{"id":35758,"date":"2018-07-31T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-04-16T16:27:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T16:27:41","slug":"35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson is well known for her policy and advocacy work on climate justice, but has now decided to take the fight to a wholly different arena. In a new podcast, Mothers of Invention<\/em>, she joins forces with Irish comedian Maeve Higgins to celebrate feminists across the world on the frontline of climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first five episodes Robinson and Higgins speak to inspiring women including Kenya\u2019s former environment minister Judy Wakhungu who legislated to ban plastic bags, human rights lawyer Tessa Khan who set up the Climate Litigation Network,<\/a> and Ugandan campaigner Constance Okolle who is helping her community adapt to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some really wonderful women from different perspectives,\u201d Robinson tells chinadialogue<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robinson, a former lawyer, became the first female president of Ireland in 1990 and then took up a post as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. For the past 15 years she has focused her work on climate justice through the Mary Robinson Foundation<\/a> \u2013 Climate Justice, as one of the Elders group of global human rights leaders and as Ban Ki Moon\u2019s special envoy on climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Robinson still did not feel that enough was being done to tackle climate, so she sought out film production company Doc Society<\/a> to see what she could do to communicate the problem. Doc Society suggested a podcast and paired Robinson with Higgins, who had already produced a podcast on immigration and writes a column in the New York Times.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although they might seem a strange pairing, the two women\u2019s skills and experiences complement each other; Robinson has the gravitas and expertise on climate change while Higgins knows how the podcast medium works and brings levity to the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


I\u2019m out of my comfort zone but I think it\u2019s working.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was more serious, tending to the preachy at times. I\u2019m out of my comfort zone but I think it\u2019s working,\u201d says Robinson.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higgins, meanwhile, represents much of the wider public. \u201cBefore this I was obviously aware of climate change. But I didn\u2019t know a lot about climate justice and I felt paralysed by the scale of the problem, so I really didn\u2019t know how to act. But listening to these women and hearing them has been enough for me to change my own life a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of dwelling on the science or debate around climate change, the podcast examines its political and ethical dimensions and looks at feminist solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA feminist approach begins by being much more people-centred,\u201d says Robinson. \u201cIt recognises the injustice of climate change; that the countries and communities least responsible are disproportionately affected because of where they live and because of the lack of capacity to be more resilient. And yet, despite that, they\u2019re the ones doing most to become more resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She notes that climate change is not gender neutral. \u201cWomen are affected more. They have to go further for water in drought, further for firewood and suffer more when you have terrible hurricanes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Robinson is clear that this means a fair transition for everyone, including people who stand to lose their jobs and livelihoods when fossil fuels are phased out. \u201cThey will need support, training and pensions.\u201d And it does not exclude men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our next set of episodes we\u2019d like to talk to feminist men as well who take the progressive, climate justice approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as adding more female voices to the climate change conversation, they both believed it was important to have a wider idea of diversity. Higgins notes that climate change is intrinsically linked to other important societal issues such as immigration and race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really good way of building coalitions with others \u2013 that\u2019s what Mary\u2019s work has been all about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robinson remains indirectly involved in climate negotiations through her foundation. At the forthcoming UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland, for example, she is pushing for a declaration for a just transition to a clean energy society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During production of the podcast, one particularly enlightening conversation, she says, was with a young Black Lives Matter activist who had been protesting outside the Paris climate talks while Robinson was working inside.
 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were lucky to find these stories that are full of hope.
 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both women are full of enthusiasm for the stories they have heard. \u201cSo much climate change reporting is gloomy,\u201d says Higgins. \u201cWe were lucky to find these stories that are full of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, Robinson says there is plenty of work still to be done. She notes the women leaders\u2019 conferences she attends still put climate change low on the agenda. And her own country has a mixed record on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ireland has the world\u2019s third highest per capita carbon emissions and earlier this year was described as a \u201claggard\u201d on climate change by its Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar. But it was also the first country to promise to divest its public money from fossil fuels earlier this year, which Robinson is proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, Robinson believes it is a good time to launch such a podcast. \u201cWe have lost some momentum after Paris. People are not addressing the issue seriously enough and we can\u2019t afford to lose time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first five podcasts, which began on July 23, examine climate change litigation, divestment, food, plastic and health. The pair now plan to make more because they believe the series could have a genuine impact. \u201cWe were very conscious of not preaching,\u201d says Higgins. \u201cBut I\u2019ve found myself knowing more and caring more. I feel more connected now. The paralysis has left me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope in the end that there could be a movement which emerges,\u201d says Robinson. \u201cThe ingredients are there all over the world \u2013 young people are central, women are central, feminist men are central. But if we did it in a \u2018frighten the world\u2019 way… people would just give up. Doing it this way with inspiring, positive, practical stories and their energy and warmth is much more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doc Society\u2019s new podcast series Mothers of Invention runs until 17 September. You can subscribe to the podcast here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[761],"tags":[20000253,580],"country":[],"class_list":["post-35758","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-gender","tag-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPodcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-16T16:27:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/\",\"name\":\"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-31T10:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-16T16:27:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg\",\"width\":1491,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0","description":"\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0","og_description":"\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_modified_time":"2024-04-16T16:27:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1491,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/","name":"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-31T10:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-16T16:27:41+00:00","description":"\u2018We hope there could be a movement which emerges\u2019 says Mary Robinson about her new podcast\u00a0Mothers of Invention","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MothersOfInvention_PressShot_10_meitu_1.jpg","width":1491,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/35758-10758-podcast-celebrates-how-women-are-tackling-climate-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast celebrates how\u00a0women are tackling climate change\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/35758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35758"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/35758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60007699,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/35758\/revisions\/60007699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35758"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=35758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}