Katharine Wilkinson: How empowering women and girls can help stop global warming
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
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unfolding on earth:
to our planetary challenge.
called "Project Drawdown."
heat-trapping, climate-changing emissions
if we're lucky" solutions,
including solar and wind;
from Brazil to China;
protection and restoration;
that regenerates soil;
are inextricably linked.
depends on rising up.
severity and scope
anywhere close to adequate.
of the planet's living systems,
7.7 billion human beings
must emerge, and fast.
on the power of voice.
can simply break, or it can break open.
and alive and calls for action.
between women, girls and a warming world
hit women and girls hardest,
or killed during a natural disaster.
can precipitate early marriage
under conditions of poverty,
on addressing global warming.
in three key areas,
the rights of women and girls,
farmers of the world.
of food in lower-income countries,
have less access to resources,
and efficiently as men,
in resources and rights
on the same amount of land.
from the same garden or the same field.
for health, for household income --
cleared to supply it,
from deforestation.
power of forests.
that addressing inequity in agriculture
of emissions between now and 2050.
household recycling can have globally.
can also help women cope
their basic right to attend school.
in secondary school classrooms.
a vital foundation for life.
for women and their children,
a climate-changing world.
adaptability, strength.
adds up across the world and over time.
how many human beings live on this planet
voluntary reproductive health care.
rather than chance
in lower-income countries
and when to become pregnant
of family planning, period.
for food, transportation, electricity,
to education and family planning,
one billion fewer people inhabiting earth
could mean we avoid
to restore a climate fit for life.
are responsible for fixing everything.
education and family planning:
of drawdown solutions.
a blueprint of possibility.
from production or consumption.
cause exponentially greater harm,
extends beyond negative impacts
and agents for change on this planet,
or even barred from the proverbial table.
or silenced when we speak.
and the environment,
on a single Basquiat painting last year.
they are setting us up for failure.
more than a fact sheet
more like an ecosystem,
creator, campaigner, wisdom-keeper.
that all of you play:
around the condition of our planet;
about climate science;
we must make gender equity a reality.
a seemingly impossible challenge,
a fierce source of possibility.
in this together --
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Katharine Wilkinson - Writer, environmentalistKatharine 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."
Katharine Wilkinson | Speaker | TED.com