Women must be at centre of decisions during energy transition - webinar

There are people who interact with the natural environment through subsistence farming who were already able to detect changes such as reduced yields, less arable land and droughts due to climate change. Picture: Bloomberg

There are people who interact with the natural environment through subsistence farming who were already able to detect changes such as reduced yields, less arable land and droughts due to climate change. Picture: Bloomberg

Published Aug 8, 2022

Share

Pretoria - Much like the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change poses a significant threat to life and will expose the inefficiencies of the country’s systems unless something is done to ensure that women are not left behind in the decision-making processes.

This is according to Thandile Chinyavanhu, an environmental and social justice activist for GreenPeace Africa, who said issues surrounding climate change were also threatening to amplify inequalities in society.

She was speaking during a webinar on the impact of climate change on women hosted by the Government Communication and Information System.

Chinyavanhu said a crucial element, which could not be ignored during discussions around climate change and solutions to it, was to ensure that women and other vulnerable groups were able to be resilient and able to adapt to the change required.

Within the rural context, she said, there were people who interacted with the natural environment through subsistence farming who were already able to detect changes such as reduced yields, less arable land and droughts. “The connection between land and climate is pivotal as access to land provides a sense of resilience as it is a form of currency.”

Her sentiments were seconded by Princess Tsakani Nkambule, former educator and motivational speaker, who stressed the importance of women being at the centre of decisions implemented during the energy transition.

Now more than ever, Nkambule said, it was crucial to reflect on how women were and would be affected by adverse climate conditions, how to respond to changes, and most importantly, how to adapt their business environment in response to these changes.

“Climate change isn’t just an environmental issue but an economic and social issue. We simply don’t have the option not to be part of the process and the decision-making.

“No one knows better how to solve the challenges of women than women themselves. Nothing must happen to us, without us, should be the spirit in which we approach this evolution.”

One of the main stumbling blocks in opening up the renewal environmental sector to women was access to land as it remained predominantly in the hands of traditional leaders and men, she said.

“Women simply do not have access to this R5.4 billion industry of leasing land because we are still battling to get access to land and when we do have access, it is suitable only for subsistence farming.”

Pretoria News