Along with Project Dandelion Executive Director Ronda Carnegie, I attended what is known as the BioCOP, and wanted to share, in brief, what I would describe generally as a learning journey that gave both of us a clearer understanding of the fact that there can be no solution to the climate crisis without solutions to the nature crisis.
Read MoreWhat Is Your Leadership Legacy?
I am thinking a lot about leadership as faithful readers know, and assuming you are, too, given that we, as citizens of a democracy, are electing our most important leaders, nationally and in states and communities. I’ve written a lot already in this weekly post about the historic nature of this US election, and I felt that profoundly this week when I voted with my 18-year-old granddaughters who are first-time voters.
Read MoreRevising History in Real Time
In this post-truth world, there are just too many lies leading to too many conspiracy theories to keep up with rebuttals based on facts… and apparently, the facts have become much less popular than the lies that travel much faster online.
Read MoreDo you remember the first time you voted?
I do…and that was some decades ago! The memory of standing in line in my small hometown in Georgia — a much shorter line than the ones I stand in today in Atlanta — and being handed a paper ballot with boxes next to a long list of names is one that I will never forget.
Read MoreJoin Me for a Mobilization for Women's Rights and the Planet Happening in NYC on Saturday
Come together to show solidarity for women’s rights and the right to a habitable planet — both of which are under threat.
Read MoreSome good news in a tough week
There is more public support than ever to demand swift actions on climate change. The biggest ever standalone public opinion survey on climate change, the Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024, shows that 80 percent of people globally want their governments to take stronger action to tackle the climate crisis.
Read MoreHeat: The ‘Silent Assassin of Climate Change’
By 2050, heat waves will affect more than 3.5 billion people worldwide with great risks to cities, according to a 2023 study commissioned by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. Women leaders like Emma Howard Boyd (Vice Chair, Climate Resilience for All), Kathy Baughman McLeod (CEO, Climate Resilience for All) and Reema Nanavaty (SEWA), are the allies the world needs to enact solutions in these dangerously hot times.
Read MoreHistory Making Elections: Women Presidents in Mexico and Iceland
Earlier this week, some very good news, as two women, Halla Tómasdóttir in Iceland and Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, were elected president. But stories of women workers suffering in the brutal heatwaves in India remind us that women experience more acutely the many negative impacts of climate change, and it is women leaders who must prioritize the climate and nature crisis.
Read MoreDemocracies Are Stronger When They Work Together
Kenya has been very much in the news this week. Feted with a state dinner in DC last Thursday, Kenyan President William Ruto, his wife, Rachel, and a delegation of ministers concluded the first state visit to the US by an African leader in nearly two decades.
Read More‘The Antidote to Doom is Doing‘
“Climate change is affecting mental health literally everywhere,” writes Daisy Simmons at Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. It's not surprising. We’ve just lived through 16 months with the hottest temperatures on record, and extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change keep happening. But research shows that action is indeed the antidote to despair.
Read MoreLove Your Mother and Mother Earth
We must restore earth's ecosystems so that Mother Earth is a livable home for everyone.
Read MoreJoin Project Dandelion March 20: Every Issue Is A Climate Issue
Mark March 20 on your calendar and join Project Dandelion for a day of action on social media. Why March 20? It’s the halfway point between International Women’s Day and Earth Day, and a good day to amplify the call for women’s leadership on the intersectional issue of our time — the climate and nature crisis, which is everyone’s issue.
Read MoreWhen Women Lead, Action Follows
Over the first year of Project Dandelion, a worldwide movement that strives to establish a climate-safe environment for all, we have worked to strengthen partnerships with women leaders who are on the front lines of climate solutions. This week, I write about an innovative, new approach to mitigating the climate impact of extreme heat in India that is yet another example of women leading for solutions that are just and sustainable.
Read MoreNot one woman on the list.
Earlier this month, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev announced the organizing committee for COP29, which will be held there in November. The list included 28 appointees, including Azeri government ministers of energy, health, finance and economy, among others. What the list did not include: women.
Read MoreThe Transition Is Unstoppable
I hope you are following the events in Dubai where COP28 (the UN climate conference) is happening. So far, the reviews are mixed and the eventual impact is uncertain, but one thing is clear: never has it been more urgent or necessary for the world’s leaders to unite for the solutions, policies, and commitments that will ensure a climate safe world for everyone.
Read More‘If you care for the land, the land will take care of you’
This year, since we will gather in Georgia, on land that was once the homeland of multiple Indigenous communities, I want to honor and acknowledge the history of what happened here before and what is happening now.
Read MoreWhat is COP and why should we pay attention?
COP28 begins soon – the 28th Climate Change Conference of its kind. Women should be at the table for every decision and commitment made during COP, but we know that will likely not be the case. That’s why I’d like to share a powerful event coming up that brings women’s voices to the forefront of these conversations.
Read More‘Action is the antidote to despair’
As Joan Baez, one of my favorite songwriters/performers/activists from my political ‘coming of age’ era, once said, "Action is the antidote to despair." Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States, and voting is one action we can all take as US citizens — and a privilege for every person living in a democratic country — to fend off the despair so easily experienced given the wars, the violence, and the rollback on rights in so many places today.
Read MoreHere I am at 80.... Still movement building!
In developing Project Dandelion, we've spent a lot of time thinking about what ingredients are necessary for a successful social movement in 2023. Even though the ways we organize have changed (social media, email and Zoom make it a whole lot easier to connect), the truth is that what is needed for a successful social movement to be launched, sustained and successful in outcomes is essentially the same as when I started organizing in college.
Read MoreSeeding a Movement for Climate Justice
Over the last few weeks, Project Dandelion, a women-led global movement for climate justice, has been very active. Energized by the connections we’ve made during our learning journey to better understand how to elevate and amplify the important work we’ve observed, we are more convinced than ever that leading for a just transition from the current crisis is the challenge — and yes, the opportunity — for all women to show up, speak out, and come together, connected by a vision of the future that is in our hands.
Read More
