We are in deep gratitude for the support of and engagement with this September's ‘Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Solutions from the Frontlines and the Protection and Defense of Human Rights and Nature’. The stories, analysis, struggles and solutions shared during our six day Assembly has demonstrated a phenomenal roadmap for climate justice for our communities and our planet.

As we look toward COP26 in Glasgow this November, we will bring the brilliance and inspiration of the Assembly presenters with us— over 100 climate justice leaders from 40 countries. 

In Glasgow, world governments are expected to bring forward their final Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are at the center of achieving the long term goals laid out in the Paris Agreement. However, tragically but unsurprisingly, NDCs to date will bring us to a catastrophic 2.7 degrees rise in global temperature by the end of the century, overshooting the necessary goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees pre-industrial levels.

Governments, corporations and financial institutions must listen to civil society and frontline communities who have been calling for far more ambitious and equitable action. There is simply no time to lose.

From the heart of the ongoing Stop Line 3 tar sands resistance movement to struggles to protect the Boreal, Amazon, and Congo Basin forests, and hundreds of places in between, women stand on the frontlines of global efforts to defend the land and heal our world. In every sector from renewable energy initiatives and fossil fuel divestment campaigns, to agroecology and food sovereignty — women and gender diverse leaders are at the helm, working to change humanity’s current destructive trajectory.

As we prepare ourselves for COP26, we know now more than ever we must remain steadfast as we work collectively and urgently to build the resilient and just future we know is possible. We can chart a path forward, with respect, justice and care for each other and the Earth, where no community is sacrificed.

Please continue on in this newsletter for upcoming climate actions, and updates from the recent Global Women's Assembly for Climate Justice.

WECAN would like to send a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who joined us for the 'Global Women's Assembly for Climate Justice: Solutions from the Frontlines and the Protection and Defense of Human Rights and Nature,' a 6-day free, gender-diverse, public forum that took place virtually from September 25-30.

During the Assembly, thousands of attendees from around the world joined us throughout the week to hear from 100+ climate leaders across 20 unique panel sessions. We discussed struggles, solutions, and visions for climate justice, including the intersectionality of gender, racial and environmental justice; Indigenous rights and resistance efforts; the just transition to renewable, regenerative energy; feminist global policy; women and forest protection and regeneration; fossil fuel resistance campaigns; agro-ecology/farming/soils; environmental racism; feminist care economics and policy agendas; rights of nature; challenging corporate power; and women and feminist leadership across all sectors.

The climate crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and socio-ecological injustices have emerged from interconnected systems of capitalism, racism, the commodification of nature, colonialism, imperialism, and patriarchy. To confront these deepening crises and accelerate a path forward, we need to have collective coherence to address the protection and defense of human rights and nature, and uphold community-led solutions.

We are continuing to grow and uplift women and gender diverse leadership moving forward, on our way to COP26. Please find recordings, media coverage, and additional resources below!

Recordings of all days of the Assembly are available on YouTube and Facebook at the links below. See the full Assembly schedule here.

This attendee document includes a comprehensive list of links and resources as they were shared in the chat throughout the entire Assembly.

To stay in community, please join our Global Women’s Assembly Facebook Networking Group to connect more deeply with other Assembly participants.

During the Assembly WECAN delivered a collective Call to Action to governments and financial institutions worldwide, signed by over 140 organizations, representing millions of people globally. The Call to Action shared a list of necessary action steps for urgent climate action, please be welcome to read the statement here.

WECAN also released a list of recommended frameworks and initiatives for governments and financial institutions that are in alignment with the 1.5 Paris Agreement target and an equitable path forward. This is not an exhaustive list, and does not reflect the many local and global frameworks and solutions that continue to drive global climate justice efforts, but rather serves to provide a strong analysis and tangible examples to complement the Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice’s Call to Action.

Indigenous people, pipeline fighters, water protectors, young people, scientists, and faith leaders are saying enough is enough: it's time to finally place people over fossil fuels.

This October 11-15, thousands of people will come to Washington DC to demand that President Biden hasten the end of the fossil fuel era. We will take action over 5 days to highlight the damage done by fossil fuels, the climate impacts we are already facing, and the need for real solutions rooted in justice. Read the invite from frontline leaders & sign up here.

In the lead up to the week of action, over 375 organizations, including WECAN submitted a legal petition to President Biden’s Army Corps of Engineers calling on them to deny and revoke permits for fossil fuel infrastructure projects, recognizing that fossil fuel expansion is not in the public interest. Learn more here.

Fossil fuel pollution and climate disasters are already disrupting millions of lives. From fires, to floods, to hurricanes like Ida, we are living in the midst of a climate emergency. We deserve a world beyond fossil fuels: a world in which workers’ rights, community health, and our shared climate come before corporate profits. That’s why we are coming together to ensure Biden becomes the climate president he promised to be before attending the global climate talks this November.

From October 8-12, Indigenous Women are coming together for the Women's Summit from the Amazon Basin. During the summit leaders will give testimony of the situations that women and their territories experience today, share stories of resistance and resilience, develop a regional agenda that includes human rights, environmental, cultural and economic rights, and discuss the importance of Indigenous women from the Amazon Basin participating in international decision-making spaces.

This meeting space for Amazonian women is led by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin - COICA and the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon - OPIAC.

WECAN is honored to support and be a partner in this vital Summit!

The Amazon is the largest and most bio-culturally diverse rainforest in the world. It is home to 511 Indigenous peoples, including 66 groups living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. There are more than 300 languages ​​spoken in this vast region that covers 9 countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana). The Basin is home to a third of the Earth's plant and animal species and 20 percent of fresh water. It works like the biological heart of our planet: it sequesters and stores large amounts of carbon, regulates the continental and global climate, produces oxygen and rain, drives climate systems, among other benefits.

In this scenario of caretakers of the most strategic territory on the planet, the women of Indigenous peoples have contributed not only to the survival of peoples and culture, but also, in their role as defenders of the territory, guardians of knowledge and know-how ancestral, seed protectors, life givers and genuine restorers of the Amazon, and contribute immensely in mitigating the effects of climate change.

During Climate Week at the end of September, our friends at Earthjustice held a panel discussion, "How U.S. Forests will Help us Fight Climate Change," featuring Wanda “Kashudoha” Loescher Culp, Tlingit artist, activist, advocate, and WECAN Tongass Coordinator.

During the panel, speakers examined why it is essential that antiquated federal forest policy be updated to conserve mature and old growth forests in the United States and explored the benefits of forest protections for Indigenous communities, biodiversity, and the climate. Watch the panel here!

Please stay tuned as we continue to uplift the leadership and solutions of women worldwide fighting for climate justice and the defense of the planet for current and future generations.