With a US Administration that seems hostile if not down right destructive when it comes to acting on climate change, we have found the book “DRAWDOWN, the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming” to be a breath of fresh air and a replenisher of our climate hope.
Edited by Paul Hawken and compiled with input and consultation from a coalition that includes more than 200 researchers, business leaders, scholars, and change makers from across the globe… including geologists, engineers, agronomists, researchers, fellows, writers, climatologists, biologists, botanists, economists, financial analysts, architects, companies, agencies, NGOs, activists, and other experts”… the information presented in the book has been widely fact checked, reviewed, and validated.
Drawdown lists and ranks the 100 solutions to climate disruption, with educating girls number 6 on the list. While we instinctively know that education begets knowledge, and that with knowledge comes power to change, to invent, and to heal; how does educating girls actually help solve the climate crisis?
According to Drawdown:
“Education lays a foundation for vibrant lives for girls and women, their families, and their communities. It also is one of the most powerful levers available for avoiding emissions by curbing population growth. Women with more years of education have fewer and healthier children, and actively manage their reproductive health.
Educated girls realize higher wages and greater upward mobility, contributing to economic growth. Their rates of maternal mortality drop, as do mortality rates of their babies. They are less likely to marry as children or against their will. They have lower incidence of HIV/AIDS and malaria. Their agricultural plots are more productive and their families better nourished.
Education also shores up resilience and equips girls and women to face the impacts of climate change. They can be more effective stewards of food, soil, trees, and water, even as nature’s cycles change. They have greater capacity to cope with shocks from natural disasters and extreme weather events.”
We would like to draw your attention and your active help to a campaign to advance the education of girls in Pakistan. Join us in lighting up schools in Pakistan, a country on the front lines of climate change.
Our friend and colleague Asif Iqbal is the campaign lead. Asif is a climate leader and volunteer Manager for the Climate Reality Project in Pakistan. Asif is raising funding through Generosity to install solar panels in small schools in Pakistan. In Pakistan, 48% of schools are without electricity. In many areas in Pakistan temperatures during the summer can be more than 40°C. School conditions often are unbearable, as children spend 4 to 5 hours of their class hours in extremely hot weather, without running fans. Among the more than 25 million children in Pakistan out of school – most of these children are girls and most of these girls are in poor families.
Donate to light up the schools now – $1000 is enough to power up each school through the purchase of 4 solar panels, a battery, connection wire and installation. These systems will help run 3 fans and 6 energy saver lights in each school. Volunteer to be part of the team, share this campaign with others; together we can make a difference as we work together to create a livable world for our children and for us.
Yours,
Climate Mama
