GREEN ECONOMY GENDER_JUST

20 years after the famous UN Rio Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) there is another one about to take place in the same location in summer 2012. Rio+20 is concerned with the topic of a Green Economy for environmental sustainability and poverty eradication. The recent discussion on the ‘Green Economy’ in Germany is male dominated. Women are rarely represented at panel discussions or as speakers in such events and women’s organisations are not at all involved in the debates. This is probably due to the fact, that to date, the ‘Green Economy’ focusses on the production of goods, where employment effects are mainly expected in construction or technology-related industries with men dominating the workforce. The more female dominated individual-related services so far have been excluded from the discussions, not to mention the unpaid care sector.

But the move towards a ‘Green Economy’ means not only changes in and for the economy, but is part of a comprehensive transformation process that affects our entire lives. Without the involvement of paid labour AND care related work, a change in our consumption patterns and lifestyles, and without fundamental changes in our economic system and paradigms, this transformation will not be successful. Therefore, social development must be promoted which is not prescribed from ‘top-down’ and not only is limited to traditional economic actors but rather involves the citizens.

To promote the discussions about Green Economy and to involve women actively, genanet initiated the project "Green Economy Gender_Just" in March 2011 with four major German women's organisations: The German Women's Council, the Community of Catholic Women in Germany, the Council for Women's Policies in Brandenburg, and the Union of Female Entrepreneurs.

The project is accompanied by an expert group consisting of scientific advisers, representatives of partner organisations and of the German Environmental Ministry and German Federal Environmental Agency.

NEWS

WEB DOSSIER HEINRICH BOELL FOUNDATION NORTH AMERICA

The Washington office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, as part of its Rio+20 web dossier, has pulled together  a series of 11 short articles on various aspects of the discourse about gender equality and sustainable development. The series covers topics such as access to resources such as energy, land or water, the care economy as well as women as consumers and gender implications of climate change responses. Find the web dossier here.

SIGN THE PETITION

Compared to the Rio summit of 1992, ambitions are a lot lower this time around. Some people blame the financial crisis, others the limited number of negotiation days or the emergence of new powerful players, making compromise even more difficult. Whatever the reason, the lower ambitions are out of sync with the increased emergence and scale of our common problems. Fortunately, it is not just the NGOs who are terrified by the prospect of setting a step back in Rio. Most major groups, from women to trade unions, express their worries by endorsing an online petition, launched by IBON-Philippines. The petition raises the alarm on the attack on human rights now being discussed at UN level. It is not too late yet. The Rio+20 conference comes in June this year, and other negotiation rounds are planned. But a global outcry of citizens is needed to prevent the scenario that doesn't bring us closer to the future we want but to a darker part of the past where global cooperation around universal values to protect humanity from the worst was non-existent. Please read the full text of the petition, sign it and spread the word.