Concerned about the climate crisis and increasing threats worldwide to gender equality? So are we. However, we take comfort in the fact sustainable and gender-just solutions already exist, and in the people that are working on them. For this reason, WECF and the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) support incredible grassroots initiatives led by women that champion climate action and promote gender equality, whose efforts are highlighted via our annual Gender Just Climate Solutions Award (GJCS).  

And the time has now come…the 20th of November, 2024 marks our 9th Gender Just Climate  Solutions Awards (GJCS) Ceremony. After much time, passion and discussion, we can finally announce the 2024 awardees! 

The awardees- coming from Brazil, Mozambique and Tajikistan- are due to receive their awards at the yearly ceremony taking place at the United Nations Climate Conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

About the award 

The GJCS award is organized into three categories: 

• Technical solutions 
• Non-Technical Solutions 
• Transformative Solutions 

In recognition and support of their work, each awardee receives €5000, along with tailored mentoring and a capacity-building training programme. Each awardee is also brought to COP29, where they can participate in the climate negotiations, network with other ecofeminist organizations and gain a wider audience for their work.  

We aim to provide a platform to these awardees, allowing them to develop additional expertise and scale their practices- in other words- to make their work more visible to more people. By joining our global network of ecofeminists, the awardees can connect with international organizations and policymakers, bringing their message to the forefront of the global discourse on climate change.  

Read our publication about the 2024 awards and awardees here.

The 2024 GJCS awardees 

We are proud to present the three selected projects of the 2024 Gender Just Climate Solutions Awards 2024: 

• Technical solutions: Anisa Abibulloeva (Little Earth), Tajikistan 
• Non-Technical Solutions: Isabel Prestes Fonseca (Instituto Zág), Brazil  
• Transformative Solutions: Francesca Trotman (Love the Oceans), Mozambique 

Read below about their transformative work! 

Solar Panels = More Independence: Tajik mountain women leading the energy transition

 

Awardee: Anisa Abibulloeva (Little Earth)
Category: Technical solutions
Project: Tajik mountain women leading solar transformation
Country: Tajikistan  

Little Earth is an environmental NGO which aspires to support women living in the mountains in obtaining financial independence, build resilient communities and drive forward a clean energy revolution in Tajikistan on a grassroots, small-scale level.  

In the remote Yagnob Valley, 40 women from 11 villages were trained to build, maintain and use solar energy and green resource-efficient technologies. Previously, the villages depended on firewood and other pollutive fuel sources, which required large amounts of manual labour and  produced high levels of air pollution. The environmental benefits from transitioning to solar energy are multitude: it has reduced the environmental degradation to the fragile ecosystems in the valley, as well as improved the health and safety of the communities living there by reducing the amount of harmful, exhaust fumes. Moreover, due to its focus on gender equality, this initiative has strengthened Yagnob Valley women’s technical skills, facilitated a recognition of their unpaid labour, and involved them in decision-making on both local and national level. Keep up to the date with developments of this project here: https://leworld.org/en.  

About the awardee 
Anisa Abibulloeva grew up in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, in an area which paid little attention to environmental protection. This topic also played no role throughout her school years. However, during university, everything changed: Anisa began to study environmental sciences and became an active, vocal climate activist. As her studies occurred in a rural region, surrounded by mountainous ecosystems, her desire to uncover a local solution evolved. Founding the “Green Community” Club in 2017, Anisa first took steps to promote recycling and environmental awareness within the region. Here, she partnered with USAID on a project called ‘Read with me’, resulting in three children’s book addressing environmental issues in Tajikistan.  

After finalizing her education, Anisa advanced her activism with her blog and continued collaboration with international organisations. In 2019, she eventually joined ‘Little Earth’, where she now supports environmental education initiatives aimed at promoting energy-efficient solutions among marginalised groups. The current focus is on building a stronger environmental movement via youth engagement and by supporting remote mountain communities to adapt to climate change through green technologies. Notably, she has advised UNDP, OSCE and FAO on youth engagement for climate action. In 2022, she won the Tereshkevich Youth Environmental Award for her contribution to environmental protection in Central Asia, and in 2023 at COP28, she was selected as one of 100 youth delegates in the first international youth climate delegate programme. 

Indigenous women defending our earth and our climate: conservation of the endangered araucaria tree

 

Awardee: Isabel Prestes Fonseca (Instituto Zág)
Category: Non-technical solutions
Project: Zág women defend earth and climate
Country: Brazil  

Instituto Zág is committed to saving the critically endangered araucaria pine tree (Araucaria angustifolia), known locally as Zág, and preserving the traditional knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng people in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. The Zág tree holds both a sacred and symbolic value to the Xokleng peoples, and is on the brink of extinction as a result of unregulated human resource exploitation.  

This project promotes the central role of indigenous women in the restoration of traditional practices for the protection of biodiversity by assigning them a coordinating role in implementing reforestation programmes. In particular, they focus on educating young people, reintroducing native tree species, eliminating invasive plants and promoting regenerative agroecology. Instituto Zág is involved in international networks and actively promotes the participation of women in regional and global decision-making processes. They also support the financial independence of women through handicrafts and organic honey production. Follow them on Instagram and keep up to date on their activities here! @institutozag

About the Awardee
Isabel Prestes Fonseca is the Environmental Director of Instituto Zág. For her, the Araucaria tree is a link to her ancestors. Isabel was born on the banks of the Madeira River in the Amazon rainforest. Even as a child, she knew that it would be her job to protect nature and all its creatures – together with other indigenous women in the rainforest who feel the same responsibility. Isabel believes that indigenous women are guardians of the wisdom of their people’s ancestors. As they live in rhythm with nature, and safeguard traditional practices, they can be tasked with the mission to combat climate change.  

Isabel’s own journey began in the village of Bugio, where she planted the first araucaria seedlings. Since then, she has become a global leader: defending the Amazon Rainforest, and promoting awareness of biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. For Isabel, while climate justice is an environmental issue, it is also a matter of fighting for equality and human rights.  

Mozambique: women saving the oceans

 

Awardee: Francesca Trotman (Love the Oceans)
Category: Transformative Solutions
Project: Women leading ocean conservation
Country: Mozambique   

Love The Oceans is an organization working to protect endangered marine life in Jangamo Bay, Mozambique. To do this, they employ a community-based, holistic approach which incorporates research, education and campaigns into their work. They also seek to build expertise and create local jobs with a sustainable entrepreneurship mindset.  

Love The Oceans has invested heavily in the education of young women, improving their knowledge of oceans and technical skills. For example, they have trained the first five female swimming instructors and lifeguards, and certified the first female divers in the district.  

Their combination of marine conservation with gender equality has particularly manifested itself in their innovative women-led shellfish aquaculture projects. Here, women are trained in aquacultural production, facilitating their economic autonomy, scalable self-sufficiency and promoting long-term climate resilience and intergenerational change. A true transformative effort! Read more about it here: https://lovetheoceans.org/  

About the awardee
Francesca Trotman, founder of Love The Oceans, grew up in the UK. Despite growing up far from the sea, she fell in love with sharks at a young age.  

She completed a Masters in Science in Marine Biology at the University of Southampton and is now completing  a PhD at the University of Newcastle. Her studies in marine biology and passion for underwater stories transported her to Mozambique. There, she first learnt about the shark fin trade – the starting point for everything that followed. To find out more about this  trade, she initiated a research project to collect data on Mozambican fisheries. The findings of this study indicated that the shark fin industry is highly unsustainable. To improve the statistical significance and scientific basis of these results, Francesca founded Love The Oceans. Together with marine biologist Yudmila Chunguane, she is now driving the mission of Love The Ocean forward.   

Are you a journalist/press & interested in the projects?  

For an interview with one of the winners, please contact Mayra Salazar Volkmann, mayra.salazarvolkmann@wecf.org   

About the Women and Gender Constituency  

The Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) is one of the nine stakeholder groups of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Founded in 2009, the WGC now consists of 27 women’s and environmental civil society organisations working to ensure that women’s voices and rights are included in all processes and outcomes of the UNFCCC Framework for a Sustainable and Just Future, so that gender equality and women’s human rights are centered in ongoing discussions.