Final Women Statement for Closing Plenary COP14

Statement By Svitlana Slesarenok Black Sea Women’s Club / WECF
Women In Europe For A Common Future On Behalf Of The Women’s
Caucus At Cop14

Can You Believe?
We produce half your food
We provide half your water
We look after your children
And your aged
And your sick
We care for the forests
And the wetlands
And harvest even the deserts
For life.

Min ya za vout Svetlana Slesaranok. I lived in the Ukraine when we all suffered from the effects of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. This week I learned, some powerful people want to integrate nuclear activities in CDM and JI and technology transfer.

On behalf of myself, and on behalf of all other women, I insist that parties, that you eliminate nuclear power as a means to reduce climate change. Nuclear activities can never be safe.
Women live in all parts of the world. We suffer, because our native lands are included into market-based mechanisms, supposedly to create a clean and healthy environment. These mechanisms exclude us, destroy our livelihoods, and disrupt our communities.

Technology is a small part of the solution - we also call for mitigation through lifestyle changes.

The system itself needs to change; we need a total change of our economy and our mentality in our approach to life on earth.

You tell us to adapt, but you take the means from us.
You tell us to be sustainable, while you export un-sustainability.

You claim to empower us, by making us dependent on your
technology and markets and money.

You call for education, but you refuse to learn from us.
You say you support democracy, but women are not fully included in your decision making processes.

Traditional gender roles perceive women as powerless and
vulnerable, but we are not! We are full of strength!

We believe in women as change makers. We must make change here today! We will bring emissions down, while raising women’s rights up! We urge you to do the same!