Women & Gender Constituency

Empowering millions of women in rich economies to cut carbon pollution in their daily lives through behaviour change

Description of the project: 1 Million Women (1MW) was founded by Natalie Isaacs in 2009. She saw individual action as vital to a climate solution. Her behaviour change story resonates with women of all ages. Based in a wealthy economy with very high per capita carbon pollution, 1MW’s aims are to 1) engage women beyond the traditional ‘green belt’; 2) empower them to lead practical action in their households and communities; 3) unite them into a powerful collective voice, and; 4) ensure 20% of its members are girls under 20 (the next generation of consumers/decision makers). Historically public campaigns on climate rarely considered gender so 1MW set out to change that and enlist women as change agents. 1MW has 370,000+ members as of November 2015.

Climate Impact: Our “free-to-join” website enables a low carbon life, capturing real data on behaviour change. Our online Carbon Challenge has 50+ activities across energy, transport, food, shopping, finances and sharing. Women can audit their lifestyles, chose activities and calculate CO2 -emissions savings. They commit to cut at least 1 tonne of pollution from their daily lives, with 100 000+ pledging carbon savings of 156 801 tonnes of CO2 -emissions. Everything we do promotes a ‘less is more’ philosophy to women who live privileged lifestyles by global standards, as a direct strategy to counter a typical high-consumption, high-waste contemporary way of living that threatens the planet. All our projects, speaking and campaigns focus on cutting carbon pollution through the way we live. In 2013 we won an award from the UN Momentum for Change program for the work we do.

Gender Impact: Women in Australia have extraordinary consumer power, making up to 85% of purchases that affect the household carbon footprint. We empower women to change behaviour and decisions on everything from eliminating food waste and increasing energy efficiency, to divesting away from fossil fuel exposed investments and brands. Women feel connected, increasing happiness and wellbeing. We’re growing internationally. In 2016 we’re launching: 1) our global ‘Women Power’ app (under development) engaging women everywhere in daily climate action; 2) our ‘Goodwill Carbon Fund’ – collective savings from pledged daily climate actions – and financial support of on-the-ground initiatives empowering women on the front line of the climate crisis. Our mission is to connect women everywhere via the power of women’s climate action supporting women’s climate justice.

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