait: the foreword of All We Can Save reminds of the recent revelation that the first person to discover the greenhouse effect was in fact a woman, Eunice Newton Foote.)
The second milestone? This is the month my dear Mom – who years ago told me, “Maybe you can’t change the whole world, but you can change your little corner of it” – celebrates her 97th birthday. I credit her feminine influence and example for inspiring me to the work I do today.
The action, attitudes and determination we need to solve our biggest problems seem to come as second nature to women and girls. So the next time a female voice speaks on climate, please pause and listen. You may hear just what we need for meaningful progress.
A final note: none of this means there’s no place for men in solving our climate crisis. It just means that we of the masculine gender may need to work a bit at setting aside our intuitive traits like ego, competition and control, in favour of the softer skills that will help us navigate climate change successfully, together.
In the news
Alberta’s quiet transition to renewables is happening much faster than predicted, to the point where 2030 targets may be achieved by 2023.
As of March, car ads in France will have to include messages encouraging people to consider less-polluting travel alternatives such as biking, carpooling and taking public transit.
In September, Ford announced it was doubling its planned production of the electric F-150 due to overwhelming demand. This month, it announced it’s doubling it again! (And Chevy, not wishing to be left behind, announces its new electric Silverado.)
Quotable
“A vibrant, fair and regenerative future is possible – not when thousands of people do climate justice activism perfectly but when millions of people do the best they can.”
– Xiye Bastida, ‘Calling In’, the first essay in All We Can Save.