Launch of Women Leading On Climate to accelerate climate action

The global network is made up of women climate leaders from business, politics and the not-for-profit sector, combining influence and power to push for greater country climate ambition, matched by concrete action. 

From the leadership of Christiana Figueres and Laurence Tubiana to secure an ambitious Paris Agreement almost a decade ago, to Barbados President Mia Mottley and Brazilian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, women have set new benchmarks of global and country leadership. Earlier this year, women leaders advocated for inclusion of women in the COP29 Organizational Committee. 

Women Leading on Climate’s initial focus will be to push for greater country ambition and action in clear and investable country climate plans by early 2025, including the tripling of renewable energy and doubling of energy efficiency, alongside the phase-out of fossil fuels.  

Catherine McKenna, CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions, Chair of the UNSG Panel on Net-Zero and founder of Women Leading on Climate, said: “Women are pushing for more ambitious climate action in negotiating rooms, in boardrooms, in their communities and in the streets. In this critical time for climate action, we need to come together and raise our voices even more. We’ve seen the power of women when we come together, we go further, faster.”   

The network is supported by leaders who have served as climate and environment ministers, were architects of the Paris Agreement, have held the position of UNFCCC President, as well as women who drive climate action within business and finance including We Mean Business Coalition, CSOs from HSBC, BNP Paribas, Bloomberg, Netflix, Walmart, TIME, Ingka Group, Volvo, Chanel, and those who guide new thinking, agendas and campaigns from organisation such as the IEA, WWF, The Club of Rome, the University of Cambridge, the WRI, and The Nature Conservancy. 

Maria Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Coalition and co-founder of the network, said: “Women understand climate risks and the consequences on their families and communities. We know that we don’t have time to wait, that action is needed today, and we are rolling up our sleeves and getting on with the job. This is why women leaders are asking governments for more climate ambition, concrete action plans with milestones and much more coherence in the way they implement them. Together we can make change happen at the speed that is required to limit global warming and keep 1.5 in sight.”

Around the world, 77% of people want their government to do whatever it takes to solve climate change, and women are the forefront of demanding change. They’re 2.5 times more likely to ask their governments to be bolder, 60% more likely to use their voices for good, twice as likely to engage civically. 

Women Leading On Climate will support work and policies that reduce climate impacts on communities most at risk from climate change, especially the impacts on women. The group will also aim to empower businesswomen leaders, including those heading up SMEs, to step up and speak out on climate action. 

The network will leverage the considerable influence of members across political and business spheres, to drive ambition. Key action areas in its first year will be ensuring crucial new country commitments under the Paris Agreement (NDCs) are both ambitious and investible, as well as pursuing innovative approaches to scale up finance flows to the Global South and nature.   

The Women Leading On Climate network calls on countries to:

• Deliver 1.5-aligned climate plans (NDC), covering all emissions with a clear accelerating of action versus business as usual
• Provide clear plans and milestones to give certainty to business and people about the plans for decarbonising energy systems and key economic sectors including national contributions to triple renewables, double energy efficiency and make progress to phasing out fossil fuels, and stop deforestation and incentivising investments in nature
• Seize the economic and social development opportunities that attract investment and mobilise finance, by including clear action plans, public budgets and fast-track policies that tackle barriers to green investment including the removal of fossil fuel subsidies

There is mounting research that indicates female-style leadership traits can support longer-term, multi-dimensional global problems such as the climate and nature crises. A study into the effect of women's leadership on carbon disclosure by the top 100 global energy leaders found that the number of women on the boards of the top global energy leaders is increasing in line with the level of carbon disclosure. Recent data from the UN found 80% of people globally want their country to do more on climate change, with women more likely than men to be increasingly worried about climate change and more supportive of direct actions to tackle it. 

In the lead up to COP29 the network will launch a global social media campaign so that women and girls from around the world can speak up in a united way to demand more climate action. 

*Ana Toni, Brazil's National Secretary of Climate Change; Patricia Espinosa, CEO and Founder, Onepoint5 and former Executive Secretary, UNFCCC; Jennifer Morgan, Special Representative for International Climate Policy for the German government