Our time, our century
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Our time, our century PRESENTATION PREPARED FOR DISTRICT 23 WORKSHOPS – 2021 • Today I would like to talk to you about the future and explain why this is our time and our century. • The dandelion on this slide symbolises how we need to be as we face the climate crisis. • We need to be as cheerful as their yellow flowers, • Spread our influence as well as they do their seeds, and • Courageously grow out of our comfort zone. • Ask any gardener – dandelions can grow anywhere! • So why is this our time and our century? 1
Transcript of Our time, our century
Our time, our century
PRESENTATION PREPARED FOR DISTRICT 23 WORKSHOPS – 2021
• Today I would like to talk to you about the future and explain why this is our time and our century.
• The dandelion on this slide symbolises how we need to be as we face the climate crisis.
• We need to be as cheerful as their yellow flowers, • Spread our influence as well as they do their seeds, and• Courageously grow out of our comfort zone. • Ask any gardener – dandelions can grow anywhere!
• So why is this our time and our century?
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“Yes, I say to
all women globally, this is
our time, our century and we must
step up and
take that responsibility Mary Robinson
Former President of Ireland and climate champion speaking on addressing the climate crisis…
Quote from One Million Women’s Love Earth Festival
5 December 2020
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1322275714808902
• Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, speaks passionately about the key role that women need to play in addressing the climate crisis.
• She says to all women globally, this is our time, our century and we must step up and take that responsibility.
• She calls on women to take the climate crisis personally, be active by joining an organisation, to hold those in power to account, and seek a just transition for everyone as we move towards a more sustainable world.
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Why must we step
up?
Why must we step
up?
So why must we step up – what is the problem?
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The Problem CO2 @ 416 ppm
Rising greenhouse gas emissions
• The problem is that we are gathering too many greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, in our atmosphere and these interfere with heat transfer to and from the Earth. The atmosphere is like a big doona, filling up with greenhouse gases and warming up our planet.
• This graph from NASA shows the carbon dioxide levels over the last 800,000 years –and they have all been less than 300 parts per million.
• Just look how rapidly carbon dioxide levels have risen since 1950 to 416 parts per million. The line is vertical!
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The Problem CO2 @ 416 ppm
Rising greenhouse gas emissions
Rising sea levels and melting ice
More intense weather events
Biodiversity destroyed
Global disruption
• Rising greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to the rise in global temperatures.• As oceans warm, they expand, and sea levels rise. The warming also melts our
icecaps, glaciers and sea ice.• The warmer oceans lead to more intense weather events which is why we are seeing
more storms, floods, drought, fires, and extreme heat. Summer temperatures of 50°C will not be unusual by 2050.
• Biodiversity is being rapidly destroyed. Did you know that every day we lose 150 species and 320 square kilometres of rainforest?
• Global disruption due to famine, drought and scarce resources will see hundreds of millions of people displaced by 2050.
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Impact on Women and Girls
Displacement Poverty Unemployment
Current inequalities are magnified
• So, what has all of this got to do with Zonta? • When there is a disaster – inequalities are magnified, and women come off worst.• 80% of people displaced by climate change today are women. • Today, two thirds of the world’s poor are women, often in casual labour and they are
the first to lose their jobs. They have fewer savings and so it is harder for them to recover.
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Impact on Women and Girls
Caregivers and food providers are more vulnerable to flooding and drought
Injury Death
Displacement Poverty Unemployment
Current inequalities are magnified
• Data from: https://www.unisdr.org/files/48152_disasterandgenderstatistics.pdf• Women are more likely to be injured and 14 times more likely to die in an extreme
weather event than men. • Women, as caregivers and food providers, are more vulnerable when flooding and
drought occur. In the 1991 cyclones in Bangladesh over 90% of the 140,000 people killed were women. Culturally, many women were not allowed to leave their homes without a man and the men were not able to return home to get them.
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Impact on Women and Girls
Caregivers and food providers are more vulnerable to flooding and drought
Violence against women escalates during unstable
times
Increased forced prostitution
Increased child marriage
Injury Death
Displacement Poverty Unemployment
Current inequalities are magnified
Fewer than 30% of climate negotiators
are women
• When there is disruption and uncertainty domestic violence increases – we have seen this with the Covid pandemic. How much violence will be generated when hundreds of millions of people are displaced?
• During times of scarcity, women face difficult choices to survive – do they prostitute themselves or marry off their children to get money for food?
• Fewer than 30% of climate negotiators are women, making it difficult for our voices to be heard on the world stage.
https://unfccc.int/news/women‐still‐underrepresented‐in‐decision‐making‐on‐climate‐issues‐under‐the‐un
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The Opportunity
Renewable energy
A more sustainable, equitable world
• It is not all doom and gloom as the climate crisis also brings amazing opportunity!• We can replace coal and gas power stations with renewable energy ‐ avoiding the 8.7
million deaths a year caused by fossil fuel pollution.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/fossil‐fuel‐pollution‐may‐have‐killed‐8‐7‐million‐people‐in‐single‐year‐says‐harvard‐study/
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The Opportunity
New Technologies
Increased biodiversity
Fairer measures
Equality
Renewable energy
A more sustainable, equitable world
• New technologies, such as electric vehicles, will benefit your health and bank balance.
• With massive land and ocean regeneration, we will increase biodiversity. We can plant more trees to green our cities so they are cooler and more comfortable to live in.
• We can replace Gross Domestic Product, that relies on infinite resources, with fairer measures based around our stewardship of the environment, and the health and happiness of our people. New Zealand already has a ‘well‐being’ budget. (https://www.themandarin.com.au/109476‐new‐zealands‐wellbeing‐budget‐is‐a‐major‐policy‐innovation/)
• Through these measures we can build a nation where there is equality ‐ as all lives matter.
• Now doesn’t that sound like a future you want to live in?
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The Remaining Global Carbon BudgetThe maximum amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be put in the atmospheric ‘doona’
From start of 2021
In 2020, the world emitted 40.1 Gigatonnes of greenhouse gases
https://constrain‐eu.org/wp‐content/uploads/2020/12/Constrain‐Report‐2020‐Final.pdf page23
Capacity ~195gigatonnes
1.5°C DoonaThe next five years are critical
• We must move fast as we are using up our carbon budget quickly.• To have a 66% chance of keeping global warming to less than 1.5 degrees, our
global ‘doona’ can hold another 195 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. • Currently, the world emits around 40 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases a year. • So we have around 5 years to get our emissions under control.
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How can Zonta
step up?
How can Zonta
step up?
How can Zonta step up to meet the climate challenge?
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Dr Katharine Wilkinson
Project Drawdown
Solutions #6 and #7, Educating Girls and Family Planning,
We need to educate girls and
advocate for women’s rights,
so that women can have choices
about their lives, family size, and future.
• Empowering women and girls is strongest thing that we can do for the climate. These are the words of Dr Katharine Wilkinson.
• Dr Wilkinson is from Project Drawdown a not‐for‐profit, climate think tank. She points out that girls with 12 years of education have more life choices ‐ and around
five fewer children than girls without an education. With 130 million girls not in school, this could mean around a billion fewer people on the planet by 2050.
• The World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law report for 2021 found that, globally, women have only three quarters of the legal rights of men ‐ and many women cannot legally access credit, sign a contract, register a business or open a bank account. The lack of women’s rights prevents women from getting the tools to improve their lands or set up a business.
• Locally, how many women are prevented from studying or following their dream due to the coercive control of their partner?
• We need to educate girls and advocate for women’s rights so women can have choices about their lives, family size and future.
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Christiana Figueres
Former Executive Secretary of UNFCCC for Paris Climate Agreement
We need to inspire more women to lead in
their community, workplace, government and parliaments – as it
gets results.
• The second inspirational climate leader is Christiana Figueres. She was the driving force behind the Paris Climate Agreement.
• As she puts it, when there are more women in boardrooms and in high‐level positions in institutions, you get decisions that are wiser and longer term.
• Today, the four countries that are best prepared for climate change are led by women. They are Norway, New Zealand, Finland, and Denmark. They all have more than 40% women in their parliaments.
• Having more women leaders gets results.
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Creating a gender-equitable, sustainable world,
by educating girls,
advocating for women’s rights, and
inspiring more female leaders
• Empowering women is Zonta’s mission, and it is also the key to addressing the climate crisis. Now you can see why this really is our time and our century!
• Zonta Says NOW aims to create a gender‐equitable, sustainable world, by educating girls, advocating for women’s rights, and inspiring more female leaders.
• To get the ball rolling, we’ve set up a website and a Think Tank of over 60 Zonta members across the district.
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How we take action
We gather facts about
gender inequality
and climate change
We reduce our own
emissions
We add our voice to
influence our communities
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• We use the Zonta Says NOW framework to guide us. It has five actions:• Firstly, we gather facts so we can understand what climate change is and how it
relates to women and girls.• Secondly, we reduce our own emissions. • When we know the facts and have started to reduce our own emissions, we can
share our experiences. So our third action is to talk about climate change with our families, workmates and friends. One of the biggest things you can do about climate change is to talk about it.
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How we take action
We gather facts about
gender inequality
and climate change
We reduce our own
emissions
We add our voice to
influence our communities
We advocate for gender equality
and climate action
We collaborate
with like-minded
organisations
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• The fourth step is to embed gender equality and climate action in our club, area and district advocacy activities.
• Finally, we collaborate with like‐minded organisations such as other clubs, our Z Clubs and Golden Z Clubs ‐ and organisations like One Million Women whose goals align with Zonta’s. By joining forces with others we can be strategic and more influential in our support of women and girls.
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Have you seen the website at www.zontasaysnow.org.au?
• If you are just setting out on your climate journey the Zonta Says NOW website is a great starting point.
• It has links to books, websites, videos, articles – and is growing all the time.
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Publications…so far
Zonta Says NOW News
Leaflet
Framework
No print, on screen information booklet
• Educate girls• Advocate for
women’s rights• Inspire more
female leaders
• The Think Tank’s publications include newsletters and leaflets.• We are trying to practise sustainability and create information to be read onscreen.
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We promote the ZI leadership tools…Have you seen the core competencies development plan?
• Educate girls• Advocate for
women’s rights• Inspire more
female leaders
• We are careful not to reinvent the wheel and provide links to important tools. • For example, we exercise our leadership muscles by using the leadership
development tools on the Zonta International website.
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Under development…Surveys of Zonta members
• Educate girls• Advocate for
women’s rights• Inspire more
female leaders
• The Think Tank is always on the lookout for ideas to promote the cause. • We are planning surveys and a marketing strategy. • Our tools for clubs are always expanding and we are preparing profiles of inspiring
female climate leaders.• We are also developing a session for the Bendigo District 23 Conference.
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This is where the Endowment Fund comes in…• Educate girls
• Advocate for women’s rights
• Inspire more female leaders
The best way to educate more girls
is to raise more money for ZI’s service programs.
• We’ve mentioned that educating girls is a key climate action – and Zonta’s programs are educating girls in Madagascar, Peru, Papua New Guinea and Timor‐Leste. We are also working to end child marriage in 12 countries.
• But these programs only touch the surface. We need to ramp up our International Service Projects to meet the challenges of this decade.
• This will require lots of money and this is where the Endowment Fund comes in.
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• The Zonta Foundation for Women’s Endowment Fund is Zonta’s future fund. • Currently Zonta raises and spends funds each biennium – so our money has no
time to work for us. • In the Endowment Fund, the principal is not touched. Only interest and
dividends are used to fund Zonta’s programs. • Currently the fund contains six million US dollars, but we need at least ten
million US dollars before we can start using it.• The Endowment Fund will ensure a long‐term source of income for the
Foundation.• Please consider making a present for the future by donating to the Endowment Fund.
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UN Women CampaignAchieve gender equality in
ten years
UN Panel on Climate Change
Halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
We must ramp up all of Zonta’s programs NOW
www.zontasaysnow.org.au
Our Challenges
• This decade is probably the most important ever for Zonta. • The United Nations Panel on Climate Change says that we must halve greenhouse gas
emissions by 2030• UN Women has launched the When Will She Be Right campaign to achieve gender
equality in ten years.• We have shown through Zonta Says Now that gender equality and climate action are
linked.• We need to ramp up all of Zonta’s programs NOW to prepare for the disrupted world
ahead.
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Summary
Zonta Says NOW is building a gender‐equitable, sustainable world by
• Educating girls• Advocating for women’s rights• Inspiring more female leaders
We are in a climate crisis that
women hold the keyto solving
• We have come on quite a journey today. • Here are the key take home messages.
• We are in the middle of a climate crisis that women hold the key to solving.• Zonta Says NOW aims to build a gender‐equitable, sustainable world by
• Educating girls• Advocating for women’s rights• Inspiring more female leaders
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Summary
Zonta Says NOW is building a gender‐equitable, sustainable world by
• Educating girls• Advocating for women’s rights• Inspiring more female leaders
We are in a climate crisis that
women hold the keyto solving
You can help by exploring the five actions of
Zonta Says NOW
You can give a present for the future and make Zonta more sustainable by donating to the Endowment Fund
• You can help by going online to Zonta Says NOW and exploring the five actions – there is something for everyone to do.
• You can give a present for future generations and make Zonta more sustainable by donating to the Endowment Fund.
• Through Zonta Says NOW you can make a difference to women and girls today and in the future.
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Our time, our century
starts NOW
www.zontasaysnow.org.au
• Remember, be like a dandelion. • Be cheerful and optimistic like their yellow flowers, spread your influence far and
wide like their seeds, and grow courageously outside of your comfort zone. • For this is our time, our century and it starts NOW.
Thank you.
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