FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 3, 2015
MEDIA CONTACT
Emily Arasim, Communications Coordinator, emily@wecaninternational.org
Worldwide Women Prepare for September Climate Justice Mobilization
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, Calif., Sept 3, 2015 – Momentum is building towards the Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action. On September 29th women around the world will mobilize and raise their voices to demonstrate local climate impacts and solutions, call for bold action from world leaders during December’s COP21 climate negotiations, and highlight why women are key to social and environmental justice.
Women are committed to action in over 30 countries, and will be holding decentralized events throughout September and on the Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action itself. Photos, videos, statements, and action recaps will be submitted to an open portal and amplified worldwide via a vibrant gallery on theWomen’s Earth & Climate Action Network webpage.
In the Niger Delta region of West Africa women will hold a summit on gender and oil, in the Amazon Rainforest Indigenous women will stand up to protest fossil fuel extraction in their territories, and from Canada will come documentary photography of women across the country standing to protect water from pollution. These are but a few of the powerful emerging actions.
While women hold local actions in their communities, an outstanding line-up of leaders will gather in New York City for a September 29th hub event ‘Women Speak: Climate Justice on the Road to Paris & Beyond’. Featured speakers include UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, Mary Robinson; Nobel Prize laureate, Jody Williams; Melina Laboucan-Massismo of the Lubicon Cree First Nation and Greenpeace Canada; Patricia Gualinga of Sarayaku, Ecuador; May Boeve of 350.org; and Jacqui Patterson of the NAACP.
Solutions, statements, and policy demands submitted as part of the Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action will be presented and honored during the hub event with the aim of drawing the attention of world leaders meeting across the street at the United Nations General Assembly. The event will also include a signing ceremony for the Women’s Climate Declaration, which will be presented with collected signatures to world governments at COP21 climate negotiations in Paris in December.
“The Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action is about connecting women working on vital climate projects around the globe. It is about bringing our passion and determination to the surface and manifesting our vulnerabilities and fierce strengths,” explained Osprey Orielle Lake, co-Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network, “Women around the world are facing the impacts of the climate crisis everyday. On September 29th, we mobilize together to say ‘enough is enough’ – we are issuing a wake up call to the world that the time has come for bold action to address the roots of the climate crisis, with women’s leadership at the forefront. Every action is critical, we invite allies around the world to join us in adding a voice.”
A diverse group of Global Women's Climate Justice Day of Action spokeswomen is ready to engage with press at any time.
Full details and a submission portal for the Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action are available here via wecaninternational.org
Speaker details and registration for the ‘Women Speak’ hub event in NYC is available here: wecaninternational.org/wecan-nyc-september-2015
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The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International
www.wecaninternational.org - @WECAN_INTL
The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International is a 501(c)3 and solutions-based organization established to engage women worldwide in policy advocacy, on-the-ground projects, trainings, and movement building for global climate justice.