Climate change is a crisis that will impact all people, but its effects are being shaped by pervasive and entrenched inequalities. The poorest countries, communities of color, small island states, and indigenous peoples are impacted earlier & disproportionately, although they are least responsible for emissions. Gender inequalities are further exacerbated by climate change, as women and girls continue to lack equal rights, power, of access to capital. Low Income Countries lack the same access to inexpensive energy and investment in technology and skills that industrialized nations took advantage of over the last century. Finally, there is a deep injustice to nature itself, in the loss of biodiversity & the rapid extinction of so many species. Children and young people have been left with an uncertain—and likely unsafe—future.
Governments, corporations, investors, cities & communities will need to harness the ambition necessary to meet this moment. As usual, women are leading the way.
This session was curated in partnership with Pat Mitchell.
Gina McCarthy is the first National Climate Advisor—the president's chief advisor on domestic climate policy—and leads the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy focused on mobilizing a whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, creating good-paying, union jobs, and securing environmental justice. Previously, she served as 13th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and then as President and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). One of the nation’s most trusted and accomplished voices on climate issues, she has been at the forefront of environmental and public health progress in a variety of leading roles for over three decades.
In her time leading the EPA, McCarthy oversaw successful efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, mitigate air pollution, conserve critical water sources, and safeguard vulnerable communities from chemical hazards. She spearheaded the Obama-Biden Administration’s Clean Power Plan, which set America’s first-ever national standards for lowering carbon emissions from power plants, and helped pave the way for the Paris Climate Agreement. Prior to her role with the NRDC, McCarthy was a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and currently serves as chair of the board of directors of the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment.
Throughout her career, McCarthy has advised five administrations of both Democratic and Republican Massachusetts governors on environmental matters, and she served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection prior to being appointed by President Obama to head up the EPA’s Air Office. As EPA administrator, she pursued innovative global collaborations with the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and on global efforts to address pollution. Born and raised in Boston, McCarthy graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston and earned a master of science at Tufts University.
Xiye Bastida is a teenage climate activist based in New York City and one of the lead organizers of the Fridays For Future youth climate strike movement.
For the first climate strike in March, 2019, she mobilized 600 students from her school and has taken a citywide leadership role in organizing climate strikes and speaking out about climate justice issues in rallies and town halls.
Bastida was born and raised in Mexico as part of the Otomi-Toltec indigenous peoples. She sits on the administration committee of the Peoples Climate Movement, where she brings the voice of youth to existing grassroots and climate organizations.
Bastida launched a youth activism training program to expand the climate justice movement and is a member of Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion. In 2018, she was invited to the 9th United Nations World Urban Forum to speak about indigenous cosmology. She received the “Spirit of the UN” award in 2018.
Described as one of the country’s most exciting “next generation” political leaders, Gloria Walton is committed to creating equitable climate solutions that center the people closest to the problem. Gloria is an award-winning organizer, writer, and the President and CEO of The Solutions Project. Gloria joins The Solutions Project from Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), a South LA-based community organization, where she was President & CEO for 10 years. SCOPE has been a grantee of The Solutions Project since 2015 and Gloria joined the board in 2017 to help create a vision that is radically-inclusive and culture-led.
Gloria is a Fellow of the 2020 class of the Civil Society Fellowship, a Partnership of ADL and The Aspen Institute, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and has won half dozen awards for her leadership, including NAACP-LA’s Empowerment Award and the LA League of Conservation Voters Environmental Justice Champion Award. She is a gubernatorial appointee to the California Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council, and LA County Board of Supervisor appointee to Central Santa Monica Bay Watershed Area Steering Committee. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors of Rockwood Leadership Institute, and is a founding Coordinating Committee member of the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, and Founding Advisory Board member of the national collaborative, BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership & Dignity).
In addition to her leadership and community organizing work, Gloria is also a writer, commentator, and public speaker. Her work and words have appeared at The Nation, Huffington Post, The Center for American Progress, and others, writing about topics ranging from environmental racism and clean energy jobs, to voter engagement and racial justice. She also speaks nationally, and has shared words on stage with luminaries like former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, and actor Don Cheadle.
Co-Founder/Editorial Director TEDWomen; Managing Partner, Connected Women Leaders, Pat Mitchell Media
Throughout her career as an award-winning journalist, producer and media executive, Pat Mitchell broke new ground for women as the first woman President of PBS and of CNN Productions. Today, Pat is a co-founder, host and curator for TEDWomen and co-founder and managing partner of ConnectedWomenLeaders, a cohort of global women leaders, across generations and geography, who are launching a global, women-led campaign for climate justice titled Project Dandelion. She is Chair Emeritus of the Sundance Institute
and just received the Vanguard Award for philanthropy. She also serves on the board of The Skoll Foundation, Participant Media, The Woodruff Arts Center, and the VDAY movement to end violence; she’s also a member of CARE’s Global Advisory Council and Chair Emeritus of the Women’s Media Center which established an annual award in her name. In her memoir, “Becoming a Dangerous Woman,” Mitchell shares her journey as a frontline advocate for a just, equitable and sustainable world.
Mary Robinson is a founding member and Chair of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, who work together for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet. She has served as Chair since 2018, and is a passionate advocate for gender equality, human rights and climate justice. She has addressed the UN Security Council on multiple occasions and has met with world leaders including President Ramaphosa in South Africa, Pope Francis in the Vatican, President Macron in Paris and President Xi Jinping in Beijing. She was the first woman President of Ireland (1990–1997) and is a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997–2002). From 2013- 2016, she served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change and then on El Niño and Climate. She was appointed Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice at Trinity College Dublin in 2019.
