Adriane Leveen is senior lecturer in Hebrew Bible at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Her books include “Biblical Narratives of Israelites and their Neighbors: Strangers at the Gate” (2017) and “Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers” (2008). Her passions include teaching Biblical prophets and the Book of Job. As a volunteer, “Ace” is a co-founder of Jewish Climate Action Network NYC and on the Third Act Faith Coordinating Committee. She also serves on the advisory board of Adamah, a Jewish organization working on a more sustainable future for our earth through collective action.
‘We are All Under One Roof’
On Sept. 19, I find myself heading down 44th Steet in Manhattan toward the United Nations, where its General Assembly is in session. I am invited by my friend Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, a member of Third Act Faith and an inspiring 30-year climate activist, to join a unique climate gathering at the United Nations Church Center. As I head to 44th and First Avenue, I navigate through packed streets of representatives from member states heading to their meetings with an energy and vitality one could feel in the air, including a focus on climate.
I am at the U.N. with the hope that 75,000 marchers on Sunday, Sept. 17, have made their boisterous presence felt and their demand for urgent action on the climate emergency heard. The march, among the largest climate protests held worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, reminds world leaders that we are still here, holding them to account.
When I arrive at my destination, I find a gathering of women from the Global South, all leaders in various climate groups, who refresh my determination to carry on as a witness and participant in our own Third Act Faith as we search for common ground.
The Sept. 19 meeting was sponsored by the organization Faith for our Planet. On one of its posters, this faith-based nongovernmental organization describes its focus: “A global interfaith coalition equipping faith leaders with knowledge, networks and skills to inspire climate activism.” As an example of their work, Faith for Our Planet recently hosted training sessions with a particular emphasis on Global South nations that included Pakistan, Bangladesh and Gambia. The organization relies on a crucial assumption — that religious leaders can inspire and incorporate their power and, crucially, the power of their faith traditions to act globally.
The women’s conference took Faith for Our Planet’s mission two steps further, raising the power and potential of female change-makers focused on climate in the Global South and releasing a “Declaration of Inclusivity” at the end of the meeting.
Conference organizer Farwah Gulamali Khataw described the declaration as a series of “recommendations curated in consultation with a panel of women experts to enhance participation and representation of women of faith in the Global South” in climate leadership and international dialogue. Among its recommendations, the declaration calls for an ecosystem of connection and the expansion of meaningful representation for women of different ethnic and religious identities within decision-making groups.
The idea of more meaningful representation has interested me ever since I met and read the work of Dr. Christina Ergas, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.1 Her research definitely made an impression on me. In one study, a quantitative analysis of national research data, she and co-author Richard York found that effective climate decisions are made when a gathering’s participants contain “a critical mass of women in decision-making positions.” Simply put, things get done, progress is made when women are part of the decision-making.
And here I was in a room full of such women, many representing South Asia and Africa. Rabbi Bernstein eloquently captured the atmosphere: “I’m inspired by the opportunities a conference mainly oriented toward women can bring to the climate crisis. Women have a particular aptitude for nurturing relationships and communities and paying attention to the body and its intuitive wisdom.”
“Faith in Her” dares to imagine a network of religious leaders from various religious backgrounds — Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish and Christian. The conference was exhilarating and often moving.
I would like to briefly introduce Third Act Faith to some extraordinary women standing up for our planet:
We were welcomed by the Rev. Dionne P. Boissière, chaplain of the U.N.’s Church Center. She spoke slowly because she had a stammer. But she knew that if she whispered or sang, the stammer went away, so she did both. Listening to her clear, strong voice, singing of unity and success in our united work, I felt her determination, flexibility and joy were precisely the combination we needed to continue this uphill battle to save our planet.
Rohey John Manjang, the minister of environment from Gambia, emphasized the importance of female leadership in her country and concluded her comments by addressing the fact that we were all from different faith traditions but “are all under one roof” — the same vast and threatened sky. We burst into applause at this metaphor for the gathering and its potential to build on our collective power.
A panel followed. Nana Firman, senior ambassador from GreenFaith told us she had learned to use the Koran’s reverence toward our planet to help inspire and motivate Muslims to engage in climate work. Ambassador Ismat Jahan, former permanent representative of Bangladesh to the U.N., has long worked to eliminate discrimination against women. She offered examples of women who fought fiercely to keep their families alive when facing drought or flood, made worse by climate change. She reminded us that women in the Global South are the frontline. A third member of the panel, Priyanka Srinivasa, focuses on equity, inclusion and belonging as a manager at the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks in New York. She is also a co-founder of #IWillGo Out — one of India’s most significant protests against gender-based violence.
Each of these women illustrates not only inspiring leadership but also how gender and the repercussions of our rapidly warming planet are tightly entangled and call for creative solutions that will endure. They were inspired by their own faith backgrounds to work in climate, and yet the unity they felt for one another, and we felt with them, powerfully stood out.
Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, another example of powerful female climate leadership and a representative of the Jewish tradition at “Faith in Her,” gave a moving keynote speech. Since the conference was held between the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, Rabbi Bernstein beautifully conveyed a message rooted in Judaism that also captured our shared global concern, “all of us under one roof.”
The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is the day that the earth and all the creatures were born; each year at this time, we and the whole creation are renewed. The language of awe and renewal helps to tune me into the earth and its seasons. The trees communicating with each other through vast mycelial networks, the planets running their circuits in the sky, the very miracle that I am a breathing, pulsating being in this body speaking to you all.
The Hebrew word for awe, “yira” also carries the meaning of fear, dread, terror. And indeed, this is true of the English word awe — when you consider the word “aw-ful.” The space between awe and fear is thin indeed. And this combination of awe and dread is my natural state these days. I am simultaneously awed by the connectedness that underlies all life, and horrified by the imminent possibilities of destruction when those connections break down.”2
This conference illustrates just how those connections can be renewed and strengthened.
May it be so.
Additional Resources By and About Women in Climate Work
“All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” (Book) edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson. (2020)
“A Matter of Degrees” (Podcast) hosted by Leah Stokes and Katharine Wilkinson, who “tell stories about the powerful forces behind climate change — and the tools we have to fix it.”
“As She Rises” (Podcast) hosted by Leah Thomas, who brings together local poets and activists to tell the stories of climate impact in their communities in North America.
Gender Climate Tracker (Website). Women’s Environment and Development Organization.
“Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth-Honoring Faiths” (Book) by Melanie L. Harris. (2017)
“How Gender Equality Can Save The Planet, Episode 19” (Podcast) co-hosted Katharine Wilkinson, who hosts “A Matter of Degrees,” and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, who hosts “How To Save A Planet.” The podcast features an interview with Christina Ergas, Anne Karpf. and Wanjira Mathai.
“Love and Compassion: How Women Can Address the Climate Crisis” (Article) by Ellen Bernstein. Religion News Service. (Sept. 19, 2023).
“Meet 5 Women Who Are Using Science to Help Save the Planet” (Article). U.N. Environment Programme. (Feb. 10, 2023).
“Short-Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States” (Book) by Leah C. Stokes. (2020)
“Why Climate Science Needs More Women Scientists” (Article) by Renee Cho. State of the Planet, Columbia Climate School. (Feb. 11, 2022).
“Going Deep” is one of two newsletters published by Third Act Faith. Our other newsletter, Third Acts of Faith, provides our members and subscribers with all the latest “News & Views” for that month. It is usually published on the third Thursday of each month.
“Women’s status and carbon dioxide emissions: A quantitative cross-national analysis” by Christina Ergas, Richard York in “Social Science Research Journal.” Recent research on women in organizations demonstrates that for decision-making patterns to change, a critical mass of women in decision-making positions must be achieved. Women likely need to hold around one-third of decision-making positions; otherwise, their voices may be ignored, they may feel too intimidated to comment, or they may not be particularly representative of women in general, having been selected because their views were consistent with the men in the organization (McKinsey and Company, 2007; Buckingham, 2010). As an example of how more gender-balanced representation can matter for the environment, a study for the European Commission found that local municipalities with a higher percentage of women in positions of authority have higher recycling rates than municipalities with fewer women managers (Buckingham et al., 2005).
Similarly, several cross-national studies have shown that having a significant number of women in positions of power does affect decision-making outcomes. One such cross-national study identified differences in nations’ environmental treaty ratification based on the percentage of women in parliament, i.e., countries with higher proportions of women in parliament ratify a greater number of environmental treaties (Norgaard and York, 2005). Likewise, a United Nations Development Report (2007), looking at the years 1990–2004, documented that among the 70 most developed nations worldwide, 18 had stabilized or reduced their carbon emission. Of these 18 nations, 14 had a greater-than-average percentage of women as elected representatives (Buckingham, 2010). In addition, Shandra et al. (2008) found that in nations with a higher proportion of women’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), per capita rates of deforestation are lower. Given these results, women’s participation in the decision-making process may prove invaluable for addressing climate change.
For a fuller version of Rabbi Bernstein’s remarks, see “Love and compassion: How women can address the climate crisis,” Religion News Service (Sept. 19, 2023).