Women - go 'carbon zero' not size zero! Says Sustainability Champion
08/03/2007 12:07This morning, at a breakfast meeting held with Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street to celebrate International Women’s Day, Leslie Watson, Director of charity Sustainability South West, the region’s independent Champion for Sustainable Development, called for more action to reduce the effects of climate change on women around the world. Other issues raised included the pressure on women to achieve unhealthy body shapes and the need to strengthen women's voice at the local level.
Leslie explains, “The impacts of man-made climate change are increasingly affecting the livelihoods of all women, especially in the most vulnerable parts of the world. Many are losing their ability to care for their families because of the effects of environmental degradation, including flooding and desertification.”
The Charity’s latest project Fair Shares, Fair Choice will offer everyone ideas for positive choices to reduce emissions to within a fair share of carbon that will keep dangerous greenhouse gases at globally safe levels. Globally we know we have around ten years to act to reduce CO2 emissions to levels that will avert runaway climate change. As part of the project a fair carbon budget has been calculated for the South West of England which - if met - would require the region's CO2 emissions to be reduced by a third by 2017.
Leslie shared her views with Ministers from key government departments, Ruth Kelly, Patricia Hewitt, Hazel Blears, Tessa Jowell, Hilary Armstrong, Baroness Amos and Jacqui Smith.
“Dangerous climate change will not help women around the world to prosper and will pass on a terrible legacy for the next generation of women to contend with. In the South West we have the fastest growing and most ageing female population of the UK. We need policies that will support women’s health and well-being as well as their ability to care for their families and to be economically active in a low carbon way.
There are lots of benefits to be discovered for women who live low carbon lives: Health benefits from less driving and more walking and cycling; eating more locally sourced fresh, healthy food; working from their (energy efficient) home more often and reconnecting with local neighbourhoods.
Rather than women feeling pressure to 'cut their carbs' with the latest fad diet we should be supporting each other to cut the 'carbs' that really matter - carbon dioxide emissions!”
© 2007 Sustainability South West - UK registered charity, no. 1106125 - info@sustainabilitysouthwest.org.uk.