Women Leading the Charge at the Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice 

From June 23–28, 2025, the Women's Earth & Climate Action Network (WECAN) International convened its inspiring Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Path to COP30 and Beyond—a powerful virtual space bringing together over 125 women and gender-diverse voices across 50+ countries, inspiring collective action through 25 thematic panels 

www.wedonthavetime.org/events/globalwomensassemblyforclimatejustice2025

Against the backdrop of interwoven crises—ranging from biodiversity loss to socio-economic inequality—this Assembly exemplified how women are confronting climate change at its systemic roots, not just responding to its symptoms.

Why This Matters

• A Systemic Lens
  Recognizing that the same patriarchal, extractivist structures driving environmental destruction also fuel gender-based violence and inequality, participants championed ecofeminist frameworks, demanding transformative change.

• Frontline Women Leading Solutions
  Indigenous land defenders, grassroots activists, and ecofeminists shared powerful stories from forests, farmlands, waterways, and communities torn by extractive industries. From legal battles to reforestation efforts, they illuminated how local knowledge and women’s leadership can illuminate truly just climate pathways. //www.wecaninternational.org/event-details/global-womens-assembly-for-climate-justice-path-to-cop30-and-beyond  

Voices in Action

Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN’s Executive Director and Assembly Convener, underscored that “women are the most effective climate leaders, building local scalable solutions and defending ecosystems and human rights” amid escalating global crisis.

Ayshka Najib, a UN advisor, drove home the pivotal message:

“We have to understand that the same systems that fuel climate change are the same systems that inflict violence on women’s bodies and restrict their rights.” Day 6 - Global Women's Assembly for Climate Justice: Path to COP30 and Beyond, June 28, 2025.

More than Talk: Building Movements

• A Call to COP30: This gathering was a strategic platform to mobilize for COP30 in Brazil—emphasizing dismantling fossil fuel dominance, ending deforestation, and equipping climate finance with justice at its heart.

• Ecofeminist Networks Rising: Beyond the Assembly, movements like Uganda’s ecofeminist alliances and Ecuador's Mujeres Amazónicas show how women-led collectives are reshaping territories and economies

  - Gender Equality / Women's Rights

  - Indigenous Rights

  Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva de las Bases frente al Extractivismo (English: Amazonian Women Defending the Forest from Extractivism), also known as Mujeres Amazónicas (English: Amazonian Women), is an Indigenous environmental rights group.^[1] The group is made up of more than 100 women from seven nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon and advocates for the protection of nature, territory, women's rights, health, education, and Indigenous culture in Ecuador.^[1]

Takeaways for Our Ecology Network

1. Systemic Change Requires Feminist Roots
   As Katie Surma reported, women demand transformational systems—not mere emissions reductions but dismantling structures rooted in gender, economic, and ecological injustice.

2. Elevate Frontline Leadership
   From Amazonian defenders to Sahel nomads and Pacific islanders—the Assembly highlights why decision-making must follow frontline lived experiences.

3. Build Global Solidarity
   The virtual format—with multilingual access—demonstrates that cross-border collaboration is both possible and powerful.

What You Can Do

• Watch & Learn: View recordings of Assembly panels available on WECAN’s website and WECAN YouTube channel Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Path to COP30 and Beyond - YouTube.

• Support Feminist Climate Leadership: Amplify organizations like WECAN International and local ecofeminist networks.

• Center Justice in Your Work: Whether advocating, crafting policy, or leading community initiatives, embed gender and climate justice at every level.