Gender Equality and Climate Advocacy: Why Youth Leadership is Integral to a Sustainable Future

This Earth Month, Fora celebrates the leadership and work of young feminists advocating for climate action in our community. Two passionate young leaders in the environmental space talk to us about how they are working towards ensuring the voices, ideas, and stories of young people are included at the highest levels of decision-making around climate action.


Meet two young climate justice leaders

Renata Koch Alvarenga (she/her) is a climate justice advocate from Brazil, and describes her work as “focused on centering the voices that are on the frontlines of climate change, but often, not of the decision-making spaces.” Renata was a Delegate at Fora’s Global Summit in 2020 and is the Founder and Director of EmpoderaClima, a multilingual initiative that advocates for gender equality and global youth leadership in climate policy decision-making spaces.  

Marina Melanidis (she/her) is a member of the Fora community and is the Founder and Development Director of Youth4Nature, a by-youth, for-youth, international non-profit organisation that educates, equips and establishes youth as leaders of system-wide solutions for the nature and climate crises, which are rooted in traditional & scientific knowledge and are grounded in intergenerational justice. She describes her work with Youth4Nature as “creating and supporting spaces for young people around the world to lead on solutions for both nature and climate, in their communities and also globally.” 

The next generation of climate advocates weigh in on the way forward

Advocacy within the environmental movement encompasses increasing public education and awareness on environmental sustainability, influencing legislature to enact environmental protection laws, holding developers and corporations accountable for their environmental impact, and focusing on protecting communities affected by negative environmental impacts.  

 
 
 
 

Young activists around the world are mobilizing and harnessing their power to hold decision-makers accountable, and to amplify the need for equity and justice as an integral part of developing sustainable solutions.  

The voices of youth within the environmental movement are critical in achieving a sustainable and more equitable future. As entrepreneurs, innovators and community-builders, youth are leading on reimagining systems, building resilience and scaling climate action initiatives.  

Accessing decision-making spaces

Marina tells us, structural barriers hinder progress and stifle potential: “Young people, despite having critical roles in the environmental movement to push it towards ambition, justice, and transformative change, face significant barriers to engaging meaningfully. We lack access to resources, knowledge, funding, and spaces to contribute to all stages of developing solutions, from the decision-making to the implementation. When we do have opportunities to engage, we so often face tokenism and extractive relationships.”  

We must address the barriers that hinder the meaningful participation of women and youth in decision-making around climate change and in leadership roles. Renata highlights intergenerational equity as integral to environmental action and tells us, “the youth are not only going to be more impacted by the choices made now when it comes to Planet Earth, but young people are bold, creative, innovative and ready to provide better solutions to the climate crisis, but they often do not have access to leadership spaces to voice their opinions and be a part of the change with international organizations and governments.”  

 
 
 
 

Gender and Climate: The connection between two movements

Gender equality is a vital part of a sustainable future. Research shows that gender equality and environmental goals are mutually reinforcing. The implications of delayed progress on gender equality affects the progress of climate solutions. Women, families and communities need better resources to be adaptive and resilient to the impacts of climate change. However, women continue to be underrepresented in decision-making spaces. “Women are not only disproportionately affected by climate change, but they are also powerful stakeholders for climate solutions. When women are in power, more climate agreements are passed, and climate policies are more ambitious and just. We need gender equality for a sustainable future.” says Renata. These spaces of power need to be transformed through meaningful and equal participation of women who can influence policies that affect their lives. 

Marina leaves us with an impactful statement on recognizing how seeking equity, based on the different realities we face, is the key to making progress towards a sustainable future: “There is no climate justice without gender justice. Women, non-binary, two-spirit, and trans folks are at the frontlines of climate crisis and environmental degradation, and often face the brunt of its impacts. Yet, folks of diverse genders also hold critical knowledge and expertise that the climate and environmental movement need. It's no coincidence that it's often women, non-binary, two-spirit, and trans folks at the forefront of environmental movements. Gender equity must be central to any pathway for a regenerative future where all can thrive, otherwise we won't be successful.”   

Check out these resources to learn more about participating in the environmental movement

FEATURED IN THIS ARTICLE:

  • EmpoderaClima works to empower youth in the Global South to learn about the impacts of climate change on women & the role of gender-transformative climate education. Check out the vast database of high-quality content about the interlinkage between climate change, gender equality and women's empowerment on their website here.  

WATCH: 

  • The #Youth4ClimateLive Series, which brought together a diverse group of youth for virtual intergenerational and interactive conversations with policymakers and experts on a variety of climate topics. See episodes here. 

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Written by Fora’s Programs Officer for Summit and Community, Maxime Matthew.

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