Community feminist groups launch new climate justice campaign

Published: Thursday, September 14, 2023

Minister Eamon Ryan launches joint initiative from National Women’s Council and Community Work Ireland  

Women and marginalised communities must be at the centre of actions to address the climate emergency, according to a new group formed to campaign for Feminist Community Climate Justice. The campaign was launched today by Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan. The first of its kind in Ireland, this multi-layered project will support women and marginalised communities to participate in climate crisis policy, and to play an essential role in a Just Transition.  

Speaking at the launch of the project, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said: 
  
"Radical, urgent and innovative changes are needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change. This means that we have to work collectively to ensure that our communities, our families and our livelihoods are protected and supported so that we can also benefit from the opportunities that climate action can bring. Too often, however, decisions about how these changes can be made overlook the needs of those most affected. We know globally that women and children are the most impacted, but have the least responsibility, for the climate devastation we are now seeing almost daily. We need to change this injustice by ensuring that the needs and views of women are heard and are central to decisions and actions that are being taken. Over the coming months we will be developing a national communications campaign that will be rooted in engagement and I look forward to working closely with the National Women’s Council and Community Work Ireland to better understand how government can best support and respond to women and marginalised communities in the effort to protect our shared home and our shared ambitions."

 
Orla O’Connor, Director of NWC, said: 
 
“The climate emergency is a feminist issue. Women and girls along with other marginalised communities are disproportionately affected, in Ireland and worldwide. As frontline caretakers of energy, food, housing, transport, and care work, women bear the brunt of the crisis's immediate consequences in their daily lives. Existing inequalities mean those who are most vulnerable to climate breakdown, including single-parent families, Traveller women, and women in low-paid work, also have the least resources to protect themselves. Feminist Climate Justice will build a fairer and more sustainable world for everyone.”  
 
Ann Irwin, CWI, said: 

‘A feminist community work approach to climate justice means acknowledging and tackling the root causes of inequality and climate injustice - the same systems that oppress marginalised groups also harm the planet. Our project will take a systematic approach to building capacity and collectivity to enable marginalised communities and women to assert their voices as the people who experience the impact of decisions that fail to consider their lived experiences and concerns’ 

ENDS/ 

What: Campaign launch “Feminist Communities for Climate Justice” 

When: Thursday 14th September, 10am  

Where: F2 Centre 3 Reuben Plaza Rialto, Dublin 

For more information please contact NWC Communications and Digital Campaigns Officer, Vicky Masterson, 087 100 0385  

Notes 
Speakers at the campaign launch include: Minister for the Envirornment, Eamon Ryan; Project Coordinators Collette McEntee and Vanessa Conroy; NWC Director Orla O’Connor; CWI National  Coordinator Anne Irwin; Mimi Unamoyo ,Development Manager BOMOKO NI and Martin Collins, Co-Director of Pavee Point  
  

About NWC 
The National Women’s Council is the leading national representative organisation for women and women’s groups in Ireland, founded in 1973. We have over 190 member groups and a large and growing community of individual supporters. This year we celebrate 50 years since our foundation with a special calendar of events and campaigns. The ambition of the National Women’s Council is an Ireland where every woman enjoys true equality and no woman is left behind. This ambition shapes and informs our work, and, with our living values, how we work.  We are a movement-building organisation rooted in our membership, working on the whole island of Ireland. We are also part of the international movement to protect and advance women’s and girls’ rights. Our purpose is to lead action for the achievement of women’s and girls’ equality through mobilising, influencing, and building solidarity. Find out more on www.nwci.ie 
  

About CWI  
Community Work Ireland (CWI) is a national organisation that promotes and supports community work as a means of addressing poverty, social exclusion and inequality; promoting, protecting and advancing human rights and ultimately achieving social change that will contribute to the creation of a just, sustainable and equal society. Find out more on https://www.cwi.ie/ 
 
 About Feminist Communities for Climate Justice
 Feminist Communities for Climate Justice will mobilise the collective efforts of grassroots organisations, marginalised communities and feminists across Ireland to ensure active particpation in addressing climate emergency and the Just Transition. The prpogram will also train community workers on how to respond to the impacts of climate breakdown and amplify the effects on these communities.  
 
Feminist Communities for Climate Justice is a part of the Community Climate Action Programme: Climate Education, Capacity Building and Learning by Doing (Strand 2) is funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Environment Climate and Communications.