WECAN AT CLIMATE WEEK 2023
As the world prepares for COP28 during the UN Climate Ambition Summit, UN General Assembly and Climate Week in September, global climate justice movements are demanding governments and financial institutions take urgent climate action. To address deepening interlocking crises and accelerate a path forward, women and feminists in all of their diversity are collectively upholding and working to advance just and resilient community-led solutions.
WECAN will be on the ground in New York City during Climate Week 2023 from September 15-23 advocating and organizing with women leaders globally for public events, actions, and advocacy opportunities as well as strategy sessions with movement partners.
Please be welcome to join us in-person and online! See the following public events hosted by WECAN. We will continue to update this page soon with more of our events in-person and online, as well as highlighting events in collaboration with partners and colleagues.
WECAN CLIMATE JUSTICE FORUM 2023
During Climate Week, please join us for the WECAN Climate Justice Forum for virtual and in-person events highlighting advocacy, analysis and solutions to end the era of fossil fuels, and build a healthy and just future. See below for event details and how to register.
Transforming Global Economies for People, Planet, and a Just Transition
Rooted in neo-liberal capitalism, the current economic system is set to continue rapidly extracting resources from the Earth and drive climate chaos and further exploitation of people and the planet.
To truly address the climate crisis, we must address our global economic system. As we continue to see disaster capitalism play out in real time, it is imperative to transform the system and call for a regenerative, rights-based economy that prioritizes communities and nature. This includes efforts to expose and dismantle the roots of the extractivist economy that are inextricably intertwined with patriarchal and colonial systems that exploit women, Indigenous Peoples, BIPOC communities, and the Earth. We are calling for a Just Transition.
During this event, global women leaders will spotlight alternative economic models, solutions, and frameworks that are predicated on community-led solutions, feminist economics, Indigenous knowledge, and ancient concepts of reciprocity with the Earth and all living beings. Topics include land rematriation and Land Back, care economy, post-growth, Buen Vivir, and much more. There are alternative economies to learn from and an emergence of socially just, place-based, caring economic and ecologically enhancing models that are structuring a path forward for people and planet.
Confirmed speakers to date include: Monique Verdin (Houma Nation), WECAN Food Sovereignty Program Coordinator in the Gulf South, Turtle Island, USA; Ruth Nyambura, African Ecofeminist Collective, Kenya; Nati Greene, Global Coordinator and Co-founder of the Global Alliance for Rights of Nature, Ecuador; Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Climate Policy Program Director, Roosevelt Institute, Turtle Island/USA; Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Co-President of The Club of Rome, Belgium; Margaret Kwateng, Campaign Lead National Organizer, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Turtle Island/USA; moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.
Women Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels and Leading a Just Transition
Wednesday, September 20,
4:45 - 8:00pm ET NYC Time
777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
We are in a climate emergency, and now more than ever we need to end the era of fossil fuels and advance solutions to ensure a healthy and just planet for current and future generations!
As global leaders gather in New York for the UN Climate Ambition Summit and General Assembly, we are calling on governments to reckon with their role in fueling climate chaos, and harm against communities and the planet by continuing the extraction of fossil fuels. We only have a limited amount of years left to address and mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
For years, global climate movements have been calling for governments to phase out fossil fuels and stop expansion. We continue to pressure governments, corporations, and financial institutions to adhere to the demands of science and communities, and implement an immediate equitable phaseout of fossil fuels. Governments must invest in and deploy a Just Transition that is grounded in a climate justice framework and uplifts care economies, community-led solutions, Indigenous rights, and a different vision than business as usual.
Registration is required, and the event is first come, first serve. During this event, we will host two panels, please see below for descriptions. Doors open at 4:30 for light refreshments and networking. The program will start promptly at 4:45. Please arrive early due to heavy traffic in this part of the city.
“Women Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels”
During this panel discussion, global women leaders will share expertise and frameworks for transitioning away from extraction and share ongoing policy advocacy and campaigns that seek to phase out fossil fuels and other harmful extractive practices.
Confirmed speakers to date include: Sharon Lavigne, Founder and President of RISE St. James, Turtle Island/USA; Farhana Yamin, Coordinator, Climate Justice & Just Transition Donor Collaborative, United Kingdom; Thilmeeza Hussain, Permanent Representative to the United Nations & Ambassador to the United States from the Maldives, the Maldives; Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Tzeporah Berman, Chair, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Canada; Moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.
“Women-led Climate Solutions Are Central to a Just Transition and Thriving Future”
In the second panel we will hear from global women leaders and policy experts on how to implement and support solutions that are advancing a Just Transition. Speakers will share demonstrated successes of women’s leadership in implementing community-led climate solutions.
Confirmed speakers to date include: Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, Turtle Island, USA; Helena Gualinga (Kichwa from Sarayaku), Indigenous Youth Climate Leader, Ecuador; Ozawa Bineshi Albert (Yuchi and Anishinaabe), Climate Justice Alliance Co-Executive Director, Turtle Island/USA; Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, Executive Director, UPROSE, Turtle Island/USA; Zukiswa White, Coordinator, Women and Gender Constituency, South Africa; moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.
How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis
We are at a choice point for humanity. As social and ecological crises escalate globally, it is clear that the dominant cultural worldview, informed by colonization, patriarchy, capitalism, and racism is displaying a relationship with Nature and each other that is devastatingly unjust and out of balance.
To live in a healthy and equitable world, we must fundamentally change how we respect and interact with the Earth and one another. To change the present and future, it is imperative to change the narrative and amplify worldviews and stories of climate justice solutions that transform the dominant worldview from an extractivist, colonial paradigm of “exploit and extract” to a sustainable, globally-conscious one of “respect and restore.”
At this event, movement leaders and change-makers will weave together stories, worldviews, and experiences of restoration and justice that demonstrate the healthy and equitable world we know is possible and needed. We knew in our bones this time was coming, and now we must act in solidarity more than ever, continuing to build a powerful movement founded on principles of justice, love, and a fierce dedication to our planet and our communities.
Speakers include: Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, Turtle Island, USA; Helena Gualinga (Kichwa from Sarayaku), Indigenous Youth Climate Leader, Ecuador; Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, USA; Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN); moderation by Antonia Juhasz, Senior Researcher on Fossil Fuels, Human Rights Watch, and Investigative Journalist.
This event is also the pre-launch of the forthcoming book by Osprey Orielle Lake, "The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis," to be released in January 2024. Abundant hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served. Registration is required, and the event is first come, first serve. Please arrive early due to heavy traffic in this part of the city.
WECAN CO-ORGANIZED AND PARTNER EVENTS
Feminists for Climate Justice Bloc at The March to End Fossil Fuels
On September 17, 2023, tens of thousands of people will march in New York City calling for an end fossil fuels. Please be welcome to join the Feminist Climate Justice bloc to come together with other women and feminists who are calling for an end to fossil fuels and for gender-just climate solutions!
Register above to stay up to date on the meet-up location for our group, which will be announced soon. Learn more about the New York mobilization here. All organizations, feminists, and gender justice advocates are welcome to join the bloc as we march, sing and raise our voices in community! WECAN is honored to help facilitate this bloc alongside our colleagues at WEDO and other partners in the Feminist Green New Deal coalition.
This action is a part of a global mobilization ahead of the UN Climate Ambition Summit and COP28. If you will not be in New York City, please find an action in your region here.
Wild Hope: Does Nature Have Rights?
Monday, September 18
11:00 am ET NYC Time
The Explorers Club
46 E 70th St, New York, NY 10021
Does Nature Have Rights? follows Ecuadorian conservationists documenting endemic species and invoking the Rights of Nature to save biodiversity hotspots. Wild Hope is a new series of short films highlighting the intrepid changemakers who are restoring our wild places and sparking new hope for the future of our planet.
Featured speakers include: Natalia Greene, GARN Global Coordinator; Callie Broaddus, Reserva: The Youth Land Trust; Casey Camp Horinek, (Ponca) End the Era of Fossil Fuels; Tom Goldtooth, (Dinè and Dakota) Indigenous Environmental Network; Osprey Orielle Lake, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network; Cormac Cullinan, Wild Law Institute; and Sean B. Carroll, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios.
This event is hosted by the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), Reserva, The Explorers Club, and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios. WECAN Executive Director, Osprey Orielle Lake, is honored to serve on the Executive Committee of GARN.
Safeguarding the Amazon: A Call for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Zone
Tuesday, September 19,
2:00 PM 4:00 PM Eastern Time NYC
While there is clear interest in opening up more of the Amazon to oil extraction, like recent efforts in Peru to auction new oil blocks, there are many local and international initiatives aiming to stop exploration. The Presidents Summit that will soon happen in Belém, Brazil, the national referendum vote in Ecuador to safeguard Yasuní, the proposal to protect 80 percent of the Amazon by 2025 (80x25), and the idea of the Amazon as a fossil fuel non- proliferation zone are all part of the key discussions and progress towards protecting the Amazon. This event seeks to identify solutions and pathways forward to a fossil fuel free Amazon that addresses human rights, ecological, economic and political barriers to stopping oil drilling in the Amazon rainforest.
This event is hosted by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and Ford Foundation. WECAN is honored to sit on the steering committee of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Fossil Fuel Treaty Town Hall
Thursday, September 21
11:00 - 2:00pm Eastern Time NYC
Great Hall, Mayday Space
176 Saint Nicholas Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Join a strategy discussion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on how we can secure a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. This engaging and informative town hall event will focus on the urgent need for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. Together, we will discuss the detrimental effects of the fossil fuel system and explore concrete proposals for phasing out their production and use in a way that is fast, fair, and forever. Lunch will be provided.
This event is hosted by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. WECAN is honored to sit on the steering committee of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
PARTNER EVENTS
Please see below for events hosted by our partners
who will also be leading event and advocacy efforts at Climate Week!
Mass Civil Disobedience to End Fossil Fuels
Monday, September 18
As we choke on the smoke of burned homes, bake and die in heat waves, and live in societies increasingly destabilized by climate chaos, the U.S. continues to put the interests of Wall St. above life on this planet.
Please join us and engage in a historic Mass Civil Disobedience calling for action to end the era of fossil fuels. Learn more here.
Climate Justice Bus Tour - If Not Us Then Who
Thursday, September 21
2:00 - 8:00pm Eastern Time
Manhattan, New York City
If Not Us Then Who, in partnership with the 'HoopBus', the HipHop Caucus, Friends of the Earth, National Wildlife Federation, Global Alliance Territorial Communities (GATC), and more will be taking the message of Climate and Racial Justice to the streets of Manhattan.
They will be making a series of stops at icon Manhattan locations to engage citizens and share messages of Climate Justice as Racial Justice- including calls to action. Learn more here.
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What is a Just Transition? - Amazon Watch
Friday, September 22, 12:30pm ET
The Shed, 545 W 30th St, New York, NY 10001
Register for the event here. Please join this exciting event hosted by our friends at Amazon Watch! The event is part of the two-day Our Village, organized by If Not Us Then Who. Registration is for the event by Amazon Watch and the full programming of Our Village.
Our Village NYCW at The Shed - If Not Us Then Who
September 22 - September 23
All day, 11am - 11pm Eastern Time
The Shed, 545 W 30th St, New York, NY 10001
Organized by If Not Us Then Who, the two-day programming for Our Village will gather Indigenous leaders, Black environmental leaders, local communities, impact leaders, activists, artists, decision makers, funders, and organizational partners to participate in dialogues to amplify ideas, generate action, and meaningfully connect through inclusive spaces to forge cooperative relationships towards the healing of our planet.
