Panel: Women and Climate Change

Climate change is a feminist issue. Women are disproportionately harmed by the environmental crises we face. At the same time, women across the world are on the frontlines of resistance. Judy Ling Wong OBE, ambassador for the Women’s’ Environmental Network and founder of the Black Environmental Network, and Lisa Schipper, researcher at the Overseas Development Institute, will draw on their experiences in the field to address the crucial link between women and climate change.

Speaker Bios:

Lisa Schipper: Lisa is a research associate at the Overseas Development Institute. Lisa’s research specialty is adaptation and socio-cultural vulnerability to climate change and natural hazards. The context for nearly all of her work has been smallholder or subsistence agriculture in poor communities in Southeast and South Asia, Central and South America, and East Africa. Most recently, Lisa was a Senior Scientist at Stockholm Environment Institute based in Bangkok, and later in California. Lisa was a Lead Author in the IPCC Special Report on Extreme Events (2012) and Working Group 2 of the Fifth Assessment Report (2014). She holds a PhD in Development Studies from University of East Anglia and undertook a Postdoc at the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka.

Judy Ling Wong: Judy Ling Wong, painter, poet and environmentalist is best known as the Honorary President of Black Environment Network (BEN). For 27 years she was the UK Director of BEN, with an international reputation as the pioneer and creator of the field of ethnic participation in the built and natural environment. The groundbreaking methodology developed by BEN, under Judy’s leadership, to engage urban-based ethnic minorities has influenced mainstream work with the full range of disadvantaged social groups as a result of shared issues and contexts. Judy is also, alongside Caroline Lucas MP, an ambassador for the Women’s environmental network, which works for environmental justice through feminist principles.