What Do We Want? Climate Gender Justice! When Do We Want It? Now!

If you needed more proof that climate change is slipping into the welcome arms of the loonies, look no further than the 11th Annual UN Climate Change Conference now underway in Montreal. (Where it's currently a toasty 23 degrees, hardly indicative of global warming).

Yes, there today delegates were treated to a male-bashing rant by Ulrike (which we wished rhymed with shrike) Rohr (which seems entirely appropriate) of the German-based group Genanet-Focal point gender, Environment Sustainability. Catchy.

Ranted Ms. Rohr:

[We demand] climate gender justice! ... Women and men are differently affected by climate change and they contribute differently to climate change. To give you an example from Germany, it is mostly men who are going by car. Women are going by public transport mostly.

At least in the developing countries, it is women who are more affected because they are more vulnerable, so they don't have access to money to go outside the country or go somewhere else to earn money and they have to care for their families.

What we are calling for is to take into account more of the social aspects of climate change.

I think its an outrage that men in developing countries plan to simply leave their womenfolk behind when they go somewhere else to earn money! Shame on the big lugs!

But seriously, this is important stuff to someone. Who? Hint: They have this snazzy headquarters beside a river in New York. The UN position as reported by Cyber News Service (also the source for the Rohr roar) is:

It is important for the U.N. "to integrate gender sensitivity into all mechanisms, policies and measures, and tools and guidelines within the climate debate," according to the website.

"In general, the Climate Change policy process tends to be driven by a masculine view of the problem and its solutions," the website explained.

The website calls for "a gender-sensitive criteria" for the Kyoto Protocol and for "global and national studies on the gender-differentiated impacts of global climate change, including a focus on gender differences in capabilities to cope with climate change adaptation, and mitigation are urgently required."

Well, that may work with the General Assembly, but they're not kidding Herr-ette Rohr:

As I am looking around the negotiations, it is really a male discussion going around, [discussing] climate change with a closed view to the people (women) that are being affected. It's not [a meeting] that will really help to mitigate climate change."

Duly noted. We'll be sure to start putting cute smiley faces in the margins of our computer model print-outs from now on. And we'll recommend warm but very sexy lingerie. There, that should help.

h/t Best of the Web