Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy
It was a year like no other: 2020 brought a deadly pandemic, crippling recession, protests against racial injustice, and bitter political division—all against a backdrop of unprecedented climate change impacts. At the same time, we saw the skies clear over cities that are usually shrouded in pollution, along with a record-breaking (if temporary) drop in carbon emissions. We saw a long-overdue reckoning with systemic racism, including its ghastly toll in human life and its grotesque distortion of democracy.
However disturbing the reasons, 2020 was a year that ruptured expectations and forced us to step outside the rhythms of daily life. From this unfamiliar vantage point, we could imagine a different future, as discussed in the new publication, Resilience Matters: Reimagining the Future in a Tumultuous Year, edited by Laurie Mazure. GRI Director of Strategic Research Collaborations, Jennie C. Stephens, contributed the essay “Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy,” which examines the role of female leadership in policy-making addressing climate change.