Earth Day Network Launches WAGE: Women Key to Green Economy

Women are likely to be hit harder by climate change than men due to their social roles and the simple fact that they comprise as much as 70 percent of the world’s poor. At the same time, women are also taking the lead worldwide on developing solutions for a more sustainable, green economy, from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

To provide the new thinking and creative power needed to accelerate the transition to a global post-carbon economy, Earth Day Network launched its Women and the Green Economy campaign to engage women government, business, and civic leaders with a series of events at UNFCCC’s 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Cancun, Mexico.

On Tuesday, December 7, Earth Day Network and the UN Foundation are co-hosting a panel to discuss “Women’s Voices from the Top: Challenges and Opportunities in the Green Economy.”   The panel will feature Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Martha Duggan, Chair of the Solar Alliance and Vice President of United Solar Ovonic. Other honored guests will include Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland.

On December 4, Earth Day Network also hosted a panel discussion at the business-focused World Climate Summit on the importance of women's leadership in ensuring sustainability and environmental accountability worldwide. Moderated by Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers, the panel featured women leaders sharing their perspectives on the challenges, opportunities and contributions of women in green business and entrepreneurship around the world.