Jun 20, 2026
“Some people say that the climate crisis is something we have all created. But that is just another convenient lie. Because if everyone is guilty, then no one is to blame.” —Greta Thunberg It is hard not to notice that most of the world’s authentic movers and shakers are women. For the last ten years I have been asking myself and other people why this is. Surely it is not only because women are increasingly better educated than men. True, they make up the greater percentage of university graduates. But look at who’s attending protests for the rights of Nature or human rights. Visit classes that focus on the climate and ecological crises, and you’ll see that 75% or more of the participants are women. Why have men marginalized themselves to such a degree as to be almost irrelevant to social justice movements that include community participation? Certainly the chief aspiration of men is not to be a trillionaire or a half-baked authoritarian. This is extremely dangerous for an increasingly fragile democratic society. This article zooms in on how women have reinvented partnership societies and are leaving patriarchal type people bewildered. It wasn’t always like this. Read on. One of the most important books of the 20th century was The Chalice and the Blade, written by Riane Eisler in 1987. Its focus on Minoan civilization, which flourished in Crete from about 3000 BCE to about 1100 BCE, brings to the forefront what can be achieved by a society that cherishes the contributions of women. Over a thousand years of peace prevailed there. Eisler writes: “But with all of this, the many images of the Goddess in her dual aspect of life and death seem to express a view of the world in which the primary purpose of art, and of life, was not to conquer, pillage, and loot but to cultivate the earth and provide the material and spiritual wherewithal for a satisfying life… Contrary to the prevailing view of power symbolized by the Blade—the power to take away or to dominate—a very different view of power seems to have been the norm in these Neolithic Goddess-worshipping societies.” Listen to an exploration of the book at https://tinyurl.com/chalice-blade It should not come as a surprise, then, that after the destruction by male invaders of Crete more than 2000 years ago the Goddess’s followers would rise again to begin transforming present dominator societies. Through the last 60+ years women such as Rachel Carson and Jane Goodall have persevered in protecting Nature as well as human society from undemocratic and rapacious behaviour. They have been at the forefront of standing up to male dominance that would otherwise have destroyed the ecological fabric of many societies. It has become apparent that women have overwhelmingly become the leaders to protect local and regional communities from grotesque ecological and social inequities. Women like scientist Rachel Carson had to overcome enormous prejudice from the male dominated chemical industry in the 1960s, which launched campaigns against her solid scientific research
Jun 8, 2026
“Clearly, right now, climate change and environmental issues are not perceived as being high priorities for Canadians, and therefore they’re not priorities for the government.” —Steven Guilbeault The UN designated June 5 as World Environment Day (WED) in 1973, and it is hoped that by holding discussions on that day each year on a particular Nature-oriented theme even ordinary people would join in by making the protection and health of Nature an ongoing priority. Each year, a new country is the ambassador for a highlighted major world ecological concern, and actions are put into place to mitigate those concerns. This year Azerbaijan focuses on climate action and various biodiversity solutions that need to be initiated in light of the ongoing climate crisis in that country. https://tinyurl.com/nature-day We now find ourselves at a critical crossroads: current climate science is not being considered by governments’ economic policymakers. The University of Exeter and Carbon Tracker have released a report, “Recalibrating Climate Risk,” whichexplains “why economic models used by governments, central banks and investors are increasingly understating climate risks as the world moves towards 2°C. It shows how this can create a false sense of security—and why decision-makers should act now rather than wait for perfect models.” https://tinyurl.com/tracking-risks Let’s take two examples that highlight the need to bring together urgent climate and biodiversity concerns that clash with persistent economic growth models. Earth’s largest creature, the endangered blue whale, is on the cusp of not having enough krill (their main source of nutrition) to eat in the Antarctic, for two reasons. Climate is changing rapidly there, so the sea ice is melting, leading to a lack of protection for baby krill to feed. Furthermore, huge factory ships are sucking up thousands of tonnes of krill in the very areas that blue whales and other marine animals go to for sustenance. The craze for krill oil as a nutritional supplement has led for a demand to double the legal catch limit. For individuals to help blue whales recover, the remedy is simple: don’t buy krill oil. Some major pharmacies are already discontinuing stocking it. Rhona Kent, polar oceans programme manager at WWF-UK, explains: “Antarctic krill are the powerhouse of the Southern Ocean, and mismanagement of the krill fishery is having a major negative impact on species which depend on krill. WWF is calling for an immediate moratorium on krill fishing and a review of the sustainability certification issued by the Marine Stewardship Council.” Last October, states Yale University’s E360 report, “Norway began lobbying the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which manages the krill fishery, to double the allowable take in the Southern Ocean. The krill industry is worth as much as US$900 million annually.” https://tinyurl.com/krill-whales On the other side of the world, Iceland’s pristine cold waters are being contaminated by a burgeoning business of intensive aquatic farming. There, too, rising climate heating is contributing to a crisis for the Icelandic salmon. Currently, new Icelandic legislation is about to capitulate to the salmon industry and permit an increase in the size of the cages used in salmon
