Evidence shows that women’s empowerment and advancing gender equality can lead to more environmentally friendly decision-making at household and national levels as countries with high representation of women in parliament are more likely to ratify international environment treaties.
Investing in women and girls creates ripple effects felt throughout communities and countries. In developing countries, women comprise approximately 43 percent of the agricultural labour force. When provided with the same access to resources as men, women can increase their agricultural yields by 20 to 30 percent, which would increase the total agricultural output in these countries and would reduce world hunger by 12 to 17 percent (UN, 2020). As early adopters of new agricultural techniques, first responders in crises, green energy entrepreneurs, and decision-makers at home, women can offer valuable insights into better managing and adapting to climate change-related risks.
This event discusses solutions to address women’s and girls' vulnerabilities to climate change and explores policy measures to empower them to lead sustainable development efforts as agents of change.
The audio and video recording of the event can be accessed here
Meet our speakers
Dr Susan Chomba is the Director of Vital Landscapes at the World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa, based in Nairobi. She leads WRI’s work on forest protection and conservation, food systems transformation and governance. She is a scientist with extensive research and development experience in Africa. Susan is a global ambassador for the Race to zero and Resilience under the UN High Level Champions for Climate Action. She is on advisory boards of many organizations and was named one of Global Landscapes Forum’s ‘16 Women Restoring the Earth’ in 2021.
Patricia Espinosa is the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the foundational 1994 international agreement on climate action most recently elaborated in the 2015 Paris Agreement. In a make-or-break year for climate action, Espinosa reflects on the climate emergency, urging a unity of purpose. Since climate knows no boundaries, bold action is in the best interest of everyone.
Mary Robinson is Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice in Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders. She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change leading up to the Paris Agreement and in 2016 as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Her Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, established in 2010, came to a planned end in April 2019.
A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019.
Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the International Science Council and Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. Recently she became joint Honorary President of the Africa Europe Foundation. Mary’s memoir, ‘Everybody Matters’ was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice – Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future’ was published in September 2018. She is also co-host of a podcast on the climate crisis, called ‘Mothers of Invention’.
Meet our moderator
Linda Yueh is an economist, writer and broadcaster.
Dr Yueh is Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University and Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School. She is Visiting Professor at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Associate Fellow (Global Economy and Finance Programme & U.S. and the Americas Programme) at Chatham House. Professor Yueh is Chair of the LSE Economic Diplomacy Commission. She was Visiting Professor of Economics at Peking University.
Professor Yueh is Adviser to the UK Board of Trade and Member of the Independent Review Panel on Ring-fencing and Proprietary Trading of the UK government. She is Chair of the Royal Commonwealth Society and Trustee of Malaria No More UK and the Coutts Foundation, where she is Chair of the Audit, Finance and Investment Committee. She is a Non-Executive Director of the following publicly listed companies on the London Stock Exchange: Rentokil Initial plc and SEGRO plc, both FTSE 100 companies, Senior Independent Director of Fidelity China Special Situations plc, a FTSE 250 investment trust, and Chair of Baillie Gifford’s The Schiehallion Fund Ltd, an investment company listed on the Specialist Fund Segment of the LSE Main Market. She serves on the Advisory Board of LSE IDEAS and on the Policy Committee of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), both at the London School of Economics. She is a Fellow (FRSA) of the Royal Society of Arts.
Dr Yueh is a widely published author who has written/edited 10 books. Her latest book, The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today (Viking/ Penguin Random House), was selected as The Times’s Best Business Books of the Year. The U.S. edition, What Would the Great Economists Do? How Twelve Brilliant Minds Would Solve Today’s Biggest Problems (Picador/ Macmillan), was Newsweek‘s Best Books of the Year. She is represented by Janklow & Nesbit UK. She is the Editor of the Routledge Economic Growth and Development book series.
She is a TV and radio presenter, including for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, as well as having fronted BBC TV series, such as The New Middle Class, Next Billionaires, and Working Lives. She was Chief Business Correspondent for BBC News and presenter of Talking Business with Linda Yueh for BBC World TV and BBC News Channel. She had been Economics Editor and anchor at Bloomberg TV.
More about this event
The International Growth Centre (IGC) (@The_IGC) works with policymakers in developing countries to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through pathbreaking research.
Twitter hashtags for this event: #WomenforClimateAction #InternationalWomensDay
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