“My environmentalism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit”

By Georgia Cavanagh
February 2021

What Is Intersectional Environmentalism?

Flavia Dzodan’s infamous quote: ‘my feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit sparked viral conversations about the extent to which feminism, along with other social movements, has been and should be accessible and representative. If environmentalism is not intersectional and thereby comprehensively addressing climate issues, does this not avoid the essential tenets of climate ‘justice’?

Intersectionality in the feminist movement was initially introduced to combat the tendency to address women’s multiple and different identities, and the trend towards favouring ‘the needs of those who are white, middle-class, heterosexual, cisgender and able-bodied’. This premise has been built upon in intersectional environmentalism, which recognises the privileges and discriminations that can be determined by such identities:

“Intersectional Environmentalism is an inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for both the protection of people and the planet. It identifies the ways in which injustices happening to marginalised communities and the earth are interconnected. It brings injustices done to the most vulnerable communities, and the earth, to the forefront and does not minimise or silence social inequality. Intersectional environmentalism advocates for justice for people and the planet.”

-Leah Thomas, Founder of Intersectional Environmentalist

Bringing different communities together to create a comprehensive picture of climate change experiences is essential for reaching reliable and equitable global solutions.

Women and Climate Change

The importance of an intersectional approach to environmentalism is evident when we examine how different marginalised groups experience climate change differently, and often to a more negative extent (research so far has applied a binary conception of gender, divided into ‘women’ and ‘men’, which will be reflected here).

As demonstrated by the IUCN, climate change impacts women and men differently. For example, globally, women are disproportionately responsible for ‘gathering and producing food, collecting water and sourcing fuel for heating and cooking’, and play essential roles in land management and resource use, all of which are made challenging due to the impacts of climate change and gender-blind conservation measures. The poor and most vulnerable, 70% of which are women globally, are the most affected by extreme weather events, which increase in frequency and strength due to climate change.

Women and Conservation

Despite this, women have consistently been excluded from environmental policy-making and conservation action due to continued gender inequalities throughout the world, ranging from local political decision-making in the Global South, to the Rio Conventions.

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Monica Ogra’s research into conservation projects in India highlights a propensity in local conservation for gender issues to be considered ‘distracting’ and ‘secondary’, due to a lack of empirical research on the importance of gender issues in conservation, training on these issues, an understanding of ‘gender’, and of opportunities for critical discussion.

The OECD has demonstrated that laws and practices of over 100 countries continue to restrict women’s rights to land access, without which women’s ability to actively contribute to conservation is significantly limited. Women remain an unused resource in environmental work, especially in the Global South and in indigenous communities, despite being disproportionately affected by climate change and therefore aware of the challenges and potential practical solutions.

Through widening access to decision-making and engagement, climate change work can be made more effective through incorporating the knowledge and experience of women, and ensuring that solutions are made relevant to experiences that have been neglected due to lack of inclusivity. Indeed, research has already shown that ‘including women in forest and fishery management groups can result in better resource governance and conservation outcomes’.

How To Be An Intersectional Environmentalist

In this month’s edition, Climate Just Collective focuses on gender and inclusion; however, intersectionality is of course about much more than gender, encompassing race, disability, economic status, sexual orientation and nationality, amongst many other groups with which people identify.

The only way to achieve intersectionality is to continue education on and discussion of different experiences of climate change, and to integrate this approach into potential solutions.

This articles presents a high-level summary on key concepts in intersectional environmentalism. Please refer to the references and additional resources to find out more about other political identities and the role in promoting inclusion within environmentalism for different groups within society.

Return To People and Planet.

You May Also Be Interested:  The Inequalities of Climate Change, Climate Justice is Queer Justice, Transgender and Non-Binary ‘Rights to the City’, Women and Climate Change