In 2020, while the world stood still during lockdowns, the urgency of the climate crisis couldn’t be paused. That year, Latin America faced a crucial moment: the Escazú Agreement, a treaty linking environmental protection and human rights, needed three more ratifications to enter into force.

 

Across the region, civil society mobilized, launching campaigns to pressure governments into action. 

It was during this campaign that Latinas por el Clima was born.

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As we worked to amplify the treaty’s importance, we saw a glaring gap: the realities of the Global South, extractivism, colonial legacies, and the systemic inequalities shaping the climate crisis, were missing from global conversations. The voices of those most affected, girls, youth, women, and marginalized communities, were absent and ignored.​

 

Today, Latinas por el Clima is a growing network of young women and girls from across Latin America, fighting for an intersectional and inclusive vision of climate justice. We aim to amplify the role of girls, youth, women in all their diversity, and dissident gender communities in this cause. We achieve this by making the ecofeminist perspective visible, driving political advocacy, promoting education and empowerment around the climate crisis through a gender lens, and supporting ecofeminist projects across the region.​

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Why Changing the Narrative Matters in the Climate Fight

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We’ve heard the same narrative repeated for years, politicians and corporations shifting the blame for the climate crisis onto individuals, urging us to recycle more, reduce our carbon footprints, and make greener choices. While these actions matter, they barely scratch the surface of the issue.

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When you think of the climate crisis, what comes to mind? Perhaps images of melting ice caps, polar bears, or plastic pollution. While these are real and urgent issues, they only tell part of the story. The climate crisis isn’t just an ecological problem, it’s about entire ecosystems, including the lives of people within them. We must add a social layer when thinking about the climate crisis, because it doesn’t affect everyone equally.​

 

The most vulnerable regions and communities face the harshest impacts, despite contributing the least to the problem. Rising sea levels, polluted water sources, and extreme weather disproportionately affect those who already experience systemic inequalities. Yet, we often overlook the people behind these struggles, not only those suffering the consequences but also those fighting to protect their territories, their communities and the planet.​

 

One of the biggest oversights in the climate conversation is the exclusion of environmental defenders and human rights defenders.

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The climate crisis needs to be seen as a human rights crisis, not only because it deepens gender and social inequalities but also because, behind every environmental issue, there are defenders risking their lives to fight against it.​

 

When we talk about deforestation, why don’t we talk about Indigenous peoples and local communities giving their lives to protect their forests? When we discuss water or air pollution, why don’t we highlight the populations fighting for their survival? Every environmental issue is tied to a story of resistance. Indigenous peoples, rural communities, and women have been on the frontlines of these battles for decades, safeguarding ecosystems while demanding justice.​

 

We need a structural shift in the narrative, one that dismantles the colonial and imperialist systems perpetuated by extractivist multinationals responsible for the threats, criminalization, and violence against defenders. Until we don’t see the full picture, until we recognize that the climate crisis is inseparable from human rights, there will be no real progress. Defenders must not only be seen as victims of the crisis but also as key actors in its solutions. Their knowledge, resistance, and protection of territories are essential to achieving climate justice.

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Intersectionality: Addressing Inequality to Achieve Climate Justice

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If the climate crisis is about more than rising temperatures, then our fight must go further too. We need to think about the inequalities that this crisis makes worse, also by seeing the different layers of inequality.

 

Women often have the extra burden of finding food and water during disasters, as these resources become harder to access. Indigenous peoples and marginalized communities, who have protected their lands for generations, face violence and are forced to leave their homes because of industries exploiting their land. They also lose their cultures and livelihoods because of the destruction of nature and the impacts of climate change.​

 

These layers of harm connect back to a system that benefits the Global North. Countries with the highest emissions and wealthiest economies have built their success on the exploitation of resources from the Global South. Multinational corporations and financial institutions fuel this system, driving extractive industries like mining and fossil fuels, which devastate local environments and displace communities.

 

This dynamic creates a cycle where the Global North remains one of the main drivers of the climate crisis, yet it’s often the most vulnerable people who pay the price. Addressing this injustice starts with recognizing the layers of inequality within the climate crisis. It’s not just about the environment, it’s about dismantling systems of exploitation, colonialism and inequality.

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Real climate solutions must hold the Global North accountable, by fighting for climate justice. This means ending financial support for industries that harm the planet, demanding reparations for the damage caused, and valuing the leadership and experiences of those on the frontlines, Indigenous peoples, women, and local communities, who have been protecting the environment for decades.

 

Intersectionality helps us see how these inequalities are connected. It reminds us that it is all about justice. There can be no climate justice without social justice, gender justice, racial justice, etc. Justice must guide every solution we create, so no one is left behind in the fight for a fairer and more sustainable world.

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Representation in Policies: Nothing About Us Without Us​

 

All of what we’ve discussed, changing the narrative, addressing inequalities, and embracing intersectionality, is essential. But why? Why do we need awareness of the scale of the climate crisis and its inequalities?​

 

The answer is simple: we need to understand what’s wrong in order to fix it. The biggest issue is that critical perspectives are often left out of conversations and negotiations. This exclusion is rooted in the very systems we’ve mentioned before, systems that are anything but fair. If those who are directly affected, defenders, women, youth, marginalized groups, children, and others, are not heard or included, the solutions will always be incomplete and unfair. We cannot build real answers to the climate crisis without the insights, knowledge, and leadership of those living on the frontlines.

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This is where youth play a crucial role. Changing the narrative is one of the most powerful tools we have, but to use it effectively, we must be included.

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We often hear that “youth is the future.” If that’s true, then let us lead it! Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow; we are agents of change today. But for this, our participation must go beyond symbolic gestures. Youth must be included in decision-making spaces, not as tokens, but as leaders shaping a more just and equitable future. The solutions we need cannot come from the same systems and perspectives that created the problem. After 29 COPs (UN Climate Change Conference), we are still facing the same crisis. It’s time for new voices and new ideas to take the lead.

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Democratizing the Message: Bridging Awareness, accountability and action

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Why is it that so many people know about the climate crisis, yet so little action happens? Maybe it’s because of how the message is shared.

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We need to change the way we talk about the climate crisis, not just to understand it better, but to inspire action. This means connecting the crisis to people’s lives and showing how it affects them. We need to humanize the crisis, making it less distant and more real.

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This means democratizing the message, making it more accessible to all by breaking down barriers that limit understanding and engagement. Climate solutions and knowledge must be shared inclusively, ensuring they transcend gaps in language, technology, and education. In doing so, we must also ensure a balance among all knowledge systems, scientific, Indigenous, and community-based, because no single perspective should dominate. Everyone has a role in dismantling systems that prioritize profit over people and the planet, holding governments, corporations, and institutions accountable based on the protection of our land and rights. It is an opportunity to unite our fights, or align with them, in creating a world rooted in justice, intersectionality, and global solidarity.