United Methodist Women and Climate Change
“Give her a share in the fruit of her hands...”
-Proverbs 31:31
Climate change is not an equal opportunity phenomenon.
While climate change affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally. The simple truth is that the poorest people in industrialized and developing nations suffer the worst effects of the build-up of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Women and children comprise an estimated 70% of the world’s poor.
Women and girls are on the front-lines of coping with the impact of climate change because of their economic status and because of the particular roles they play in society. They are also on the frontlines of creating alternative strategies and solutions. In developing countries, women and girls often are responsible for the most basic survival needs of their families – like water, fuel and food. When these become more costly or scarce, women and girls’ work increases. At the grass roots level, women are often well positioned to manage risk due to their roles as both users and managers of environmental resources, as economic providers, and as caregivers and community workers.
Most policy-makers and development workers do not take into account gender roles and incorporate women’s voices. Therefore, their efforts to halt climate change and help communities adapt often exacerbate existing gender inequalities and not be as effective as they need to be.
This is why United Methodist Women has created a Women’s Carbon Fund. As such, our carbon fund will be guided by United Methodist Women to listen to women’s voices and initiatives as they seek to make a difference in the carbon economy. Through your funds, United Methodist Women will support the following projects:
The Women’s Carbon fund supports:
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Women led projects that lower C02 emissions that contribute to climate change.
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Women led projects that help women, families and communities whose lives have been affected by climate change adapt to new conditions. And Climate and energy advocacy initiatives led by women for women – enabling solutions that bring about greater equity, along with sustainability.
This text was adapted from an article United Methodist Women wrote in partnership with Church World Service in preparation for the Conference of Parties 15th session to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2010.) The full article can be found at hunger.cwsglobal.org