“There is no more room for complacency. This is not a problem for the future, or for those in countries traditionally viewed as vulnerable to extreme weather. The effects of climate change on women’s health are being felt here in the UK, now.”

- Dr Ranee Thakar President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Birth Companions and Wen (Women’s Environmental Network) invite you to this lunchtime webinar to celebrate the publication of our new policy paper looking at the implications of the climate emergency for reproductive justice in the UK.

The climate and biodiversity emergency poses severe challenges to reproductive, maternal, infant, and child health. We are already seeing the substantial effects that air pollution, toxic chemicals, extreme heat, climate migration, food insecurity, and other factors can have on our ability to conceive, sustain healthy pregnancies, and birth and parent our children in safety. And we know that women facing poverty, inequality, and disadvantage, and those from Black and Brown communities disproportionately bear the impacts of these factors.

As we look for solutions to the climate emergency, we urgently need to incorporate a focus on reproductive justice.

The intersectional, rights-based framework of reproductive justice, developed by Black and Indigenous women in the United States in the 1990s, is a powerful tool with which to centre the needs and experiences of marginalised groups facing inequality and disadvantage; and to determine opportunities for action at individual, local, organisational and national levels.

Join this lunchtime webinar to hear:

• Birth Companions and Wen discuss our new policy paper
• Presentations from guest speakers (to be announced)
• Q&A session on reproductive justice and the climate emergency

Guest speakers (more to be announced):

Lola Fayokun, Youth Climate Justice Campaigner, member of Advisory Board, Uplift

Lola is a young climate campaigner. She is heavily involved with the UK Student Climate Network, the grassroots network hosting youth climate strikes in the UK. Her role with the network has seen her involvement in the organisation and delivery of Britain’s largest climate protests in history, as well as several educational projects and collaborative actions with groups such as Greenpeace and Green New Deal UK. Her work is centred around promoting an anti-racist vision of climate justice. You can contact her on Instagram @lola.fayokun and Twitter @femlxla.

Olamide Raheem, Portfolio Manager, Impact on Urban Health

Olamide is a Portfolio Manager working in the Health Effects of Air Pollution programme and Innovation function at Impact on Urban Health. 

Helen Lynn, Health Advisor, Wen

Naomi Delap, Director, Birth Companions

Kate Metcalf, Co-Director, Wen

Register for the event

This policy paper and lunchtime webinar event form part of the Feminist Green New Deal programme.

We will send you a zoom link closer to the time.

Birth Companions is a charity founded in 1996 to support pregnant women, mothers and babies who experience inequality and disadvantage. Our vision is that every woman has the care and support she needs to ensure her health and wellbeing, and to give her baby the best possible start in life. We aim to improve women’s lives, protect their rights, and drive improvements in the care they and their babies receive. Birth Companions has developed a response to the climate and biodiversity emergency to ensure the charity has less impact on the environment; we have committed to being leaders in this area within the women’s sector, sharing information, policy and best practice; and we encourage other organisations to act with us. For more information about environment and sustainability at Birth Companions visit: https://www.birthcompanions.org.uk/pages/115-environment

Wen (Women’s Environmental Network) was founded in 1988 to offer a different way of thinking and acting on environmental issues, recognising that the environmental movement often overlooked the perspectives and voices of women. To answer this imbalance Wen established an approach that brought gender-sensitive issues to the forefront and continues this revolutionary method today. Wen fights global problems around gender, health, equality and our environment by taking action on issues affecting our bodies, homes and neighbourhoods. We work alongside communities supporting action and get a real-world understanding of women’s lived experiences in the process. With this knowledge, we create collaborative partnerships with organisations, academics and policy makers to launch projects and campaigns that make a real difference and improve lives. For more information about Wen visit: https://www.wen.org.uk/