Network includes climate and environment ministers, architects of the Paris Agreement, a former UNFCCC chief, and CSOs at some of the world's largest businesses
A raft of influential politicians, environmental campaigners, and business leaders from around the world will today officially launch a new Women Leading on Climate Network.
Former Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, We Mean Business Coalition CEO Maria Mendiluce, and former UNFCCC chief Patricia Espinosa are among the climate leaders to have signed up to the initiative, which is set to be launched on the sidelines of Climate Week NYC this morning.
The Women Leading on Climate Network is aiming to leverage the considerable expertise and influence of its members to advocate for work and policies that reduces climate impacts on the communities most at risk from climate change, including those impacts that disproportionately effect women.
The coalition, which also includes German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan, soon-to-be European Commissioner Teresa Ribera, and Brazil's national secretary of climate change Ana Toni, has also pledged to provide support for women business leaders to help them speak out on the need for bolder climate action.
The group's initial focus will be to call on governments to draw up "investible country climate plans" that reflect global pledges made at last year's COP28 Climate Summit to triple renewables capacity, double the rate of energy efficiency improvements, and transition away from fossil fuels.
Due next year, the next round of national climate plans to be submitted under the Paris Agreement - known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the UN jargon - are expected to cover the five-year period from 2030. Governments are facing growing calls from businesses and campaigners to significantly strengthen their plans to help unlock increased investment in green projects and accelerate decarbonisation efforts.
"Women are pushing for more ambitious climate action in negotiating rooms, in boardrooms, in their communities and in the streets," said McKenna, CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions and chair of the UNSG panel on net zero, which first proposed the Women Leading on Climate group in 2021. "In this critical time for climate action, we need to come together and raise our voices even more. We've seen the power of women when we come together, we go further, faster."
The network also comprises a number chief sustainability officers from leading companies, including executives at HSBC, BNP Paribas, Bloomberg, Netflix, Walmart, TIME, Ikea store owner Ingka Group, Volvo, and Chanel.
Mendiluce, who is the co-founder of the new network, welcomed its launch. "We know that we don't have time to wait, that action is needed today, and we are rolling up our sleeves and getting on with the job," she said. "This is why women leaders are asking governments for more climate ambition, concrete action plans with milestones and much more coherence in the way they implement them. Together we can make change happen at the speed that is required to limit global warming and keep 1.5C in sight."
The group said it was gearing up to launch a social media campaign that would aim to encourage women and girls to "speak up in a united way to demand more climate action" ahead of November's COP29 Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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