{"id":3240,"date":"2019-02-26T12:06:04","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T16:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/?p=3240"},"modified":"2019-02-26T12:06:04","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T16:06:04","slug":"women-taking-the-lead-in-fight-against-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/26\/women-taking-the-lead-in-fight-against-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Women Taking The Lead In Fight Against Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

By A. D. McKenzie<\/strong>
\nContributing Writer<\/p>\n

PARIS, France February, 2019 (IPS) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0As the grandchild, of Jamaican citizens who moved to Great Britain, Monique Taffe says she inherited a tradition of recycling and learned not to be part of the \u201cthrowaway culture\u201d, as some environmentalists have labelled consumerist societies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw how my grandmother re-used things, and that was passed down to my mother, who inspired me to do the same,\u201d said Taffe, who wants to use waste materials and recycled fabrics in fashion design.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old London-based designer is a recent graduate of a British fashion school and she participated the\u00a03rd Women4Climate conference<\/a>\u00a0that took place on February 21, in Paris. She joined other young women from around the world, including from several Latin American countries, who have launched sustainability projects and are being mentored by member cities of C40, a network of 94 \u201cmegacities\u201d, committed to addressing climate change \u2013 and which co-organised the conference titled \u201cTake the Lead\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taffe has started a project to design maternity sportswear, encouraging expectant mothers to exercise during their pregnancy. All the clothing is being made from recycled textiles and objects at her Taffe Jones start-up company, she told IPS.<\/p>\n

She is also one of 10 finalists, from some 450 contestants, for London\u2019s Mayors Entrepreneur Programme 2018, in which the city linked to the Women4Climate Mentoring Programme. The aim is to develop innovative businesses that are meant to tackle climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen leaders played a pivotal role in negotiating the Paris Agreement, on climate change, in 2015, and will be crucial to its success in the future,\u201d says Women4Climate, which was launched in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow more than ever, enhancing women\u2019s participation and leadership will be critical to securing a healthy, prosperous and sustainable future for us all,\u201d the organisation said.<\/p>\n

Taffe said in an interview that she would like to see young people in Britain, the Caribbean and around the world, getting together, via social media, to share best-practices for textile recycling. This could include information about leaving used clothing in central depots or designated places, where designers and others could retrieve material.<\/p>\n

Recycling in the fashion industry could have a positive environmental impact, as the sector is one of the most polluting, according to experts.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0United Nations Environment Programme<\/a>\u00a0says that the fashion industry \u201cproduces 20 percent of global wastewater and 10 percent of global carbon emissions \u2013 more than all international flights and maritime shipping\u201d. The agency adds that \u201ctextile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water, globally, and it takes around 2,000 gallons of water to make a typical pair of jeans\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the U.N. Environment Assembly next month, the agency will \u201cformally launch the U.N. Alliance on Sustainable Fashion to encourage the private sector, governments and non-governmental organisations to create an industry-wide push for action to reduce fashion\u2019s negative social, economic and environmental impact,\u201d the U.N. says.<\/p>\n

With clothing factories across Latin America and the Caribbean, this is an area that environmentalists are addressing as well, with organisations saying that the main focus is on waste management, including textiles and plastics that pollute the region\u2019s beaches.<\/p>\n

The Jamaica Environmental Trust, an NGO, based in Kingston, emphasises recycling, conducts beach clean-ups with volunteers, and works to protect air and water quality, a spokesperson told IPS. Its leadership team consists mostly of young women, like Taffe, who work to sensitise the public to environmental and climate issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaising awareness will help other young people to see what\u2019s being done and make it easier for us to form alliances for climate action,\u201d Taffe said.<\/p>\n

She and other observers have noted the measures taken in the Caribbean to ban single-use plastic bags and straws and to expand the use of solar power. The Jamaican government, for instance, announced, last year, that it wants the country to reach 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, up from the previous policy of 30 percent.<\/p>\n

Although no Caribbean city is a member of C40, attending international conferences, such as Women4Climate, was one way of bringing ecological entrepreneurs together to share experiences, participants said.<\/p>\n

In fact, forming international links was a central theme of the event, hosted by Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo (the initiator of the Women4Climate idea) and held in the French capital\u2019s imposing city hall \u2013 flanked by the blue and green bicycles of the city\u2019s bike-sharing scheme.<\/p>\n

Representing cities such as Quito (Ecuador), Mexico City, and Santiago (Chile), Taffe and other women from around the world shared projects on sustainability and carbon-emissions reduction.<\/p>\n

They described ventures to improve species conservation in towns, understand and stop urban sprawl, transform restaurant waste into biogas and increase textile recycling.<\/p>\n

Young innovators also presented technology solutions in a Women4Climate Tech Challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change often has impact first on the lives of women \u2026 who traditionally are the ones taking care of the family, so women\u2019s skills should be acknowledged,\u201d said Hidalgo at the conference. \u201cThis is not to say women are better than men, but that women have different skills and competences that are crucial in the fight against climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hidalgo said policy makers and activists had to \u201cthink locally to act globally\u201d.<\/p>\n

Participants in the conference included women mayors from several cities \u2013 Freetown, Sierra Leone; Charlotte, North Carolina; Dakar, Senegal; and Sydney, Australia \u2013 alongside several male mayors, working to address climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot fight against climate change effectively, without empowering women,\u201d said Rodacio Rodas, the mayor of Quito. He described food-security and urban garden projects that employ women, and added that at the \u201ccommunity\u201d level, women could be empowered and could empower themselves to take action.<\/p>\n

Many delegates, however, highlighted the lack of national support for climate action by some male leaders, with Clover Moore, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, deploring the global effects of climate-sceptic governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re as devastated across the world by Trump as you are in the U.S.,\u201d Moore said, referring to the U.S. president\u2019s lack of support for the Paris Agreement on climate change, but she added that the prime minister of Australia was not \u201cmuch better\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very depressing times, but we don\u2019t despair \u2026 we fully support our young community coming out and telling our national government to act responsibly. Full strength to our young communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a movement known as \u201cYouth Strike 4 Climate\u201d, led by Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, students in several countries have been staying out of school on certain days to protest inaction by their governments against global warming. \u201cYoung people see what\u2019s happening, they know the science,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

Student participants at the Women4Climate conference included 17-year-old Youna Marette, a Belgian high school activist who was one of the keynote speakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll continue to fight, strike \u2026 for our future,\u201d Marette declared, urging governments to create more inclusive societies and to increase action to protect the planet.<\/p>\n

For Taffe, the up-and-coming designer, thinking of the future and a liveable world is a strong motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother passed down ways to live sustainably, and I want to carry that on,\u201d she told IPS. \u201cWe have to re-use and recycle and do what we can, wherever we live.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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McKenzie Contributing Writer PARIS, France February, 2019 (IPS) \u2014\u00a0As the grandchild, of Jamaican citizens who moved to Great Britain, Monique Taffe says she inherited a tradition of recycling and learned not to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42],"tags":[180],"class_list":{"0":"post-3240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"tag-language"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg",600,338,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg",600,338,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1",300,169,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-content":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?resize=600%2C338&ssl=1",600,338,true],"mh-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?resize=326%2C245&ssl=1",326,245,true],"mh-magazine-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Climate-Climate-entrepreneur-Monique-Taffe.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1",80,60,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"adminrfm","author_link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/author\/adminrfm\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Commentary<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"By A. 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