ABSTRACT

Climate change immediately threatens the entire planet and especially its most vulnerable populations living in the global South. It is not a naturally occurring phenomenon but a problem accelerated by individual behaviors, societal, development, and business practices, which can and must be altered. Meaningful change will require bold and progressive strategies for sustainable development, strategies that also incorporate a central and transparent concern for human rights, gender equality, and social justice. Feminist advocates have put forth an alternative "complex systems" approach to gender justice, human rights, and sustainable development, one acknowledging that social, economic, financial, and ecological systems function within a single sphere. In national and regional work, coalitions of feminists are insisting that there be no regress on universal human rights and gender equality commitments long accepted by the United Nations on ending sexual and gender-based violence, and advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).