Climate Justice Requires Gender Justice: a Call to Action for Leaders in Lebanon This International Women’s Day

Climate Justice Requires Gender Justice: a Call to Action for Leaders in Lebanon This International Women’s Day

NNA - Today, March 8, International Women’s Day we celebrate women in Lebanon who are leading the fight against environmental degradation and climate change, working to build a more sustainable future for the country, and the global community.

 

Women, men, and children living in Lebanon have long endured challenging environmental conditions. As per Yale’s Environmental Performance Index 2020 (EPI) , Lebanon ranks 5th in the region (out of 17 Arab countries included in the analysis) and 78 out of 180 countries, globally: Those living in the country are breathing unsafe air, using unclean water and living in areas strewn with waste. The accumulation of decades of mismanagement and lack of investments in renewable energy sources, equitable energy distribution systems and public transportation have resulted in a reliance on private generators and cars, in untreated sewage, unmanaged industrial run off, and inaction on a trash crisis.

 

The impact of climate change and environmental degradation on people’s health is of serious concern; for example, long-term exposure to high levels of air pollution decreases lung function and increases the risk of respiratory symptoms in humans. Equally, this degradation of the environment is generating significant economic losses for a country already witnessing one of the world’s worst financial