At a time when the world has moved from global warming to 'global boiling' accoring to the UN Secretary General, all eyes are on COP 28 (UAE, Dec 2023) for the world to take the actions needed to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. In this Women's Climate Conversation online event WCC founder Janet Salisbury was joined by three women who are bringing ambitious agendas to COP28 to secure the climate: 

Katrin Geyer joined us from London, England and is the Environmental Advisor, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She spoke about WILFP's proposal to include military emissions into the COP negotiations.

Anna Reynolds is the Lord Mayor of Hobart and told us how, with her role as a member of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), she was the first Mayor in the world to pledge support for the Mayors Declaration for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

Natalie Sifuma joined us from Nairobi and is Head of Communications, SHE Changes Climate. She spoke of the push by SCC to secure 50:50 representation of women at all levels of COP negotiations including the Presidency and in all country delegations.  

In the media:

• This conversation was released as a podcast by 3CR Radical Radio

• Based on points raised by WILFP’s Katrin Geyer during this conversation, WCC intern, Polina Avilova, wrote a piece for BroadAgenda about the need for increased reporting on military emissions

Meet our conversationalists:

Katrin Geyer is the Environment Advisor at the Secretariat of WILPF International and is based in England. She is supporting the inclusion of environmental justice perspectives into the work of WILPF’s programmes, coordinates national Sections’ work on the environment, and oversees advocacy on the links between peace, environment, and feminist perspectives with relevant multilateral processes. Prior to this role, she has worked in WILPF’s disarmament programme, where she supported the organisation’s monitoring, advocacy, and research on a wide range of disarmament issues. Prior to that, she worked for WILPF’s Human Rights Programme. She has an Honours BA Liberal Arts degree from the University College Maastricht and an MA in Human Rights from the University College London.

Anna Reynolds was first elected as an Alderman to the City of Hobart in 2014 and was elected Lord Mayor of Hobart in November 2018, the third woman to be elected into the role. Anna began her career establishing a community legal centre in North Queensland, after completing her degree at the Australian National University. She has held senior roles in advocacy, policy development and management, including: managing the Australian Conservation Foundation's Parliament Liaison Office; Deputy Director of WWF International's Global Climate Change Program; Chief Executive Officer of the Multicultural Council of Tasmania. As Lord Mayor, Anna is focused on a range of issues including affordable housing, climate change, active transport, and protecting Hobart's heritage. She is a strong advocate for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty through her work with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.  

Natalie Sifuma is a storyteller and creative communications expert, fuelled by the continuous gender-based, African and climate realities. Natalie has communications experience in sectors such as health, education, clean water and sanitation, food and nutrition, gender equality, and climate awareness. She has more recently dived into the pool of gender-based advocacy, using diverse communication approaches to show the crucial role of women in climate leadership. She does this within her role as Head of Communications at SHE Changes Climate. In April 2023 she was a delegate at the Forbes Under 30 Summit Africa. In June she attended the SB58 Climate Change Conference in Bonn where she moderated a panel discussion on the power of international law to address the climate crisis. And more recently, in July, she was a delegate at the Women Deliver 2023 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.