Women's Climate Congress Charter for Change 2022
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We are excited to present out first draft of our WCC Charter for Change - calling for immediate action on climate change and long-term actions for ongoing human and planetary wellbeing.
Watch a video here to to see an overview of the Charter key themes and calls to action Read on for further background and details for each theme. Download the draft Charter document here: Draft Charter for Consultation (July 2022) (v2) Send comments and feedback here Join a conversation circle to add your voice to the Charter:
Join with other women at the National Congress of Women to bring the Charter to life. |
About this draft
This draft is released for comment prior to the National Congress of Women to be held in Canberra on 11–12 September.
This draft includes opening statements to set the charter in context. These are followed by a series of actions that form the heart of the charter and set out the immediate and longer-term changes that our members and other women are calling for to stabilize the climate and ensure human and planetary wellbeing. Each of these actions start with a statement of our commitment (italic text, eg ‘We recognise ….’ We claim…’), followed by some draft actions (bullet points) that we offer as preliminary ideas for your further comment and development.
All comments will be noted and a new draft will inform part of the considerations undertaken at the Congress. Following that, the Women’s Climate Congress will finalise the draft and launch the Charter as a public document.
When finalised, the calls to action in the Charter will form the basis of the ongoing advocacy work of the WCC.
Please send your comments, ideas and suggestions in one of these formats:
This draft is released for comment prior to the National Congress of Women to be held in Canberra on 11–12 September.
This draft includes opening statements to set the charter in context. These are followed by a series of actions that form the heart of the charter and set out the immediate and longer-term changes that our members and other women are calling for to stabilize the climate and ensure human and planetary wellbeing. Each of these actions start with a statement of our commitment (italic text, eg ‘We recognise ….’ We claim…’), followed by some draft actions (bullet points) that we offer as preliminary ideas for your further comment and development.
All comments will be noted and a new draft will inform part of the considerations undertaken at the Congress. Following that, the Women’s Climate Congress will finalise the draft and launch the Charter as a public document.
When finalised, the calls to action in the Charter will form the basis of the ongoing advocacy work of the WCC.
Please send your comments, ideas and suggestions in one of these formats:
- [preferred] Fill in the feedback form here: https://forms.gle/T6uhzJDmBru8p7J26
- Send your comments in an email to womensclimatecongress@gmail.com
- If you have the software to do so, annotate the PDF file linked above.
Opening statements
Why do we need a Charter?
We women of the Women’s Climate Congress and others despair that Earth is hurtling towards catastrophic climate change that humanity is failing to mitigate and repair.
We grieve the inevitable catastrophic impacts on all current and future life unless immediate, united and effective action is taken.
We recognise that the climate crisis affects every aspect of life. To find the way forward, we need to engage minds and hearts across disciplines and different ways of knowing.
We know that we need to take action urgently and we need to take it together. Set in the framework of the Women’s Climate Congress vison and values, this charter aims to provide a framework that reflects the aspirations of women for that action.
We women of the Women’s Climate Congress and others despair that Earth is hurtling towards catastrophic climate change that humanity is failing to mitigate and repair.
We grieve the inevitable catastrophic impacts on all current and future life unless immediate, united and effective action is taken.
We recognise that the climate crisis affects every aspect of life. To find the way forward, we need to engage minds and hearts across disciplines and different ways of knowing.
We know that we need to take action urgently and we need to take it together. Set in the framework of the Women’s Climate Congress vison and values, this charter aims to provide a framework that reflects the aspirations of women for that action.
The Charter as a call to action
This Charter is a call to action from the hearts of women to move forward from the historically adversarial grip on governance structures and policy agendas, and to enter an era of collaborative governance to urgently stabilise the climate, and to build ongoing human and planetary wellbeing.
The demands/claims in this Charter are aimed at government, business and the community. It is only by working together across diverse interests that we can have hope of surviving the challenges we face.
Many of the ideas here are expressed in international frameworks such as the Earth Charter, UN Sustainable Development Goals and UN Commission on the Status of Women, as well as the national vision for Australia developed by Australia Remade.[1]
They are also drawn from many conversations hosted by the WCC on these issues with women from all over Australia. The ideas in this draft charter are presented here not as an endpoint but as the starting point for a wave of action that can be supported by women everywhere.
The action we seek relates to the immediate and urgent actions to stabilise the climate, and broader societal actions to ensure lasting human and planetary wellbeing.
Actions to stabilise the climate
[1] See further details of these initiatives in the Resources section of the main document.
This Charter is a call to action from the hearts of women to move forward from the historically adversarial grip on governance structures and policy agendas, and to enter an era of collaborative governance to urgently stabilise the climate, and to build ongoing human and planetary wellbeing.
The demands/claims in this Charter are aimed at government, business and the community. It is only by working together across diverse interests that we can have hope of surviving the challenges we face.
Many of the ideas here are expressed in international frameworks such as the Earth Charter, UN Sustainable Development Goals and UN Commission on the Status of Women, as well as the national vision for Australia developed by Australia Remade.[1]
They are also drawn from many conversations hosted by the WCC on these issues with women from all over Australia. The ideas in this draft charter are presented here not as an endpoint but as the starting point for a wave of action that can be supported by women everywhere.
The action we seek relates to the immediate and urgent actions to stabilise the climate, and broader societal actions to ensure lasting human and planetary wellbeing.
Actions to stabilise the climate
- Embrace gender-inclusive governance
- Take responsibility
- Create a unified national plan
- Commit to intergenerational equity and rights of all Earth life
- Listen to and learn from First Nations knowledge
- Adopt new economic paradigms
- Encourage citizen representation in governance
- Elevate compassion and kindness in government
- Support imagination and creative thinking at the centre
- Design education fit for purpose into the future
[1] See further details of these initiatives in the Resources section of the main document.
Actions to stabilise the climate
[These are core areas for the WCC relating to our vision for urgent nonpartisan collaboration and women's leadership to achieve climate balance by 2030]
[These are core areas for the WCC relating to our vision for urgent nonpartisan collaboration and women's leadership to achieve climate balance by 2030]
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Current governance systems, based on a colonial and patriarchal past, reflect a predominantly male worldview and attitude to wellbeing. Women’s independent voice and agency are crucial to create balance in evaluations and priorities, and thereby planning for new governance structures and future sustenance of life.
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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As citizens of the developed world, we have benefited from the industrial revolution and the fossil fuel industries. Setting aside blame and accepting responsibility for the past, we can together turn to the climate science presented by the International Panel on Climate Change as the basis for actions to stabilise the climate.
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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To reach a scientifically informed consensus, a process is needed to enable diverse stakeholders to consider the issues together respectfully. This would offer an opportunity for diverse interests to collaborate in finding just and sustainable ways to stabilise the climate and secure a safe future for all. [2]
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion] Multiparty commitment to develop a National Plan for action to address climate risks with:
[2] See Building a unified national agreement for Australia’s climate response: Proposal for an inclusive process to address climate risk, WCC 2020 |
Actions for human and planetary wellbeing
[These are themes that have emerged in our community conversations, monthly online events and other forums as central to achieving lasting change.]
[These are themes that have emerged in our community conversations, monthly online events and other forums as central to achieving lasting change.]
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In 2016, Wales was the first international jurisdiction to appoint Future Generations Commissioner. The UN has called on other countries to follow suit and establish governance mechanisms that place future generations at the centre of decisions and ensure that they have a voice at the policy level. [3]
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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This deep connection to Earth underpins First Nations land management practices and governance structures, including the autonomous and complementary roles of women and men in decision making.
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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New economic models are emerging that are designed to create an ecologically healthy, inclusive, socially just and gender-balanced society.[4]
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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We call for:
[DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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We call for:
[DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
[7] See https://www.compassioninpolitics.com/ |
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The unfolding climate change issue has made it abundantly clear that hard facts alone do not capture people’s feelings and hearts, or inspire unified action. The arts have the ability to move people to new understanding and action and to provide comfort and inspiration in times of challenge.
We call for: [DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]
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We call for:
[DRAFT ideas for comment, consideration, expansion]·
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