ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a narrative of how the manifesto emerged, and uses it as a basis for critically examining the gender politics in the environmental movement, particularly in the United Kingdom. Often claimed as the pre-eminent environmental issue of our time, climate change is both the result and reinforcer of deep-seated social and political divisions. A most striking illustration of the masculinism – machismo, even – of climate change decision-making is provided by the international negotiations which take place every year. Stemming from awareness that environmental politics can be 'gender-blind', both organizations support women to voice and take action on their environmental concerns, and to campaign on local and global issues, including climate change. The chapter focuses on the position of women in women-focused organizations such as Women's Environmental Network and in more mainstream environmental non-governmental organizations ENGOs. Seager's groundbreaking research in the 1990s, in her book Earth Follies, revealed how few women had senior positions in United States ENGOs.
