While women are disproportionately affected by climate change, they are uniquely situated to lead efforts responding to its effects. This was at the heart of a roundtable event hosted by the Baha’i International Community (BIC), as part of the 66th session of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women.

“Women and girls are uniquely situated to lead efforts towards environmental justice,” said Saphira Rameshfar, Representative of the BIC, in opening remarks. 

“Whether as leaders in economic thinking, policymakers, climate activists, smallholder farmers, or through a multitude of other capacities, women worldwide are making significant contributions related to climate action, natural resource management, food security, and scientific innovation toward sustainable solutions.”

The online dialogue (event video) included representatives from civil society and the United Nations responding to concepts in the BIC’s statement to the Commission, entitled The Heart of Resilience: The Climate Crisis as a Catalyst for a Culture of Equality.

Challenges posed by climate change, several panelists felt, can serve as catalysts to advance gender equality in governance and community life. “It’s an opportunity we have to look at the way that our world is shaped, the systems that shape it, and what needs to change,” said Karenna Gore, Director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary.

Alperen Narmanlı, National Gender Youth and HeForShe Activist with UN Women Turkey, noted the role that qualities of relationships play in working toward both gender equality and environmental sustainability. “Feminism is about understanding one another,” he said.

The application of spiritual principles to the life of the community, as a means of breaking down prejudicial attitudes toward women, was highlighted by Lesego Thinane, a gender and climate research activist based in South Africa. 

The statement “highlights how we need to reinstate institutions, laws, regulation, cultures, and traditions that address injustices,” Thinane said. Doing so, she added, will contribute to movement toward “a healthy society where all members of communities feel protected and valued for their role in it.”

Anticipating the Commission’s focus next year on innovation and technological change in achieving gender equality, Yu Ping Chan, with the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology at the United Nations, reflected on how technology can link climate action with gender equality. “We really need to work together, as the international community, to harness the benefits of tech for solutions, while addressing its challenges,” she said. 

The Commission on the Status of Women takes place annually in March. This year, 46 individuals from 19 countries participated in the Commission as part of the BIC’s delegation.