Days Before Bonn, Women Political Leaders & Experts Call for Global Solutions To Counter Government Inaction on Climate

Global experts demanded an end to fossil fuel extraction and highlighted solutions and strategies to address the climate crisis and democratic backsliding

CA, UNITED STATES, June 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On June 11th, women climate leaders called for governments to take effective climate action in the face of growing political conservatism and pro-fossil fuel agendas. The press conference comes just days before negotiators convene in Bonn, Germany, where Parties will prepare for the annual climate negotiations at COP30 in Brazil. With the window for tackling climate change quickly shrinking, the coming years are crucial in mitigating the crisis through democratic, science-based solutions worldwide.

“In 2025, this year alone, we have seen triple-digit heatwaves from across Brazil, the U.S., Central Asia, and the Gulf Region. This is not just an environmental crisis; it is a justice crisis and a societal crisis, and how we respond and who is centered in that response matters deeply. Study after study shows that women are the most effective climate leaders, building local scalable solutions and defending ecosystems and human rights,” said Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director at the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) (United States). “And yet, that space to lead is shrinking. We can’t separate the failure of governments to act ambitiously on climate from the global rise of authoritarianism, and right now, that is playing out heavily in the United States. When democracy is weakened, climate justice becomes nearly impossible. The same forces suppressing free speech are blocking climate action and silencing frontline communities. ”

Speakers, including Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez, addressed top priorities for climate action on the road to COP30 this November, including phasing out fossil fuels, advancing a just transition, ensuring protections for forests and biodiversity, and ensuring gender equity in climate policies and programs.

“The science is clear: fossil fuel emissions are the main driver of global warming. Continuing reliance on these past energy sources is leading to more violent and frequent extreme weather events. COP30 must be the critical turning point in redefining the future of our planet. The COP in Belem cannot become just another wasted opportunity. The world must walk the roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels, ending deforestation, and scaling up climate finance,” said Honorable Rosa Galvez, Canadian Senator (Canada). “This is why I joined a group of parliamentarians for a fossil-free future with special emphasis on ending the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in the Amazon territory. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, capture CO2, protect habitats and biodiversity, and progress reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”

“Any woman from the Amazon territories can speak about our experiences, our rights, about what we are doing to protect the forest, and how we are tackling climate change. In the Indigenous world, there are no owners of Nature. When we work in our territories on the ground, we continue to take care of the forest. We see poison falling over us, but we do not give up,” said Watatakalu Yawalapiti (Xingu), Elected leader of the Women's Movement of the Xingu Indigenous Territory (MMTIX), and Political Organizer for the National Association of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestry (ANMIGA), Brazil. “We are showing that our way of life is the alternative for us to be able to survive on this planet, where we have been struggling so much. We have COP coming, and we will show everything we are doing. We don’t have time to wait for the government, so mobilization here is really in the Indigenous movements that are mobilizing at COP to show our reality to the world.”

“COP30 will mark 20 years since the Kyoto Protocol came into force and 10 years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. This is preceded by a year recorded as the warmest globally, which is 2024, and the first calendar year where the average global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees is almost poetic,” said Zukiswa White, Project Specialist and Social Justice Consultant (South Africa). “What does this mean for us? We already know that those responsible for delaying meaningful action to course correct have run out of time. And what is also true is that the climate crisis-deniers have run out of excuses. Amongst these deniers, we must include those who continue to keep women, feminists, Indigenous, and local community leaders out of spaces where we belong. So in Bonn, Belem, and beyond, we must amplify calls of feminist advocates, Indigenous leaders, and the majority world at large, and call time of death on hiding behind false solutions and dangerous distractions.”

“A natural forest is where I was born and where I work today. Congo is the second-largest rainforest after the Amazon rainforest and the Congo contains 60% of all African forests. It is being said that Congo is the future solution for climate change. Since 2013, we have planted half a million trees in traditional ways. We don’t have cars or machines but we are planting by hand. Right now, we are calling for justice and democracy. Without justice, there is no work we can accomplish. Climate justice is humanitarian justice,” said Neema Namadamu, Founder and Executive Director of Hero Women Rising, and WECAN Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo).

The press conference also uplifted the seventh international convening of the Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Path to COP30 and Beyond, taking place from June 23 to 28. At the virtual Assembly, 125 women policymakers, government officials, and community leaders from 50 countries will showcase diverse strategies, projects, and campaigns aimed at advancing global climate justice and implementing solutions.

The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International
www.wecaninternational.org - @WECAN_INTL
The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International is a 501(c)3 and solutions-based organization established to engage women worldwide in policy advocacy, on-the-ground projects, trainings, and movement building for global climate justice.

Sumer Shaikh
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
sumer@wecaninternational.org
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