Why the climate protests have a female face Spying on, suing, imprisoning: there is so much Stalin in Putin’s Russia

The faces of the climate protest are predominantly female. And young.

This applies not only to well-known spokespersons for a wide variety of movements and organizations, but apparently also to the majority of those demonstrating for climate protection worldwide.

But why is it that the climate protests are mainly characterized by young women?

Watson asked well-known activists what drives them — and whether the so-called “Greta effect” spurred and motivated them to work for more climate justice.

Sophia Kianni, US climate activist

“Christiana Figueres, as then head of the UN climate secretariat, was the driving force behind the Paris climate agreement,” Sophia Kianni told Watson.

Sophia is a student, climate activist, founder and representative of the US as the youngest member of the United Nations Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. She is the face of the climate movement in the United States. “And Christiana has often spoken about the role women play in the climate movement.”

Because women are more cooperative than most men. And because that is what tackling the climate challenge is all about: radical cooperation.

“Christiana thinks women tend to think long term and take on the role of director and executive more easily than men,” says Sophia. This would also have been apparent in the conclusion of the Paris climate agreement. Sophia says:

And looking at the climate movement only reinforces Christiana Figuere’s assumption: “Many of the outstanding leaders in the climate movement are young women.”

That’s encouraging.

Darya Sotoodeh, spokeswoman for Fridays for Future

“It inspired me to see a young student who has so much courage,” Darya Sotoodeh, spokeswoman for Fridays for Future Germany, told Watson.

We’re talking about Greta Thunberg.

About her initially solitary strikes for the Swedish parliament.

Of her stamina.

Daria added:

And Darya wants to continue that with Fridays for Future. “We want to give people who are structurally disadvantaged more space and are working to let people speak for us who often receive less attention and hearing.”

This affects not only girls and women, but FLINTA people in general – ie women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people.

Dominika Lasota, climate activist from Poland

When asked why it is mainly young women who are committed to more climate justice, Dominika Lasota has a clear answer: “Because it’s our place.” For generations, women have been at the center of the fight for environmental and social justice – and now they’re at the top. Dominika says to Watson:

Every day, even today, women are still denied opportunities, denied competencies – they say “no” to their ideas and suggestions. “In the climate movement, we’re just taking this space, raising our voices and creating new rules for how our communities and society could function.”

Rules that put everyone on the same level, eliminate injustice, lift women out of the victim role. Dominicana added:

Behind female climate protests is more than just the “Greta effect”

Dominika believes that Greta has and has had a great influence on women who are committed to the climate – including herself. But that was by no means all. “For many young people who follow Greta on social media, she was one of the first examples of how she could do so much with so little.”

But the “Greta effect” is mainly pushed by the media – a young girl like Greta could suddenly be found in every country. Dominican says:

And now you!

Who do you see as the faces of the climate movement? And are we doing the many male activists an injustice if we focus on the female exponents?