Naming What We’ve Long Known: Climate Action Is Essential to Gender Justice
This Earth Day, Rise Up Together is taking an important step forward. We are formally adopting climate as a core pillar of our work – alongside health, education, and economic opportunity.
This is not a new direction. It is a recognition of what has already been true.
For nearly two decades, Rise Up Leaders have been advancing solutions that improve health, expand education, and increase economic opportunity for women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people around the world. But as environmental challenges have intensified, leaders have increasingly had to navigate the growing impacts of climate change in their communities by necessity. Across regions, climate change is not a distant or abstract threat. It is shaping daily life – and deepening existing inequalities, disproportionately affecting women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people.
“For years, Rise Up Leaders have been showing us what’s possible when solutions are rooted in the realities communities are facing,” said Dr. Denise Raquel Dunning, Rise Up Together’s Co-founder and Executive Director. “Adopting climate as a core pillar of our work is about honoring that leadership and ensuring we are meeting this moment with clarity and intention.”
Climate is not a standalone issue. The impacts of climate change fundamentally intersect with every area of our work. They shape whether a girl can stay in school when flooding shuts classrooms down, whether a woman can safely access maternal health care when systems are disrupted, and whether families can maintain their livelihoods in the face of drought and environmental instability. These are not isolated challenges – they are interconnected parts of a larger system that determines who has access to opportunity, safety, and well-being.
“What we’re hearing from leaders across our global community is clear: climate is not a standalone issue – it’s woven through everything,” said Josie Ramos, Rise Up Together’s Co-founder and Director of Learning. “When we listen to local leaders, we see how climate change impacts education, health, and livelihood opportunities all at once.”
This is why climate justice is gender justice – and why advancing one requires addressing the other. Around the world, Rise Up Leaders are already advancing solutions that respond to these realities: strengthening community resilience, protecting livelihoods, and advocating for policies that safeguard women and girls from the growing impacts of environmental change.
These efforts are rooted in lived experience and local knowledge, reflecting a deep understanding of the systems shaping people’s lives.
By formally naming climate as a core pillar alongside education, health, and economic opportunity, we’re strengthening our commitment to our mission – ensuring leaders have the resources, training, funding, and global networks needed to advance transformative solutions that are both locally driven and globally relevant. As the climate crisis accelerates, so must our collective response. A more just and resilient future is possible – and it’s already being built by local civil society leaders around the world.
