A Message to All the Women Attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan

Almost every year I send out this same invitation. I haven't managed to change the world yet, but I'm not giving up. Let's see if this request can go viral this time and shake things up!

This year's UN international climate change Conference of the Parties (COP29) will be held November 11-22 in Baku, the lowest lying capital city in the world, in Azerbaijan, a land-locked country in Eurasia, with a coastline on the Caspian Sea, the largest inland lake in the world.

The theme this year is "In Solidarity for a Green World." That might seem beyond cheeky given that Azerbaijan is known as the oldest oil-producing region in the world, and Baku was the world's first "oil town." According to The Guardian, fossil fuels still make up 90% of the nation's exports. "The petrostate pioneer is still one of the top 10 most oil- and gas-dependent economies in the world," with plans to increase its "natural" gas output by a third in the next decade. Alas. Nevertheless ....

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It was back in 2009 that I first sent out this heartfelt request to all the women, and our friends beyond the binary, who were going to attend the Copenhagen climate talks. Today, I send it again, to all the women, grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties, nieces, cousins, godmothers, wives, partners and girlfriends who are attending this year's COP. 

 

And to the grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins, godmothers, wives, partners and girlfriends of all the men who will be attending the Baku climate talks, please speak to them. Speak up for the sake of all the children ... of all species.  

A request to all the women attending the climate change talks! 

PLEASE WEAR BRIGHT COLOURS! Please inject some life into the talks — wear the colours of flowers and forests and sunsets and fresh fruit and children's smiles.

The Black Gospel Blog, 2008

BE A MOTHER OR A GRANDMOTHER FIRST. Believe in your power! The "powers that be" need to hear that all the mothers of the world want what's best for the children of all species. Please represent all the mothers and grandmothers around the globe. Even if you don't have your own biological or adopted children, you are still a mother of all the children, everywhere. Speak up for them. 

REMEMBER THAT CLIMATE CHANGE KNOWS NO BORDERS. Try to forget that you're in Baku, Azerbaijan representing your own country. Think of the planet as one nation, one biosphere, one shared home within one shared atmosphere that knows no boundaries. Speak for all human beings, as well as the rest of Nature, which has no seat and no voice at the talks — unless you represent her there. 

LET COMPASSION BE YOUR COMPASS. Remember that prosperity and a thriving economy are impossible if the natural environment is ailing. We must get our priorities right! If a decision doesn't have the Earth and the children's future at heart, then that decision is not a compassionate one and not a viable one. 

CALL FOR ZERO CARBON — ALONG WITH SOME URGENCY IN ACHIEVING IT. Try to rev up the imaginations of world leaders and negotiators of all ilks (even the heartless, uncreative ones). Help them envision the Golden Age of Renewable Energy that we must quickly achieve.

Pobreza, Live Journal

LET COURAGE GUIDE YOU. Women are courageous in so many — often unsung — ways. Courage at a climate COP, though not easy, is simple. What a privileged position you are in! Please take advantage of it and be brave enough to speak up for all those who have so little — now and in the future. Be the peaceful warriors who safeguard the children. Be willing to stand up, join arms, and say no (or yes!). 

CALL FOR THE END OF FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES. How will we ever lower our fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions as long as governments subsidize the fossil fuel industries? According to the IMF, our governments are giving fossil fuel corporations (who are already among the richest companies in the world) $7 TRILLION per year in direct and indirect subsidies (with our tax money). This injustice boggles the mind. Fossil fuel corporations must be made to pay the full costs of their social (health) and environmental damage and destruction before their executives receive bonuses and their shareholders receive dividends.

REMEMBER THE GREAT WOMEN WHO HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THEIR COURAGE, women like Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas, Patricia Wright, Donella Meadows, Berta Cáceres, Hazel Henderson, Sylvia Earle, Erin Brokovich, Sister Dorothy Stang, Chai Jing, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Lois Gibbs, the women of the Chipko Movement, Beatrix Potter, Greta Thunberg (and other young activists), Wangari Maathai, Julia Butterfly Hill, Betty Krawczyk, Vandana Shiva, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Hildegard of Bingen, Harriet Nahanee. Stand on their shoulders — and be climate heroes at this year's COP!

 

p.s. Whose name is missing? Send me the name of the female eco-hero who inspires you (and a bit about her) in the comments section.
 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS
(click here to listen to this song)
by Joyce Johnson Rouse (Earth Mama)

I am standing on the shoulders

of the ones who came before me
I am stronger for their courage, I am wiser for their words
I am lifted by their longing for a fair and brighter future
I am grateful for their vision, for their toiling on this Earth

We are standing on the shoulders 
of the ones who came before us
They are saints and they are humans, they are angels,
they are friends
We can see beyond the struggles and the troubles 
and the challenge
When we know that by our efforts things will be
better in the end

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn't tried
We wouldn't be here celebrating today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones 
who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold 
the ones who follow me 

They lift me higher than I could ever fly
Carrying my burdens away
I imagine our world if they hadn't tried
We wouldn't be so very blessed today

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones 
who came before me
I am honored by their passion for our liberty
I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer
And my shoulders will be there to hold 
the ones who follow me 
My shoulders will be there to hold  
the ones who follow me