[Brussels, 5 June 2015] Did you know that women tend to travel in a more sustainable way, including because there are less women driving (40% compared to 62% of men)? And that because of their lower incomes, they have greater risk of energy poverty than men?
In June, to celebrate World Environment Day, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) focuses on Women and the Environment, as part of its Beijing+20 campaign. Read and share EWL’s factsheet about Women and the Environment, which is part of EWL report “From words to action” and comprise our key demands to the European Union and the Member States.
All our members mobilise throughout Europe to make 2015 a critical year towards the realisation of all commitments of the Beijing Platform for Action. Women and girls rights cannot wait 20 more years to enjoy their full women’s rights! Watch our members delivering EWL key messages for Beijing+20 in EWL video “From words to action ”.
Women and the Environment in Europe
The state of the environmental and climate change are the greatest challenges that the world faces. Men and women affect and are affected by environmental and climate change in different ways. Environmental policies impact directly on the health and living standards of individuals. In certain regions of the EU, access to safe water and sanitation is still not guaranteed.
Women’s rights and climate change are interlinked: when women’s rights are not protected, more women than men die from disasters, most of which, these days, are climate related. On the other hand, the more unequal a country is, the higher its carbon emission.
While many women are present in ecological and environmental movements, they are largely absent from decision-making in this sector, including at the governmental level. For women in Europe, it is also a question of solidarity with all women on the planet, who already have to live with the consequences of climate change. Women are half of the world’s population: it is obvious that we won’t save the planet without women’s leadership and participation.
Our demands
- Ensure the right of all women and girls to be heard on environmental issues in their regions.
- Systematically include a women’s rights and gender equality perspective in the definition, implementation and monitoring of environmental/climate/transport/energy policies at all levels, including research activities and data collection, and in both EU external (including development) and internal policies.
- Secure women’s political participation and decision-making roles in environmental and climate change work, at all levels (regional/national/European/international).
- Assess, disseminate and raise awareness on the impacts of environmental policies on women, by both public policies and the private industry.
- Take action towards women’s higher enrolment in science and technology-related fields of education, and women’s entrepreneurship in agriculture, renewable energies, environment, protection and tourism, and enhance their contribution to innovation, quality of life and preservation of land, environment and culture.
- Speed up the elaboration of an environment strategy based on biodiversity, sustainable development, quality of life and wellbeing, from an intergenerational and gender equality perspective.
Find here the full report Beijing, 20 years later – From words to Action
