Ahead of the United Nation’s 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), which will take place from 14 to 25 March 2022, PES Women gathered its members with national parties, the European Parliament, progressive experts, and representatives from civil society and NGOs, to shed light on how feminist climate change policies can pave the way towards progressive, sustainable and gender-equal societies.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai said:
“The link between feminism and climate change cannot be denied, and we cannot tackle issues in one area without considering the other. Both are some of the biggest problems of our times, which spring from the same source: the male-centred, capitalist ethos which puts people and groups against each other in a zero-sum game.
“Environmental and gender policies have remained largely disconnected up to now, but their interconnection is clear and addressing them together would create synergies which we urgently need. This relationship is one which we must now continue to explore, and subsequently turn into policies with a real impact to create a more socially and environmentally-friendly EU. Among others, we need to: gender mainstream EU Green Deal policies, in alignment with SDG 5; integrate a gender perspective into fiscal and monetary policies focussing on an economy of wellbeing and valuing care; support women in STEM careers, enhance data collection and ensure fair and inclusive representation of women in political and economic decision-making bodies.”
Network participants discussed a PES Women policy paper on the topic and exchanged views with Helene Fritzon, Vice-President of the S&D Group, Kata Tutto, PES Committee of the Regions VP on the Green Deal and ENVE commission Chair, Jéromine Andolfatto, European Women’s Lobby, Lucia di Paola, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and Marta Bonifert, CEE Network for Gender Issues.
PES Women invited all Gender Equality Network participants to follow its CSW66 side event, which is co-organised by PES Women, FEPS, UN Women Germany and the Jean Jaures Foundation, “Climate Justice as a Feminist Issue – towards a progressive, gender-sensitive environmental EU policy model”, scheduled 17 March at 7 pm CET. Register here to follow the event.
Prior to the Network, PES Women held its first Statutory meeting of the year, bringing together its members from across European progressive parties to discuss upcoming activities and campaigns. The members also condemned Putin’s invasion and attacks on Ukraine, highlighting the plight for women and marginalised groups in the face of war and conflict.
