BONN, Germany
(November 14, 2017) - Tomorrow, Wednesday November 15th, grassroots, frontline
and Indigenous women leaders from around the world will unite for a Women's
Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN/WECC) press conference and side event
at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP23
climate talks, currently underway in Bonn, Germany.
Presenters
will share powerful testimony and analysis for addressing climate change from a
climate justice framework, exploring vital topics including forest and
biodiversity protection, agro-ecology implementation, fossil fuel resistance,
Indigenous rights and knowledge, and rights of nature.
Women have
always been on the frontlines of accelerating climate impacts and harms - and
now it is time for them to be at the forefront of all planning, decision-making
and action to build a healthy and just world.
The November
15th WECAN/WECC side event and press conference will provide an opportunity to
hear directly from women leaders on why their stories and solutions are
essential to any meaningful progress on global implementation of the Paris
Climate Accord. Unwilling to compromise in their defense of the Earth and their
communities, the women will also speak out against stagnancy, injustice, and
perpetuation of false and patriarchal climate change policies and solutions.
The 'Women for
Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change' side
event will be held Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 11:30-13:00 in the BONN
Zone, Meeting Room 12.
The side event
will feature Patricia Gualinga (Indigenous Kichwa leader from the Pueblo of
Sarayaku, Ecuador, participating in the Amazon Watch, Indigenous and WECAN
Delegations); Nina Gualinga (Indigenous Kichwa leader from the Pueblo of
Sarayaku, Ecuador, participating in the Amazon Watch, Indigenous and WECAN
Delegations); Leila Salazar Lopez (Executive Director, Amazon Watch, United
States, translating for Patricia Gualinga); Precious Phiri (Representative of
Regeneration International; EarthWisdom, Zimbabwe); Heather Milton Lightening
(Treaty Four Territory, Pasqua First Nation; Representative of Indigenous
Climate Action; #ItTakesRoots Delegation, Canada); Thilmeeza Hussain (Former
Deputy Ambassador to the UN from the Maldives; Climate Wise Women; Voice of
Women; WECAN COP23 Delegation, Maldives); India Logan Riley (Youth
Representative with Pacific Women's Delegation, from Hawke's Bay, Ngāti
Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, New Zealand); and Osprey Orielle Lake (Founder/Executive
Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, United States)
A press
conference will follow, Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 15:30 - 16:00 in the
BULA Zone 3, Press Conference Room 2 Theatre - and will feature Thilmeeza
Hussain (Former Deputy Ambassador to the UN from the Maldives; Climate Wise
Women; Voice of Women; WECAN COP23 Delegation, Maldives); Ruth Nyambura
(African Eco-Feminists Collective, Kenya); Maria Nailevu (DIVA for Equality,
Fiji); Patricia Gualinga (Indigenous Kichwa leader from the Pueblo of Sarayaku,
Ecuador, participating in the Amazon Watch, Indigenous and WECAN Delegations);
Leila Salazar Lopez (Amazon Watch, United States); and Osprey Orielle Lake
(Women's Earth and Climate Action Network United States).
Press and
media on-the-ground are invited to attend both sessions. Those covering COP23
remotely are encouraged to reach out with interview requests, and for access to
the press conference recording which will be available via the UNFCCC
immediately after the close of the event.
Full
information is available via the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
webpage : wecaninternational.org/pages/cop23
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