US House Speaker urges COP26 to advance gender equality in climate action
Nov 09, 2021
London [UK], November 9 (ANI/Sputnik): US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday urged the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, to quickly address gender inequality in climate action as she noted that 80 per cent of people displaced worldwide by global warming are women.
"Addressing a rapidly changing climate is a matter of justice and equality with the most vulnerable, the most affected, including indigenous communities, less developed countries and ... women," Pelosi told delegates attending today's event, which was focused on how to boost women's role in the climate fight.
The US House speaker, who is leading a 21-strong congressional delegation, said at the plenary that the current crisis is a "threat multiplier" that amplifies and accelerates existing inequities in "our economies and societies."
Pelosi also highlighted US president Joe Biden's renewed commitment to tackle climate change after his predecessor Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and underlined the broad scope of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill recently passed by the House of Representatives.
According to Pelosi, the bill "recognizes the interconnectedness of climate change and gender justice and enables women and girls to lead a just transition to clean energy economy of the future."
The COP26 running in Glasgow from October 31 till November 12 is seen by many as the world's last chance to reach meaningful commitments to cut greenhouse emissions, achieve carbon neutrality and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. (ANI/Sputnik)