Hello wonderful readers. This international Women’s Day let’s celebrate the amazing women who have made huge strides in the battle for environmental justice. There are so many women doing incredible things for the environment, so I have picked out 3 women that have really stood out. If you would like to know more about women championing the environment you can find more information here.
Wangari Maathai lived a life that had social justice at its heart. She once said “poor people will cut the last tree to cook the last meal” having found that poverty and environmental degradation are intrinsically linked. She founded the green movement in Kenya, which sought to use nature based solutions to secure access to basic needs. The organisation has planted 51 million trees in Kenya, bringing food and water security to local people. In 2004 she became the first environmentalist and African woman to win the Nobel peace prize.
Isatou Ceesay was tired of waste accumulating in her community. It was a catalyst for the spread of disease and some people were burning waste, releasing toxins into the air. She taught women to weave purses from plastic waste collected off the streets, providing women with an income and skills that could be used to find other employment. Her project now has over 2,000 members, who make yarn from waste to be woven into purses and educate people across Gambia about recycling and reducing waste.
Nemonte Nenquimo is the leader of the Waorani people living in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. She has won multiple battles in court including preventing oil drilling in the Ecuadorian rainforest, which protected 500,000 acres of rainforest (that’s 252,525 football fields). She is the co-founder of Ceibo Alliance, which unites indigenous groups to protect their land and rights. In 2020, she was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people in the world.
In December last year, Samsung appointed its first female president Lee Young-hee. We wish her a successful first year as president of the Device eXperience global marketing centre and hope that we will see more female presidents across Samsung in the future.
