Women’s movement must embrace the environment at its core
A serious lacking in women's movement globally is the inability to include the environment as the most critical and urgent feminist concern, even though many of the leading global environmental activists are women. For Bangladesh, this is more true since climate disasters are hitting the country more than other geographical regions to the extent that the environment now is the most critical existential concern. More so now, since there has hardly been any gain in the Glasgow COP26. We can hardly hope for any global reduction in carbon emissions. After the COP 26, the environment must be the priority of the women activists of Bangladesh and for the women's movement. The commitment to resist environmental disasters will increasingly be the indicator by which our commitment to the cause of women might be measured. To see women through the mainstream 'gender equality' lense is not enough. The conventional policy framework links gender equality with enhanced environmental outcomes; for example, it is argued, when gender inequality is high, forest depletion, air pollution and other measures of environmental degradation are also high. Therefore, to achieve SDG goals in any substantial way, attention to gender equality is expected from governments. There is a much-repeated common sense argument that countries with more women in their parliaments are more likely to set aside protected land areas and ratify international environmental treaties. The outcome of the Glasgow Cop 26 drastically reduces the credibility of these claims, since the global polluters hardly care about what is happening to the people on the ground, particularly to women. Women are going to suffer badly in the coming years. What I am arguing is not to reduce gender merely as a means to achieve environmental goals. I strongly propose that women must be the active agent of change since they have the highest stake in the destruction of the environment, ecology, biodiversity and livelihood.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.