Jeannette Gurung

Carbon markets are being promoted both by business and governments as a predominant way to address climate change. Critical scholarship has brought attention to their disappointing climate performance, for the social inequalities they engender and for distracting from the imperative of changing extractivist modes of capitalist production and consumption. Given that private interests are central in climate action and that carbon markets are dominant, we argue that it is important to engage with… Show more

Carbon markets are being promoted both by business and governments as a predominant way to address climate change. Critical scholarship has brought attention to their disappointing climate performance, for the social inequalities they engender and for distracting from the imperative of changing extractivist modes of capitalist production and consumption. Given that private interests are central in climate action and that carbon markets are dominant, we argue that it is important to engage with them, while maintaining our own critical position. The central aim in this article is to grapple with global environmental governance, to explore practical ways in which we may go about ensuring justice and sustainability in development and climate action, beyond theoretical denunciations of the system and structures. Drawing on scholarship that questions the hegemonic power of capitalism, we adopt a practical stance to reflect on how a gendered methodology, the W+ standard, modelled on methods used to measure carbon emissions reductions, may be used in development and in combination with carbon standards in a way that emissions-reducing projects also lead to gender and social justice. The W+ Standard is a methodology that ensures that gendered inequalities, including women’s often invisible care work, are accounted for, by quantifying and certifying benefits for women involved in community development and climate projects. Based on an activist academic and practitioner conversation, we explore if engaging in the politics of the present (with private interests and carbon markets) may make space for the political agency of women and men and diverse economic and social contexts in such projects and enable a shift in business in usual. We argue that there is a need to engage in new experimental economic relations in local contexts that have the potential to change unequal development and environmental relationships, in encounters between global development and local lives. Show less

The article explains what is W+, discusses the importance of investing in women’s organizations and groups and why putting money in the hands of women is critical for development. The article also explains how the W+ works and emphasizes that Contributors can benefit from the W+ through three primary ways:

Purchasing W+ units provides corporations, individuals and investors with quantified results of women benefitted that can count towards internal targets for women’s… Show more

The article explains what is W+, discusses the importance of investing in women’s organizations and groups and why putting money in the hands of women is critical for development. The article also explains how the W+ works and emphasizes that Contributors can benefit from the W+ through three primary ways:

Purchasing W+ units provides corporations, individuals and investors with quantified results of women benefitted that can count towards internal targets for women’s empowerment.
Corporations and investors can seek higher profits from W+ labeled products and services
Financial institutions can provide loans to organizations producing W+ units for the market.
- See more at: http://wplus.org/accelerating-investments-women-through-certification#sthash.K92pHmbM.dpuf Show less

Findings of this research that pointed out the absence of attention to gender issues by forest and REDD planners across South and South East Asia sparked a wave of interest and support from donors and boosted the efforts of NGOs working in this arena.

Prepared during the COP21 Climate Change conference in Paris, this article is a result of interviews with Jeannette Gurung and other women leaders in climate change.

Women's agency and leadership play a critical and often unrecognized role in climate responses. This is reflected in their knowledge and practices in sustainable natural resources management, in responding to climate-related crises, and their actions as entrepreneurs advancing green technologies and businesses. Gender inequalities that limit women's access to financial resources, land, education, health and other opportunities also limit their capacity to mitigate climate change and to adapt to… Show more

Women's agency and leadership play a critical and often unrecognized role in climate responses. This is reflected in their knowledge and practices in sustainable natural resources management, in responding to climate-related crises, and their actions as entrepreneurs advancing green technologies and businesses. Gender inequalities that limit women's access to financial resources, land, education, health and other opportunities also limit their capacity to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impacts. Women's unequal participation in decision-making processes and labor markets further compound these inequalities and prevent them from fully contributing to climate-related planning, policy making, and implementation. Show less