More than gender diversity across industries, one of the key focuses of organisations today is sustainability.
In fact, the United Nations has highlighted the need for greater gender equality to realise visions around sustainability and net-zero.
Climate change is a global challenge. While it is being felt by everyone, it disproportionately affects women.
Women are seen as more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change due to a variety of social, economic and cultural factors. In addition, with women being underrepresented across a range of industries, they often lack access to resources such as land, funding, technology, training and services that would enable them to adapt to climate change. The gaps in gender diversity also mean that women often do not get to participate in decision-making processes that will allow them to confront the climate crisis.
To shed light on this growing challenge, the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” This year’s celebration seeks to put focus on how women can lead initiatives on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response.
The UN believes that despite their vulnerability, women can be active and effective agents and promoters of adaptation and mitigation.
But how can women lead the charge in the fight against the climate crisis?
“Women leaders will be able to bring new perspectives to the forefront when it comes to how we view the world and how we deal with our environment from both empathetically and scientifically,” said Tannya Jajal, Regional Resource Manager, VMware, and UAE Chapter Lead, Women in Tech.
Video: Female leaders bring “balance” and “new perspectives” to tech industry
She added, “As a society, we also need to revamp our perspectives and understand that everything is holistically interconnected. This means recognising that there will be repercussions if we continue to destroy our planet even if we do not see it immediately. I think women have a unique power in taking this narrative forward. It doesn’t mean that these views can’t come from men but for the longest time, we haven’t heard that perspective [from women].
“It is very important for us to feel a sense of connectedness to our environment and bring that into education and to other industries to create a more sustainable future.”
Sharing her viewpoints, Dr May El Barachi, Associate Dean of Research & Head of Industry Outreach and Executive Learning, University of Wollongong in Dubai, highlighted that women are uniquely positioned in becoming agents of change when it comes to sustainability.
“Women are really good at getting things done,” said Dr El Barachi. “Across the world from boardrooms to communities, science and activism, women of different calibres are using their voices to take leadership and call for action on climate change. Their main role is raising awareness, being visible, mobilising forces and creating actions for change. They do not shy away from using their voice and power to affect change in the battle against the climate crisis.”
Video: Visibility of female tech leaders “extremely important”, says UOWD’s Dr May El Barachi
Furthermore, IT industry players are also well-positioned to drive a more sustainable future. By integrating technology, organisations can achieve advanced levels of productivity and efficiency, which can help reduce waste and carbon footprint. In line with this, female leaders in technology companies can become good advocates for initiatives that will pave the way to the creation of sustainable innovations.
“Addressing climate change is a shared responsibility of all members of the society regardless of gender,” said Noha Kadry, Program Manager – Red Hat Academy, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Red Hat.
“As an organisation, we are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion for all associates, as well as for our global communities of partners, customers, and open source contributors.
“During the pandemic, Red Hat launched a sustainability-at-home information resource where associates shared ideas on how to stay healthy, reduce costs, and fight climate change. Red Hatters shared lists of sustainable food choices, tips on how to reduce water consumption and minimise daily energy use, methods to increase natural light throughout the home, and plant suggestions to provide greenery and improve air quality so each one of us could do our part.
“With initiatives and associate engagement focused on reducing waste and power usage, recycling, and composting, we continue to think creatively to find new ways of bringing business and environmental responsibility together—whether working from home or in an office. And that’s not all. By working with non-profits and other sectors, we’re helping build shared open source solutions that are solving societal problems.”
For Schneider Electric Gulf’s Head of Global Marketing, Meryl Ghattas, enabling a sustainable future is all about “collective action.”
She said, “Every one of us has a role to play, starting with oneself, speaking up for what’s right and leading by example continues to be critical at every phase humanity is and will be going through.
“Leading requires action not words and it starts in one’s belief from the core. I believe that the most important thing is to practice the change in our everyday lives starting from home, platforms that we have at our disposal through organizations that serve this purpose and through our local communities. I am lucky to work for a company that truly advocates reducing our carbon footprint, offering solutions that helps our customers and ecosystem to start their own journeys of doing so.”
ITP Media Group and UN Women are proud to work together to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Arab States. #IWD2022 @unwomenarabic
