There is an urgent need ahead of COP30 to bridge East and West, and women in climate are well-positioned to serve that role, according to the Pacific Women Climate Leaders Program, a new coalition launched in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
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A new initiative meant to advance women leadership in climate change in the Pacific Rim launched in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
A collaboration between the California-China Climate Institute and the US government’s Women Green the Way (WGTW) initiative, the Pacific Women Climate Leaders Program empowers professionals from public and private sectors to take on greater roles in climate action, and also seeks to inspire young women to pursue careers in climate-related fields.
At the opening event, Asian women leaders in the climate and environmental space urged their counterparts to take action. “We women second guess ourselves. But climate action is urgent, and you should just charge in there,” said Debra Tan, Director and Head of Hong Kong-based think-tank China Water Risk.
One key focus of the new initiative will be to leverage climate progress already made in China and apply it overseas.
“Women play a big part in climate change because we tend to keep going. And China has the biggest projects in the world,” said Christine Loh, Chief Development Strategist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), adding that Hong Kong is the place to “bridge the knowledge and intellectual concepts to the rest of the world.”
Tan added, “China added 500 terawatt hours of clean power in one year. If we do that with the rest of ASEAN, we could get to net zero within a few years. There are things that work and we just need to make that an international solution for the rest of the developing world.”
A series of events will follow the launch, including climate dialogues in China and the US later this year, participation in New York Climate Week in September, and a dedicated side event at COP30, scheduled to take place this November in Belém, Brazil.
Fan Dai, Founding Director of the California-China Climate Institute, pointed out that while national climate policy in the US has changed under the new Trump administration, there is still ample opportunity for climate action across the Pacific. “It’s not true that the US is not doing what it should be. It’s now happening at the subnational level and corporate level,” Dai said.
According to the organizer, Jazreel Cheng, the program’s activities will emphasize cross-border partnerships and inclusive strategies to advance equitable climate solutions. Women bear the brunt of climate change impact worldwide, and the Asia Pacific region has the largest population vulnerable to climate risks such as sea level rise.
Women Green the Way was created by the US Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau in 2023. The inaugural forum was held in Hong Kong in 2023, convening more than 80 climate leaders who have continued their advocacy after the forum.
Based in Hong Kong, WGTW is a female-focused financial professionals network spanning the Indo-Pacific region whose goal is to explore strategies to tackle challenges in sustainable financial markets.
Featured image: Pacific Climate Dialogue (supplied).
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