This past month, we've seen more of the terrible realities fueled by climate chaos. In Pakistan, months of torrential flooding has displaced over 30 million people; in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona caused an island-wide outage for its 3.3 million people; and just last week, Hurricane Ian became the deadliest storm to hit Florida since 1935. The inaction and delay of governments is deadly, and our hearts are with global communities who are experiencing the onslaught of climate disasters.
We know that as the climate crisis escalates we too must escalate our efforts to call for just and urgent climate action and to expand our on-the-ground solution projects.
WECAN is just returning from an inspiring and productive week in New York City advocating for climate justice during the UN General Assembly and Climate Week. Along with many movement leaders on the ground and joining us virtually, we were successful in amplifying the solutions and leadership of women and gender-diverse leaders fighting for an equitable and healthy planet during events, high-level meetings, report releases, strategy sessions, and street actions:
- Global women and gender diverse leaders shared powerful analysis and expertise during WECAN's three-day Climate Justice Forum
- Indigenous leaders and international activists called out BlackRock for their investments in climate chaos, fossil fuels, and deforestation during an action co-organized by WECAN, which was held outside BlackRock headquarters in New York City
- Vanuatu became the first country to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
- WECAN staff spoke at many events, and met with partners and collaborators to discuss climate policy, solutions, and how we can ensure frontline voices and demands are at the table during COP27 in Egypt.
In addition to our efforts at Climate Week, we are celebrating several movement victories from Brazil to Appalachia. Please read on for more information on these important wins, an in-depth report back from Climate Week, current actions you can take, and ongoing advocacy updates from WECAN.
We welcome you to support WECAN's ongoing organizing efforts by donating at the link below. Thank you!
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Report back | WECAN in Action at Climate Week 2022 |
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From September 19 - 24, the WECAN team was on the ground in New York City for Climate Week and the UN General Assembly hosting the WECAN Climate Justice Forum, amplifying the climate solutions of women worldwide; releasing a Call to Action for governments and financial institutions and the second edition of the WECAN divestment report; participating in several actions to protect communities and climate with Indigenous and frontline partners; strategizing with frontline land defenders and colleagues; marching with youth during the New York Global Climate Strike; and contributing to the collective movement for climate justice!
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WECAN kicked off Climate Week on September 19 by releasing a Call to Action for governments and financial institutions to declare a Climate Emergency and take the urgent action necessary to ensure a thriving and equitable planet for current and future generations.
The Call to Action is grounded in the leadership, analysis and frameworks of frontline communities and climate justice movements from across the world, and provides concrete steps for both governments and financial institutions to advance equitable climate policies and programming that phase out fossil fuels, end reliance on false solutions, and promote community-led and rights-based solutions for a healthy and thriving planet.
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African Feminist Perspectives on COP27 and Beyond |
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As the world prepares for COP27 in Egypt, African feminist leaders called for a different path forward demanding urgent climate action from governments centered on justice and rights. During this event we heard from women leaders from Africa sharing struggles, analysis, solutions and successful on the ground projects for climate justice. |
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Speakers Included : Neema Namadamu, Founder, Synergy of Congolese Women’s Associations (SAFECO), and Democratic Republic of Congo Coordinator, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), DR Congo; Rita Uwaka, Forest & Biodiversity Program Coordinator, Friends of the Earth Africa (FoEA), Nigeria; Sostine Namanya, Gender & Food Security Projects Officer, National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Uganda; Anne Songole, Climate Justice Coordinator, The African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET), Kenya; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
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Women for Climate Justice: Solutions and Calls to Action on the Road to COP27 |
During this in-person event at Climate Week, grassroots, Indigenous, Black, Brown, and frontline women and gender diverse leaders, global advocates, and policy-makers shared perspectives and analysis on the climate crisis and COP27 and how we can confront deepening interlocking crises and accelerate a path forward, advancing just and resilient community-led solutions.
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Speakers Included : Thilmeeza Hussain, Permanent Representative to the United Nations & Ambassador to the United States from the Maldives; Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA; Diana Duarte, Director of Policy and Strategic Engagement, MADRE, USA; Farhana Yamin, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme Chatham House, UK; Jade Begay (Diné / Tesuque Pueblo), Climate Justice Campaign Director, NDN Collective, Turtle Island; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
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Women Land Defenders on the Frontlines of Biodiversity Protection and Climate Action |
During this event held in-person at Climate Week, Indigenous and frontline leaders, and global advocates highlighted the challenges women face as land defenders. They also addressed securing human and Indigenous rights and how women are working to protect the global climate and diverse ecosystems in challenging political and economic contexts.
Speakers Included : Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Leader from Sarayaku, and Spokeswoman, Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva, Ecuador; Ozawa Bineshi Albert, Climate Justice Alliance Co-Executive Director, Turtle Island; Xiye Bastida (Otomi-Toltec), Co-founder and Board, Re-earth Initiative, Turtle Island; Carmen Capriles, Founder of Reaccion Climatica and WECAN Latin America Coordinator; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
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Women Leading Fossil Fuel Divestment and Resistance |
During this virtual event at Climate Week, frontline women and global leaders shared critical strategies for national and international divestment from harmful extractive industries, while calling for justice and accountability from financial institutions. |
Speakers Included : Roishetta Ozane, Community Organizer for Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, Healthy Gulf; Gaagigeyaashiik - Dawn Goodwin (Ojibwe/White Earth), Representative at Indigenous Environmental Network and Co-founder of R.I.S.E. Coalition, 1855 Treaty; Dr. Laalitha Surapaneni, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine, University of Minnesota; Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch; Jodie Evans, Co-founder, CODEPINK; with comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director.
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REPORT RELEASE: Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry and Complicit Financial Institutions, Second Edition |
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During the "Women Leading Fossil Fuel Divestment and Resistance" event, WECAN released our second edition of the report, “Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry and Complicit Financial Institutions.”
The report addresses the disproportionate gender and race-specific health and safety impacts as well as human and Indigenous rights issues of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure in the United States and selected parts of Canada.
The report explicitly exposes the role that financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, and insurance companies, play in preserving and perpetuating negative gender and racial impacts through focusing on 8 regional case studies, from the fracking fields of Kern County in California to Cancer Alley in Louisiana, spotlighting Vanguard, BlackRock, Capital Group, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America, and Liberty Mutual as primary financiers of harmful fossil fuel projects within the regional case studies. More details can be found in our press release here.
“Everything is intersectional. Financiers of oil and gas need to understand how their support of polluting actors on the ground have cost us our own and our babies’ health,'' states Roishetta Ozane, Community Organizer for Healthy Gulf in the report.
Women are rising to stop fossil fuel extraction and harm in their communities. This report is an ode to their work, and the demand for financial institutions to stop financing destruction and instead invest in communities and a Just Transition.
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Protect Communities and Our Climate: Rally to Demand BlackRock Stop Investing in Climate Chaos |
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In addition to the Climate Justice Forum, WECAN co-coordinated an event at BlackRock demanding the asset manager stop financing climate chaos, fossil fuels, and deforestation, and adopt an Indigenous Rights policy.
Over 100 activists rallied outside BlackRock headquarters in New York City as frontline speakers from the Amazon to New York City spoke about the impacts of BlackRock’s investments. WECAN Executive Director Osprey Orielle Lake spoke during the rally, highlighting calls for the firm to adopt an Indigenous rights policy and to stop financing the worsening climate crisis stating:
"The IPCC and IEA could not be more clear, we must end our global dependence on fossil fuels to protect people and the planet. As a leading investor of fossil fuels, BlackRock has a responsibility to listen to science, and implement policies that align with the Paris Agreement, respect human and Indigenous rights, and invest in a just and sustainable future for our communities and our planet. Business as usual must not and cannot continue, we need bold climate policies in the financial sector now."
Learn more about the action in our press release here.
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Partner Events and Actions for Climate Justice |
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During Climate Week, WECAN staff also participated in actions and events hosted by our partners and colleagues. See below for more information. |
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The Future Is Indigenous: Stand with Indigenous Peoples from Brazil
During Climate Week WECAN joined Indigenous leaders from the Brazilian Amazon and allies to protest against the current destruction and violence in Brazil and show our support for Indigenous Peoples who are protecting our ecosystems and global climate!
Governments must be accountable for their violations of Indigenous rights and human rights, and start listening to frontline leaders who are fighting for the Amazon and their communities.
Thank you to activist collective Defend Democracy in Brazil and APIB for organizing this march and action!
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Climate Justice Movements Disrupt Business As Usual at COP27
Hosted by our friends at the New School, Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, joined a powerful list of speakers for this in-person event focused on frontline strategies and solutions for international climate policy, and building power as we make our way to COP27.
We were honored to co-sponsor and participate in this event with other esteemed organizations including Climate Justice Alliance, TapRoot International, NDN Collective, The Chisholm Project, and Organización Boricua.
WECAN appreciated the opportunity to engage and strengthen partnerships with The New School Environmental Justice Movement Fellowship at the Tishman Environment and Design Center.
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Rights of Nature: a Systemic Solution for the Climate Crisis
WECAN was honored to co-host this Rights of Nature discussion alongside our partners. WECAN Executive Director, Osprey Orielle Lake joined the panel to discuss the growth of the Rights of Nature movement and how this work is a critical strategy for systemic change.
Learn more about WECAN's ongoing Rights of Nature Advocacy here. |
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Women for Climate Justice at NYC Global Climate Strike
To close out Climate Week, the WECAN team marched with a Women for Climate Justice Contingent in support of the youth-organized Fridays for Future Global Climate Strike.
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The strike brought together thousands of young people and allies to advocate for climate reparations, local climate policies, and for global governments to declare a climate emergency. During the rally we heard powerful testaments from young women leaders discussing the climate impacts in Pakistan, Ecuador, and globally. |
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We appreciated the opportunity to connect and collaborate with our team and partners in person, and WECAN is honored to pour our energy into resistance, projects, campaigns, and stories of solutions by women and frontline communities as we rise together in the face of the climate emergency and uplift just climate solutions for people and planet. |
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Vanuatu Becomes First Country to Call for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty! |
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During Climate Week Vanuatu became the first nation-state to call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty!
With this historic call for a treaty to phase out fossil fuels, Vanuatu doubles down on the country’s commitment to climate action, following their submission earlier this month of one of the world’s most ambitious climate policies. Read more about the historic call here.
Pacific Island leadership has been, is, and will be essential to a global approach that delivers climate justice. Pacific nations have been champions of international agreements on climate change in general and on the specific and useful mechanisms within them from the UN Framework Convention, its Kyoto Protocol, and the more recent Paris Agreement.
WECAN is honored to be on the Steering Committee for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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Submit a Comment:
Tell the Army Corps to Stop the Line 5 Pipeline
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Tell the US Army Corps of Engineers to Stop the Line 5 pipeline, reject the proposed tunnel expansion under the Straits of Mackinac, and enforce the Michigan’s Line 5 pipeline shutdown!
Right now, The Army Corps of Engineers is taking public input for scoping a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Enbridge’s proposed tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. Enbridge is seeking to expand fossil fuel infrastructure and Line 5, instead of shutting it down, putting one fifth of the world’s fresh water at risk of a catastrophic oil spill. Join us in taking all action necessary to #StopLine5 and protect communities, water, and our global climate!
Also please be welcome to join the public hearing on Line 5 taking place Oct. 6, 2022, 1-4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (Virtual): https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82961743672 or by phone 309-205-3325 using Webinar ID: 829 6174 3672
The current Line 5 Pipeline, which is long past its lifespan, is pumping tar sands oil under expired permits, transporting 22 million gallons of crude oil each day through northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and under the Straits of Mackinac. Currently, Enbridge is proposing to expand the Line 5 pipeline, despite the strong opposition of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and other Tribes. The new Line 5 pipeline expansion and re-route would threaten local aquifers and waterways, Treaty Rights, and our global climate.
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Celebrating Sônia Guajajara and Célia Xakriabá Indigenous Women Elected to Congress in Brazil! |
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On Sunday, October 2, in a historic vote in Brazil, the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais elected Sônia Guajajara and Célia Xakriabá as representatives to the Brazilian Congress!
Sônia Guajajara is the first Indigenous woman elected to represent São Paulo in the National Congress. Both women are leaders in the fight to protect biodiversity and the Amazon as well as Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
WECAN has been honored to work with Sônia Guajajara for the past several years. Sônia has joined our delegations to the UN Climate Talks, and also to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). Please watch this video of Sônia Guajajara during a past UNPFII conference advocating for Indigenous Rights and protection of the Amazon:
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VICTORY! We Stopped Manchin's Dirty Side Deal |
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Over 600 people take action in Washington D.C. to stop the IRA Side Deal and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Photo Credit: Ashley Guardado/WECAN International |
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Last week, Senator Joe Manchin requested that Senator Chuck Schumer withdraw the permitting side deal from a must pass piece of legislation, a key win for the fight to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline and to protect bedrock environmental laws!
Earlier this year, as part of their negotiations to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, US Senate and House leaders made a side deal with Senator Manchin to introduce a separate piece of legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects, like the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This side deal would have fast tracked fossil fuel infrastructure and stripped bedrock environmental laws such as NEPA.
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This is a big win for people and our Earth, and it could not have happened without the ceaseless organizing of frontline communities from Appalachia to Alaska, fighting for a better future for all of us. WECAN has been honored to work in coalition with Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline and People vs Fossil Fuels to ensure this dirty side deal never comes to pass. WECAN was on the ground from San Francisco to D.C. throughout September calling for congressional members to stop this permitting deal. See more information in our previous newsletter.
Please learn more and support our friends at POWHR and People vs Fossil Fuels, and thank you for all the organizations for mobilizing.
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Report back | Convenings of the 4 Winds: Autumnal Equinox Gathering |
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On September 21 and 22, The Ponca Nation along with our friends at Movement Rights, held the Convening of the 4 Winds bringing together local and regional tribal communities, national Indigenous Rights of Nature advocates, and other climate justice leaders with expertise in Land Back, Indigenous Just Transition strategies, direct action trainings, and other areas.
Events included NVDA training, discussions on Rights of Nature, ceremonies to honor the rivers, an action highlighting the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and much more!
WECAN was honored to help co-sponsor this gathering, coordinated by WECAN Board Member Casey Camp-Horinek and our friends at Movement Rights. For more information, please see the Movement Rights facebook page. Photo courtesy of Movement Rights. |
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WECAN is hiring: Research and Policy Associate |
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The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) is seeking a part-time Research and Policy Associate to join our dynamic team working for climate justice, systemic change, and women’s and feminist leadership in global climate solutions. This is a part-time position, and is expected to develop into a full-time position.
The Research and Policy Associate will work remotely, with the guidance of WECAN’s Executive Director, to conduct and produce research and writing for policy briefs, reports, and additional documents, and also provide varied support of WECAN programs. Report topics include divestment, fossil fuels, feminist economies, Indigenous rights, women’s rights, and more. Learn more here. |
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Please find below highlighted media coverage for WECAN campaigns, programming, and coalition efforts:
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Please consider supporting WECAN as we continue to uplift the leadership and solutions of women and feminists worldwide fighting for climate justice and the defense of the planet for current and future generations. |
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For the Earth and All Generations,
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team
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S T A Y C O N N E C T E D |
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