ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Katharine Wilkinson - Writer, environmentalist
Katharine Wilkinson is transforming how we see and relate to the earth. As a writer and messenger, she brings humanity and heart to the challenge of climate change and invites us to be awake, aware and active participants in the community of life.

Why you should listen

As Katharine Wilkinson writes: "At age 16, through an ineffable alchemy of living and learning in the woods, I fell in love with this world and dedicated myself to being part of earth's healing. That commitment threads through my journey since, from research and teaching to strategy and advocacy at the intersections of environment, social science, religion, narrative and discourse, movement building, and gender equity.  

"Along the way, I have written two books. The first, Between God & Green: How Evangelicals Are Cultivating a Middle Ground on Climate Change, grew out of my doctoral research at the University of Oxford, where I was a Rhodes Scholar. The second was a New York Times bestseller: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. That book brings to life the pioneering, collaborative work of Project Drawdown, the nonprofit where I now lead communication and engagement.

"Climate change is humanity’s great challenge. It demands ambitious, swift, exponential action, across society. But many solutions are already in hand, and our collective wisdom is deep and wide. My work aims to help others envision what’s possible for this earth, our home, and persevere in making it real. 

"Today, I live not in the woods but in Atlanta. I continue to find sustenance in rivers and mountains, dogs and horses, and a community of wise, wild, kindred spirits."

More profile about the speaker
Katharine Wilkinson | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2018

Katharine Wilkinson: How empowering women and girls can help stop global warming

Filmed:
1,815,238 views

If we really want to address climate change, we need to make gender equity a reality, says writer and environmentalist Katharine Wilkinson. As part of Project Drawdown, Wilkinson has helped scour humanity's wisdom for solutions to draw down heat-trapping, climate-changing emissions: obvious things like renewable energy and sustainable diets and not so obvious ones, like the education and empowerment of women. In this informative, bold talk, she shares three key ways that equity for women and girls can help stop global warming. "Drawing down emissions depends on rising up," Wilkinson says.
- Writer, environmentalist
Katharine Wilkinson is transforming how we see and relate to the earth. As a writer and messenger, she brings humanity and heart to the challenge of climate change and invites us to be awake, aware and active participants in the community of life. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
There are two powerful phenomena
unfolding on earth:
0
944
4526
00:18
the rise of global warming
1
6111
2178
00:20
and the rise of women and girls.
2
8313
2494
00:23
The link between them is often overlooked,
3
11690
3284
00:26
but gender equity is a key answer
to our planetary challenge.
4
14998
4823
00:32
Let me explain.
5
20486
1314
00:34
For the last few years,
6
22857
1239
00:36
I have been working on an effort
called "Project Drawdown."
7
24120
3571
00:40
Our team has scoured humanity's wisdom
8
28323
2978
00:43
for solutions to draw down
heat-trapping, climate-changing emissions
9
31325
5992
00:49
in the atmosphere --
10
37341
1762
00:51
not "someday, maybe,
if we're lucky" solutions,
11
39127
4085
00:55
the 80 best practices and technologies
12
43236
3534
00:58
already in hand:
13
46794
2055
01:00
clean, renewable energy,
including solar and wind;
14
48873
4946
01:06
green buildings, both new and retrofitted;
15
54609
3877
01:11
efficient transportation
from Brazil to China;
16
59542
3702
01:15
thriving ecosystems through
protection and restoration;
17
63902
5580
01:21
reducing waste and reclaiming its value;
18
69506
4366
01:25
growing food in good ways
that regenerates soil;
19
73896
4553
01:31
shifting diets to less meat, more plants;
20
79066
4809
01:36
and equity for women and girls.
21
84426
3378
01:40
Gender and climate
are inextricably linked.
22
88524
3505
01:44
Drawing down emissions
depends on rising up.
23
92881
4131
01:50
First, a bit of context.
24
98980
1592
01:53
We are in a situation of urgency,
severity and scope
25
101492
4427
01:57
never before faced by humankind.
26
105943
2552
02:01
So far, our response isn't
anywhere close to adequate.
27
109249
5167
02:07
But you already know that.
28
115762
1701
02:10
You know it in your gut,
29
118155
2354
02:12
in your bones.
30
120533
1700
02:15
We are each part
of the planet's living systems,
31
123117
3129
02:18
knitted together with almost
7.7 billion human beings
32
126270
5235
02:23
and 1.8 million known species.
33
131529
3472
02:27
We can feel the connections between us.
34
135840
2955
02:31
We can feel the brokenness
35
139712
2084
02:33
and the closing window to heal it.
36
141820
2172
02:37
This earth, our home,
37
145028
2790
02:40
is telling us that a better way of being
must emerge, and fast.
38
148615
4432
02:47
In my experience, to have eyes wide open
39
155504
2983
02:50
is to hold a broken heart every day.
40
158511
2289
02:53
It's a grief that I rarely speak,
41
161617
2313
02:56
though my work calls
on the power of voice.
42
164758
3634
03:02
I remind myself that the heart
can simply break, or it can break open.
43
170256
5333
03:08
A broken-open heart is awake
and alive and calls for action.
44
176672
5222
03:14
It is regenerative, like nature,
45
182782
2851
03:18
reclaiming ruined ground, growing anew.
46
186562
2958
03:22
Life moves inexorably toward more life,
47
190351
3740
03:26
toward healing,
48
194115
1608
03:27
toward wholeness.
49
195747
1280
03:29
That's a fundamental ecological truth.
50
197734
2548
03:33
And we, all of us,
51
201001
2470
03:36
we are life force.
52
204222
1885
03:39
On the face of it, the primary link
between women, girls and a warming world
53
207849
4200
03:44
is not life but death.
54
212073
1756
03:46
Awareness is growing that climate impacts
hit women and girls hardest,
55
214813
4963
03:51
given existing vulnerabilities.
56
219800
2000
03:54
There is greater risk of displacement,
57
222569
2003
03:57
higher odds of being injured
or killed during a natural disaster.
58
225123
3865
04:01
Prolonged drought
can precipitate early marriage
59
229944
3058
04:05
as families contend with scarcity.
60
233026
2392
04:08
Floods can force last-resort prostitution
61
236340
3132
04:11
as women struggle to make ends meet.
62
239496
2509
04:14
The list goes on and goes wide.
63
242029
2475
04:17
These dynamics are most acute
under conditions of poverty,
64
245262
3435
04:20
from New Orleans to Nairobi.
65
248721
2508
04:24
Too often, the story ends here.
66
252907
2262
04:27
But not today.
67
255193
1189
04:29
Another empowering truth begs to be seen.
68
257177
3027
04:32
If we gain ground on gender equity,
69
260228
3272
04:35
we also gain ground
on addressing global warming.
70
263524
3686
04:40
This connection comes to light
in three key areas,
71
268268
3677
04:43
three areas where we can secure
the rights of women and girls,
72
271969
4143
04:48
shore up resilience
73
276136
1606
04:49
and avert emissions at the same time.
74
277766
2800
04:53
Women are the primary
farmers of the world.
75
281268
3615
04:57
They produce 60 to 80 percent
of food in lower-income countries,
76
285449
3679
05:01
often operating on fewer than five acres.
77
289152
3130
05:04
That's what the term "smallholder" means.
78
292306
2576
05:07
Compared with men, women smallholders
have less access to resources,
79
295705
5096
05:12
including land rights,
80
300825
2198
05:15
credit and capital, training,
81
303047
2385
05:17
tools and technology.
82
305456
1543
05:19
They farm as capably
and efficiently as men,
83
307510
2777
05:23
but this well-documented disparity
in resources and rights
84
311088
3730
05:26
means women produce less food
on the same amount of land.
85
314842
3943
05:31
Close those gaps,
86
319439
1511
05:33
and farm yields rise by 20 to 30 percent.
87
321702
3339
05:37
That means 20 to 30 percent more food
from the same garden or the same field.
88
325065
5728
05:43
The implications for hunger,
for health, for household income --
89
331857
4068
05:47
they're obvious.
90
335949
1224
05:49
Let's follow the thread to climate.
91
337580
1696
05:53
We humans need land to grow food.
92
341061
2858
05:56
Unfortunately, forests are often
cleared to supply it,
93
344836
3347
06:00
and that causes emissions
from deforestation.
94
348207
2991
06:03
But if existing farms produce enough food,
95
351866
3535
06:08
forests are less likely to be lost.
96
356001
2249
06:10
So there's a ripple effect.
97
358274
1724
06:12
Support women smallholders,
98
360755
2193
06:14
realize higher yields,
99
362972
2094
06:17
avoid deforestation
100
365090
1622
06:18
and sustain the life-giving
power of forests.
101
366736
4189
06:22
Project Drawdown estimates
that addressing inequity in agriculture
102
370949
3607
06:26
could prevent two billion tons
of emissions between now and 2050.
103
374580
5210
06:32
That's on par with the impact
household recycling can have globally.
104
380445
4263
06:37
Addressing this inequity
can also help women cope
105
385765
3103
06:40
with the challenges of growing food
106
388892
2421
06:43
as the climate changes.
107
391337
1845
06:46
There is life force in cultivation.
108
394193
2825
06:49
At last count,
109
397947
1639
06:51
130 million girls are still denied
their basic right to attend school.
110
399610
5029
06:57
Gaps are greatest
in secondary school classrooms.
111
405234
3111
07:00
Too many girls are missing
a vital foundation for life.
112
408979
3908
07:05
Education means better health
for women and their children,
113
413599
3819
07:09
better financial security,
114
417989
1612
07:12
greater agency at home and in society,
115
420172
3217
07:16
more capacity to navigate
a climate-changing world.
116
424216
3590
07:20
Education can mean options,
adaptability, strength.
117
428614
4985
07:26
It can also mean lower emissions.
118
434177
2416
07:29
For a variety of reasons,
119
437433
1585
07:31
when we have more years of education,
120
439042
2837
07:33
we typically choose to marry later
121
441903
2608
07:36
and to have fewer children.
122
444535
1675
07:38
So our families end up being smaller.
123
446234
3021
07:41
What happens at the individual level
adds up across the world and over time.
124
449631
5086
07:46
One by one by one,
125
454741
2205
07:48
the right to go to school impacts
how many human beings live on this planet
126
456970
5300
07:54
and impacts its living systems.
127
462294
2279
07:57
That's not why girls should be educated.
128
465500
2740
08:00
It's one meaningful outcome.
129
468991
1895
08:04
Education is one side of a coin.
130
472354
2592
08:06
The other is family planning:
131
474970
1729
08:09
access to high-quality,
voluntary reproductive health care.
132
477505
4607
08:15
To have children by choice
rather than chance
133
483169
2606
08:17
is a matter of autonomy and dignity.
134
485799
2269
08:21
Yet in the US,
135
489478
2737
08:24
45 percent of pregnancies are unintended.
136
492239
2864
08:27
Two hundred and fourteen million women
in lower-income countries
137
495834
3378
08:31
say they want to decide whether
and when to become pregnant
138
499236
3323
08:34
but aren't using contraception.
139
502583
2027
08:36
Listening to women's needs,
140
504634
1838
08:38
addressing those needs,
141
506496
2029
08:40
advancing equity and well-being:
142
508549
2450
08:43
those must be the aims
of family planning, period.
143
511023
3403
08:47
Curbing the growth of our human population
144
515096
2662
08:49
is a side effect, though a potent one.
145
517782
2791
08:53
It could dramatically reduce demand
for food, transportation, electricity,
146
521255
5248
08:58
buildings, goods and all the rest,
147
526527
2884
09:01
thereby reducing emissions.
148
529435
2046
09:04
Close the gaps on access
to education and family planning,
149
532170
4221
09:08
and by mid-century, we may find
one billion fewer people inhabiting earth
150
536415
5035
09:13
than we would if we do nothing more.
151
541474
1824
09:16
According to Project Drawdown,
152
544450
2105
09:18
one billion fewer people
could mean we avoid
153
546579
2766
09:21
nearly 120 billion tons of emissions.
154
549369
3903
09:25
At that level of impact,
155
553685
1677
09:27
gender equity is a top solution
to restore a climate fit for life.
156
555386
5356
09:33
At that level of impact,
157
561651
1798
09:35
gender equity is on par with wind turbines
158
563473
3597
09:39
and solar panels and forests.
159
567094
2768
09:43
There is life force in learning
160
571020
2350
09:45
and life force in choice.
161
573394
2468
09:49
Now, let me be clear:
162
577005
1489
09:50
this does not mean women and girls
are responsible for fixing everything.
163
578518
3864
09:54
(Laughter)
164
582406
1616
09:56
Though we probably will.
165
584046
1845
09:57
(Laughter)
166
585915
1366
09:59
(Applause)
167
587305
4312
10:04
Equity for women in agriculture,
education and family planning:
168
592363
5124
10:09
these are solutions within a system
of drawdown solutions.
169
597511
3833
10:13
Together, they comprise
a blueprint of possibility.
170
601901
3569
10:18
And let me be even clearer about this:
171
606419
2334
10:21
population cannot be seen in isolation
from production or consumption.
172
609404
5856
10:28
Some segments of the human family
cause exponentially greater harm,
173
616365
4013
10:33
while others suffer outsized injustice.
174
621131
2843
10:37
The most affluent --
175
625044
1425
10:39
we are the most accountable.
176
627089
1655
10:41
We have the most to do.
177
629465
2412
10:46
The gender-climate connection
extends beyond negative impacts
178
634496
3310
10:49
and beyond powerful solutions.
179
637830
2178
10:52
Women are vital voices
and agents for change on this planet,
180
640438
5618
10:58
and yet we're too often missing
or even barred from the proverbial table.
181
646080
5024
11:03
We're too often ignored
or silenced when we speak.
182
651883
2829
11:06
We are too often passed over
183
654736
1718
11:08
when plans are laid or investments made.
184
656931
2781
11:12
According to one analysis,
185
660526
2368
11:14
just 0.2 percent of philanthropic funds
186
662918
3832
11:18
go specifically towards women
and the environment,
187
666774
2817
11:22
merely 110 million dollars globally,
188
670228
3013
11:25
the sum spent by one man
on a single Basquiat painting last year.
189
673972
5218
11:32
These dynamics are not only unjust,
they are setting us up for failure.
190
680911
3774
11:37
To rapidly, radically reshape society,
191
685490
3092
11:40
we need every solution and every solver,
192
688606
2515
11:44
every mind,
193
692186
1557
11:45
every bit of heart,
194
693767
1574
11:47
every set of hands.
195
695365
1683
11:49
We often crave a simple call to action,
196
697840
2853
11:53
but this challenge demands
more than a fact sheet
197
701447
3203
11:56
and more than a checklist.
198
704674
1676
11:58
We need to function
more like an ecosystem,
199
706978
3150
12:02
finding strength in our diversity.
200
710152
2391
12:05
You know what your superpowers are.
201
713530
2151
12:08
You're an educator, farmer, healer,
creator, campaigner, wisdom-keeper.
202
716356
6064
12:15
How might you link arms where you are
203
723456
3277
12:18
to move solutions forward?
204
726757
1752
12:21
There is one role I want to ask
that all of you play:
205
729532
2928
12:24
the role of messenger.
206
732484
1667
12:27
This is a time of great awakening.
207
735341
2382
12:30
We need to break the silence
around the condition of our planet;
208
738507
4326
12:35
move beyond manufactured debates
about climate science;
209
743524
4619
12:40
share solutions;
210
748167
1832
12:43
speak truth with a broken-open heart;
211
751038
3693
12:47
teach that to address climate change,
we must make gender equity a reality.
212
755483
5312
12:52
And in the face of
a seemingly impossible challenge,
213
760819
3681
12:56
women and girls are
a fierce source of possibility.
214
764524
3648
13:02
It is a magnificent thing to be alive
215
770307
2545
13:05
in a moment that matters so much.
216
773845
2901
13:11
This earth,
217
779063
1211
13:13
our home,
218
781144
1217
13:15
is calling for us to be bold,
219
783940
2662
13:20
reminding us we are all
in this together --
220
788142
3073
13:23
women, men,
221
791907
1413
13:25
people of all gender identities,
222
793344
2091
13:27
all beings.
223
795459
1222
13:29
We are life force,
224
797964
1736
13:32
one earth,
225
800900
1248
13:35
one chance.
226
803160
1203
13:37
Let's seize it.
227
805182
1446
13:38
Thank you.
228
806652
1430
13:40
(Applause)
229
808106
4223

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Katharine Wilkinson - Writer, environmentalist
Katharine Wilkinson is transforming how we see and relate to the earth. As a writer and messenger, she brings humanity and heart to the challenge of climate change and invites us to be awake, aware and active participants in the community of life.

Why you should listen

As Katharine Wilkinson writes: "At age 16, through an ineffable alchemy of living and learning in the woods, I fell in love with this world and dedicated myself to being part of earth's healing. That commitment threads through my journey since, from research and teaching to strategy and advocacy at the intersections of environment, social science, religion, narrative and discourse, movement building, and gender equity.  

"Along the way, I have written two books. The first, Between God & Green: How Evangelicals Are Cultivating a Middle Ground on Climate Change, grew out of my doctoral research at the University of Oxford, where I was a Rhodes Scholar. The second was a New York Times bestseller: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. That book brings to life the pioneering, collaborative work of Project Drawdown, the nonprofit where I now lead communication and engagement.

"Climate change is humanity’s great challenge. It demands ambitious, swift, exponential action, across society. But many solutions are already in hand, and our collective wisdom is deep and wide. My work aims to help others envision what’s possible for this earth, our home, and persevere in making it real. 

"Today, I live not in the woods but in Atlanta. I continue to find sustenance in rivers and mountains, dogs and horses, and a community of wise, wild, kindred spirits."

More profile about the speaker
Katharine Wilkinson | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee