Protesters mark International Women’s Day with climate change rally

The demonstrators said climate change was having a disproportionate effect on women across the globe.

Demonstrators take part in the protest outside Holyrood (Lesley Martin/PA)

(PA Wire)

A demonstration outside Holyrood for International Women’s Day has warned that climate change is having a disproportionate impact on women across the world.

About 50 women gathered in front of the Scottish Parliament while MSPs debated International Women’s Day to call for action to tackle climate change, while marking the deaths of environmental activists and declaring that the war in Ukraine was “being fuelled by fossil fuel”.

In one of the speeches at the rally, Sharessa Naidoo, a philosophy and maths student from South Africa who is studying at Edinburgh University, argued that climate change is “intertwined” with women’s rights.

A woman takes part in the climate rally to mark International Women’s Day outside the Scottish Parliament (Lesley Martin/PA)

(PA Wire)

She told the crowd: “The legacy of gender oppression lives on in new forms and such systems worldwide still make women vulnerable.

“Consequently, women constitute the majority of the world’s poorest and are most dependent on natural resources that climate change threatens and hold very few seats at important tables that make big climate-related decisions.

“That’s the connection. The urgent issue of climate change makes it that much more obvious that securing gender equality so women can lead lives of their choosing, is intertwined with sustainability and securing humanity’s future.”

The demonstration was part of a 24-hour “drop-in” climate vigil outside the Scottish Parliament building to coincide with International Women’s Day.