Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-20-Speech-5-011-000"
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"en.20120420.6.5-011-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank my colleagues and to express my gratitude for the very interesting contributions I have received for this report which, I hope, will be the start of a growing awareness on the part of our institutions.
In an ideal Parliament, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality would not exist and issues relating to gender and discrimination against women would be spontaneously integrated into all the matters we deal with here, because this is a cross-cutting issue. However, it is necessary to continue to drive the point home without any let-up because we Members of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality have a responsibility to remove women from the blind spot of European policies. This is particularly true of environmental issues. I would even go so far as to say that we will show in our report that women are not the green plants of ecology. The figures are staggering.
Women are 14 times more likely to die during cyclones, floods and earthquakes. In the tsunami that affected Asia in 2004, for example, and also in the heat wave that hit Europe in 2003, 70% of the victims were women. Why? Women do not have the same resources – economic, social or political – to adapt or even to flee.
On the other hand, in Honduras, thanks to a warning and disaster management system which included women from the outset, La Masica was the only town not to record a single death during and after hurricane Mitch.
Climate change remains an absolute priority but, in a context of economic crisis, ecology is not the only thing to regress. Women’s rights, too, are eroded and it is by linking the two that we are proposing a coherent political vision and effective solutions. In the past, whenever there was a crisis, whenever there was revolution, we were told that women’s rights would come afterwards. This line of reasoning is out of date and unsound. The challenges of climate change and that of justice and equality for women are intrinsically linked.
Women are not only victims to be protected. Women also have knowledge and proposals to make: not because they are, of course, different, but because we live in a society where roles are often gendered. Being a woman or a man has an impact on our daily lives, from the management of resources and access to education to the choice of occupation. These differences in experience are reflected in the solutions and ideas proposed.
In the report, we have identified four types of measures. Firstly, measures of representation. We are calling for women’s representation of at least 40% in political, financial and technical bodies. The voice of women and their organisations must be heard and supported. Secondly, measures concerning protection and training, establishing a virtuous cycle for women, from victims to agents of change. Thirdly, measures of education, not only to open up the future green economy and encourage women to pursue scientific and technical careers, but also to support the necessary changes in lifestyle patterns. Finally, as regards research, we need data disaggregated by sex to be collected to improve our understanding of the subject and our policy proposals.
To summarise the spirit of this report, we maintain that policies to combat climate change can be enriched through the integration of gender issues and that combating discrimination generates solutions that are more effective for the environment. It is a win-win line of reasoning.
As we approach the Rio+20 Summit, it is clear that there are no simple solutions to a challenge as complex and pressing as climate change. It is by broadening our way of thinking that we will find the resources to make a significant change for the better."@en1
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