It’s no secret that there are countless amazing women who are fighting the big fight against climate change. Here at Green Is The New Black, we celebrate women every day, so you can only imagine how difficult it was to compile this list. So for this year’s International Women’s Day, we have compiled a list of 15 women from all walks of life who are inspiring change by fighting climate change.
Before we begin, I just want to make it clear that this list is completely subjective, and if we could put every woman involved in fighting against climate change in the world on it, trust me, we would. Women are so instrumental in tackling the climate crisis, and it’s even more inspiring when you realise that women are disproportionately affected by it.
More than ever before, it is essential that gendered views drive policy creation across the board as we confront growing climate consequences that unfairly affect women.
And we’re not going to lie; actually, we’re going to be proud to say that some of the most effective and trailblazing activists for climate action are women. We’ve broken down our list into three parts: Asia-based trailblazers, inspiring young women climate activists, and radical international superwomen. Again, we want to repeat that on this list, there is no competition, nor is one better than the other. All of the women on this list (and those not mentioned) are worthy of recognition and praise for the work that they do to inspire climate action.
Asia-based women trailblazers
Helena Wasserman
Helena is a great friend of GITNB. But that’s not why she’s on this list. Helena is a sustainability advocate and investor, board advisor, TEDx speaker, and most importantly, a climate optimist. Her professional background includes time spent at the Clinton Foundation and Ashoka, as well as stints with Techstars and Big Data for Humans, both of which are involved in the field of impact technology. She subsequently moved on to scale Top Tier Impact, the worldwide ecosystem for impact investors and executives. Helena is also an angel investor herself. She was a founder of the Future in 2016, as well as recognised as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 2017 and Europe’s 50 most inspiring women in technology in 2017.
Helena runs a weekly newsletter called the Sustainability Shot where she features positive news and shares actionable insights and market news to keep you motivated in the transition to sustainability. Recently, Helena was a guest on Episode #065 of our founder Stephanie’s podcast, Live Wide Awake, where they talked about resilience, climate tech predictions, what angel investing is, impact investing, understanding natural capital, the importance of biodiversity, and so much more. Subscribe to her newsletter here!
Christine Amour-Levar
When it comes to resumes, Christine Amour-Levar’s is stacked. The French-Swiss-Filipina and Singapore-based philanthropist, adventurer, entrepreneur, and author founded two award-winning NGOs: Her Planet Earth and Women on a Mission. Chistine’s career started strong in Japan at McCann and Phillippe Starck before moving to Nike in New York and around Asia. She then went on to lead marketing and communications at Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings. Today, Christine runs her own consulting business, helping clients define their purpose and develop their marketing, communications, CSR, and sustainability strategies. She is also a board member and advisor to several purpose-led organisations in the social impact and sustainability spaces, with a particular focus on climate technology, impact investing, and cellular agriculture.
Like Helena, she was recently the guest of Episode #067 of Live Wide Awake, where she and Stephanie talked about her wild expeditions around the world raising funds for charity, being a purpose-driven leader, positivity as a muscle, what success really means, and so much more.
Esther An
Producing sustainability reports for over 14 years, Esther An is no stranger to the world of sustainability (duh). Since she joined City Developments Limited (CDL) in 1995, Esther has helped make it the leader in sustainability that it is today. It is ranked as the top real estate company on the 2020 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and is also the only CDP A-List company for climate strategy and water security in SE Asia. Esther led the way for the first sustainability report in Singapore that used GRI standards to be published in 2008. In 2017, she helped issue the first green bond by a Singaporean company and pioneer an SDG Innovation Loan in Singapore in 2019. Esther was also named a 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and a Low-Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact. If you haven’t realised, Esther An is a woman who wears many hats. And she wears them all well. On top of all of her accomplishments, she also founded the Women4Green and Youth4Climate initiatives.
Esther was the guest of Episode #044 of Live Wide Awake, where she chatted with Steph about sustainability as the North Star, the shift of COP to focus on youth, producing sustainability reports for over 13 years, and why we have to continue to care.
Peggy Chan
Based in Hong Kong, Peggy Chan is a WFPB chef-restaurateur and social entrepreneur. In 2012, Peggy opened Grassroots Pantry (GP) in Hong Kong with the goals of educating the public about the deficiencies in the current food distribution system and promoting the wellness of a plant-based diet. With the help of Zero Foodprint’s life-cycle assessment, GP became the first restaurant in Hong Kong to become carbon neutral in 2018, and its first sustainability report was hailed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals ESCAP as a best practice case study on sustainable sourcing and responsible management.
Peggy started the nonprofit Zero Foodprint Asia in June 2021 with the goal of swiftly mobilising the food and hotel industries’ research, education, and finance towards agricultural climate solutions. ZFPA has gathered HKD 2.6 million from 70+ restaurant partners over the course of 18 months, money that is being used to finance 10 regenerative agriculture and agroforestry projects in Hong Kong, the GBA, and Indonesia.
Qiyun Woo 胡绮芸
Fun fact: Qiyun was GITNB’s community lead for almost a year!
In her words, Qiyun is “fascinated by the complexity of environmental issues.” and “driven through her art and professional work to learn about innovative solutions and climate science and communicate them to inspire climate action and empower communities.”
Qiyun founded The Weird and Wild, an Instagram page dedicated to sustainability communications, where she leverages her technical knowledge to break down complicated climate challenges and highlight their significance. Her work as an environmental advocate is based on the significance of sharing cutting-edge climate knowledge and creating capacity.
No, but seriously. If you haven’t been following The Weird and Wild, you have legitimately been losing out.
Inspiring young women climate activists
Xiye Bastida
Xiye Bastida is a Mexican-born climate activist who has become a leading voice in the fight against climate change. Born in 2002 to two environmental activists who met at a conference in 1992, Xiye grew up in San Pedro Tultepec, Mexico, a community that is heavily impacted by the effects of climate change, including flooding, droughts, and extreme weather events.
She became a member of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led organisation that advocates for political action on climate change, and she began organising protests and rallies to demand action from political leaders. In 2018, Bastida founded the NYC Youth Climate Strike, which brought together thousands of young people in New York City to demand action on climate change. Since then, Xiye has become a prominent voice in the climate movement, speaking at international conferences and events and advocating for policies that will address the root causes of climate change and protect vulnerable communities. She has been recognised for her activism with numerous awards and honours, including being named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019.
Through her activism, Xiye has made it her mission to amplify the voices of those most affected by climate change and to push for a more just and sustainable future for all.
Autumn Peltier
Autumn Peltier is an Anishinaabe Indigenous rights advocate from the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation and is widely known for her activism on water conservation and protection. Autumn was introduced to environmental activism at a young age by her mother, who is also an activist. She became involved with the Anishinabek Nation’s Water Ceremony at the age of eight and began speaking publicly about the need to protect water resources.
Since then, Autumn has gained international recognition for her advocacy work, including addressing the United Nations General Assembly on the importance of protecting water resources. Autumn has received numerous awards and accolades for her activism, including being named one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence in 2019 and receiving the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2019. She continues to work tirelessly to protect water resources and inspire others to take action to address the urgent issue of climate change.
Luisa Neubauer
Luisa Neubauer is a German climate activist who is often referred to as “the German Greta Thunberg”. She became interested in climate activism at a young age and has since become one of the most recognisable faces of the movement. Neubauer’s activism started in 2015, when she joined the German Youth Association for the Protection of Nature (NAJU) and later became involved with the Fridays for Future movement, which was started by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Neubauer has been a leading figure in the movement in Germany, organising climate strikes and calling for government action to address the climate crisis.
Neubauer has been recognised for her activism, including being named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Next” influential people in 2019. She has also been involved in international climate negotiations, representing youth activists at the United Nations climate conference in Madrid in 2019.
Despite facing criticism and opposition from some politicians and media outlets, Neubauer remains committed to her activism and continues to push for bold action on climate change.
Ella and Amy Meek
Sisters Ella and Amy Meek are two young climate activists based in the UK who have gained international recognition for their efforts to raise awareness about the urgent need to address climate change. When they were just nine and six years old, they were inspired to take action on climate change after attending a screening of Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Since then, Ella and Amy have been actively involved in climate activism, organising and participating in rallies, marches, and other events aimed at raising awareness about the urgent need to address climate change.
They have also taken part in a number of campaigns, including the “Youth Strike 4 Climate” movement, which was started by Greta Thunberg, and the “Fridays for Future” movement, which encourages students to strike from school to demand action on climate change.
In addition to their activism, Ella and Amy have also started a non-profit called Kids Against Plastic in 2016, where their aim is to make the UK #PlasticClever.
Radical International Superwomen
Alice Aedy
Alice Aedy is a British documentary photographer, film-maker, and campaigner “focused on telling the human stories of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the refugee crisis, and the fight for women’s rights.” Alice began her journey working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), particularly the UK-based NGO Choose Love, as a communications manager.
Alice has worked with the likes of TEDX, Penguin, WeTransfer, The Barbican, Sky, Vogue, The International Red Cross, and the U.N., whilst her visual work has been published in The Times, Vice, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Monocle, and the BBC.
In 2020, Alice, along with Jack and Finn Harries, co-founded Earthrise Studios, “a digital media company dedicated to communicating the climate crisis through research, design, and filmmaking”. Recently, the three of them made it onto the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Social Impact.
Aditi Mayer
One of our Green Warriors, those who frequent Instagram will recognise the name Aditi Mayer (or, more recently, TikTok). Aditi is a multi-talented activist for social and environmental justice whose projects span the written word, public speaking, photography, and more. She writes about eco-friendly clothing, is a photographer, and fights for workers’ rights. She is now a frequent public speaker on this topic, as well as others in the fashion industry such as minority representation, ethical storytelling, and more. Aditi is an active participant in environmental activism and a member of the Intersectional Environmentalist Council.
Aditi isn’t only the founder of ADIMAY; she’s also a filmmaker and a consultant, all in service of her mission to spread a more ethical and environmentally responsible way of thinking.
Tori Tsui
Tori Tsui is a Bristol-based intersectional climate activist, mental health advocate, co-founder of Bad Activist, and a member of the climate coalition Unite For Climate Action Collective from Hong Kong. Her main focus is ensuring that climate policy, action, and organising are holistic, accessible, and transformational from a variety of perspectives.
Tori was also sponsored by Stella McCartney to sail across the Atlantic with the think tank, Sail to the COP. She is also a member of the boards of directors for the Earth Percent and the Climate Resilience Project, and a strategist for Hero Circle.
Recently, Tori published her debut book, It’s Not Just You, which explores the intersections between climate change and mental health from a climate justice-oriented perspective.
Tori was a guest of Episode #035 of Live Wide Awake where she and Steph chatted about why perfectionism is detrimental to movements, that mental health can’t be separated from our environment, burnout, rest and grounding deeply in joy.
Nathalie Kelley
Nathalie, or Nat, Kelley, is an activist, regenerative advocate, writer, and actor. You may have even seen her in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift or the Dynasty reboot. A proud indigenous woman and activist for many years, Nat’s family is from a part of Peru called Huánuco in the Andes, and she and her family are Quechua and are the descendants of the Incas.
Nat, who grew up in Australia, credits the devastating January fires as a wake up call for her to reevaluate some of the world’s most pervasive agricultural practices, such as the usage of vast quantities of water and the prevalence of cows, which also require substantial amounts of water and other resources. The research she’s conducted on farming has influenced her choice to go a year without purchasing any new apparel.
Sitting on the board of directors for both Kiss the Ground and the Fungi Foundation, recently, she also started collaborating with Earthrise.
Leah Thomas
Leah Thomas is an intersectional environmental activist and eco-communicator based in Southern California. After graduation, she began working in the environmental field and quickly realised that the mainstream environmental movement often neglected the voices and experiences of marginalised communities. In 2020, she called for environmental activists to support Black Lives Matter in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
This realisation led Leah to start advocating for intersectional environmentalism, which recognises that environmental issues are interconnected with issues of race, gender, and social justice. She founded the Intersectional Environmentalist platform in 2020, which has since grown into a community of activists and educators working towards a more just and equitable world.
Apart from running her eco-lifestyle blog and authoring the book The Intersectional Environmentalist, Leah is also an advisor for Daughters for Earth, a new initiative to rally women throughout the world in support of and funding for women-led environmental protection and restoration initiatives. She urges everyone to take action against global warming.
FEATURED IMAGE: collage via author | IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A collage of five women activists. From left to right, Nat Kelley, Aditi Mayer, Tori Tsui, Alice Aedy, and Leah Thomas
