Global Trade Rules Damage Climate and Biodiversity

The severe endangerment of the orangutan has made news headlines, and so have the efforts of those trying to save the lives of the remaining few. But the degradation wrought by climate change on the whole range of our planet's life—from tiny microbes that form the basis of our ecosystems on up—is a catastrophe less often denounced. Climate change is accelerating the eradication of more species than have been lost at any other point in human history—more than 140,000 each year. This loss of life threatens to radically alter conditions for human survival.

Women across the world have been at the forefront of movements to protect biodiversity, with their knowledge of seeds, genetic resources, and agriculture. This MADRE analysis details why biodiversity is a women's issue and explains how government policies, particularly global trade rules, are threatening the survival of the planet as we know it.


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En route to Bali

MADRE's work with women and families around the world beats at the heart of the movement to reset the course of the world. In communities where we work - in Sudan, Iraq, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, Kenya, Peru, Colombia, and Panama - women experience the global crisis of climate change on a daily basis. They face wars, environmental destruction, poverty, and gender-based violence. Yet, they reject catastrophic end-of-the-world scenarios because they know that change is not only possible - it is already happening.

It is the women themselves who are creating this change.

Tomorrow, we will travel to Bali, Indonesia for the UN Conference on Climate Change and lend our voices to the continuing international debate on what we need to do about climate change. We know that time is running out to reverse the trend of rising temperatures, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, deteriorating biodiversity, and other dangers. We also know that sustainable solutions are within reach and that women in communities around the world have already begun to implement them.

This blog will serve as an on-going record of developments at the conference and of MADRE’s analysis on the issues of agrofuels, biodiversity, deforestation, natural disasters, and more. You will hear our perspectives on what government representatives are saying and not saying, and you will learn why climate change is a women's human rights issue that affects us all.

Stay tuned for our next entry in a couple of days after we land in Bali!

- Yifat Susskind, MADRE Communications Director
- Diana Duarte, MADRE Media Coordinator

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