COP26: Women's Climate Leadership Is Urgently Needed
FemWealth Issue #35
Happy Sunday, FemWealth Friends!
“The climate crisis isn’t just about extreme weather. It’s about people. Real people. And the very people who have done the least to create the climate crisis are suffering the most. And while the Global South is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, it’s almost never on the front pages of the world’s newspapers.” - Vanessa Nakate & Greta Thunberg in an open letter to the media
“We must be careful not to view women and girls through a lens of vulnerability but appreciate them as the vital agents of change they are.” - Mary Robinson, The Elders
The first week of COP26 has brought a ‘mixed bag’ of powerful speeches, long-term non-binding pledges and targets, sharp criticism from climate activists, and massive protests in Glasgow and around the world.
Despite being disproportionately impacted by climate change, women are still missing at the top climate table. This is due to the low representation of women in political positions and to deep structural inequalities that keep women away from power and wealth.
“Lack of female leadership in climate decisions affects our economy, our social structure, our ability to innovate and create solutions.” - Antoinette Vermilye, SHE Changes Climate
Women must be included in all climate negotiations and decision-making processes. The stakes and costs of exclusion are just too high!
Key women leaders at COP26:
Politics & International Organizations:
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland
Gina McCarthy, US National Climate Advisor
Amina J. Mohammad, UN Deputy Secretary-General
Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados | Opening Ceremony, COP26
Climate Scientists & Conservationists
Dr. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-chair of IPCC
Prof. Sonia Seneviratne, Helen Hewitt, Erika Coppola a.o. - Co-authors of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report
Jane Goodall, Naturalist and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute
Climate- and environmental activists
Greta Thunberg, Climate Activist and Co-founder of the global movement Fridays For Future
Xiye Bastida, Otomi-Toltec Climate Justice Activist, Co-Founder of the Re-Earth Initiative, and organizer with Fridays For Future
Vanessa Nakate, Climate Activist, Founder of the Rise Up Movement
Elizabeth Wathuti, Environmentalist, Climate Activist, Founder of Green Generation Initiative (GGI)
Helena Gualinga, Environmental and Indigenous Rights Defender
Sonia Guajajara, Brazilian Indigenous Activist and Environmentalist
Learn more:
🙋🏾♀️ Understanding the impact of climate change on women | Cop26: Women must be heard on climate, say rights groups | Climate change is impacting women more than men – here’s how
❓ COP26: Why Are Women Still Missing At The Top Climate Table | As the biggest climate event of the decade kicks off, we ask: where are all the women of COP26? | What do young activists want from COP?
🌳 Net Zero Is Not Zero | The Great COP-Out
🏥 Effort to Reframe Climate Change as a Health Crisis Gains Steam
👗 Stella McCartney Is ‘Begging’ Governments To Regulate The Fashion Industry
🎧 Outrage and Optimism: Small Countries, Big Vision with Nicola Sturgeon | Dealing with Climate Grief with Luisa Neubauer - Hosts Christiana Figueres et al.
FemWealth Favorites
💸 Carbon accounting startup Plan A raises $10m six months after seed - co-founded by Lubomila Jordanova
💸 Hone, a human-powered platform for leadership training, nabs $16 million - co-funded by Savina Perez
💸 PitchBook Report on Women in VC Finds Growing Number of Female Checkwriters Could Bolster Female-Founded Startups Disproportionately Impacted by Pandemic | Read the full report “All In: Female Founders in the US VC Ecosystem”
💸Women May Be Better Investors Than Men. Let Me Mansplain Why.
💸 Social Impact Capital, a solo female GP venture capital firm founded by Sarah Cone, has closed its first fund at $42M.
💸 One woman’s mission to build a network of female and non-binary angel investors
“I had a number of friends who had recently within the past couple of years become VP-level at different companies, and they had an interest in angel investing, and they had the means to at that point, but they didn’t have access.” - Amanda Robson, Cowboy Ventures
👩🏾 VCs must do a better job of supporting Black women founders - Black women receive 0.27% of all VC $ in the US and 0.24% in the UK - 'We need to shift the perspective from one of insufficiency (...) to one of opportunity — what has she accomplished despite the odds and what could be accomplished with resources?'
🙌 Sweden’s Andersson En Route to Premiership After Party Vote - Sweden’s Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson was elected party leader of the ruling Social Democrats, paving the way for her to become the nation’s first female prime minister.
🎧 Belarus’ opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, on fighting the Lukashenko regime from exile
👏 Michelle Wu makes history as first person of color and woman to be elected Boston mayor
👧🏾 ‘It is what girls need’: the FGM activist hoping to be the Gambia’s president - Jaha Dukureh, a UN women goodwill ambassador for Africa is running in December’s elections
🏥 Gynecological imaging startup illumigyn secures $33M to provide women with accessible and affordable medical care
🤰🏽Atomico’s Take on Female and Reproductive Health in Europe through a Consumer Lens - by Sasha Astafyeva, Partner at the London-based VC firm Atomico
👩🦳 Meet 8 Female Founders Disrupting The $600 Billion Menopause Market | The Future of Women’s Health Starts With Smashing Taboos with Elektra Health co-founder Alessandra Henderson |
👩🏻 Menopause isn’t widely talked about. This first-of-its-kind campaign wants to change that. - Let’s Talk Menopause, a nonprofit organization dedicated to destigmatizing menopause launched a poster campaign offering information on menopause. Written in English and Spanish, the posters debuted last week in nearly 200 New York City subway stations. This is the first campaign of its kind in the United States.
“Menopause care is essential health care, and that has not been part of the dialogue.” - Donna Klassen
👩🏾💻Nyla Hayes, a 12-YEAR-OLD ARTIST SELLS ALMOST $4 MILLION IN NFTS AND MAKES HISTORY AS TIME’S FIRST ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE for TIMEPieces, a new Web3 community initiative
👵🏼 This 93-year-old went back to school — and just graduated with a degree in business administration - It’s never too late to get an education!
🤾🏻♀️Handball federation changes uniform rules after pressure over ‘sexist’ bikini rule - the IHF has changed its regulations for beach handball, allowing players to wear bike shorts and tank tops instead of bikini bottoms and crop tops:
“All we ever wanted to do is to contribute to make beachhandball a sport that everyone feel comfortable playing; all bodytypes, all nationalities and all etnicities❤️🔥” - Norway Beach Handball Team’s
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Things to Ponder On and Change
The Subordination of Women in Texas. - “Texas's new abortion law subjects women to heightened surveillance and the whims of private parties. If the US Supreme Court upholds the law, it will set back gender relations to an era that precedes the living memory of most Americans.” - Chiara Cordelli and Aziz Huq (via Project Syndicate)
Life Outside the Boys Club: Why I Spoke Up About Rivian’s Toxic Bro Culture (and Got Fired). - “No woman should be afraid to question the culture they are witnessing at work. That is why it was so important for me to come forward publicly and hold Rivian accountable.” - Laura Schwab, an auto industry veteran speaks out about the “toxic tech bro culture” at one of the ‘hottest’ electric-vehicle startups
How Men and Women Treat Deadlines in the Workplace Differently
FemWealth Recommended Event
📅 Aspiring Founders Forum for Women - November 17, 2021
Thank you for reading FemWealth! Wish you an excellent week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder and Writer of FemWealth