(Virtual launch event for the new report at 1:00pm Eastern Time, September 12)

Download the report: https://www.wecaninternational.org/divestment-report

USA — As part of national and global efforts to lower carbon emissions, stop fossil fuel expansion, and halt the worst effects of the climate crisis, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) has released the fourth edition of The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions in a call for immediate divestment from fossil fuels to protect communities and our global climate.

The report spotlights nine case studies and data, addressing the disproportionate gender and race-specific health and safety effects as well as Indigenous rights issues of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure in the United States and selected parts of Canada—interlocking problems that have been sorely neglected in the discourse regarding fossil fuel extraction. The report exposes the role that financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, and insurance companies, play in preserving and perpetuating negative gender and racial health and safety impacts due to fossil fuels. From the proposed LNG terminals in the Gulf South to the Willow Project in the Western Arctic, the report aims to bring attention to regions impacted by the fossil fuel industry and the financial institutions responsible for financing them.

To learn about the report, WECAN is hosting a launch event with affected women leaders who will share their testimonies and expertise on the health impacts of fossil fuels in their communities.

What: Virtual Report Launch: The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions

Date: Thursday, September 12, 2024

Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Location: Virtual via Zoom; register here.

About the Report

The report provides scientific evidence and frontline accounts of the harms women in marginalized communities face, including increased risks of cancer, reproductive harm, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and mental and emotional distress related to air pollution and water contamination caused by the fossil fuel industry. Health impacts resulting from fossil fuel-derived contamination exacerbate women's caretaking roles when sickness and disability amongst children, elders, or other community members occurs, leading mothers to be more exposed to stressors and report more significant strain, burden, and distress than their male counterparts. The report analyzes complicit financial institutions and offers comprehensive recommendations for healthy communities.

Maricruz Ramirez, Community Organizer with the Center on Race, Poverty, & the Environment, states: “This year, the American Lung Association released their State of the Air report, and the numbers were frightening. The city of Bakersfield alone had over 14,000 pediatric asthma cases; that’s not normal… it is because of the air we are breathing in… Even our schools will have days where if the air quality is on the really bad scale on the index, the children have inside playground time instead.”

This report also acknowledges the crucial role that Indigenous women play as leaders in their communities while highlighting the imminent threat to women’s bodily autonomy posed by the fossil fuel industry.

Rene Ann Goodrich (Bad River Ojibwe), Native Lives Matter Coalition, and Wisconsin Department of Justice Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force Member: "The correlation between the contributing factors of the Missing/Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIW/R) crisis and pipeline construction is well known and documented. The increased presence of oil industries in and around tribal communities and lands directly corresponds with the significant increase of violence against Indigenous & tribal peoples, specifically and majoritively women & girls.”

The report spotlights Vanguard, BlackRock, Capital Group, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America, and Liberty Mutual as primary financiers of harmful fossil fuel projects within the regional case studies. All nine financial institutions have voiced support for the Paris Climate Agreement and adherence to human rights standards via public statements or by signing various international frameworks. Yet, they continue to finance companies whose operations disproportionately harm women and communities of color while also violating Indigenous rights and furthering the climate crisis.

Gwendolyn Jones, Founder of Climate Conversation: "Freeport was pure and clean, now we are no longer able to live on the land, the water is no longer clean or drinkable… What do financial institutions hope to accomplish? How can they look their children and grandchildren in the face? All they did was put money in their own pockets and kill people.”

The report outlines risks for financial institutions and recommendations for internal policy changes. Financial institutions are exposed to various risks, including regulatory risks, stranded assets, physical and transition risks of the climate crisis, and reputational risks. The report details recommendations financial institutions need to adopt, including committing to the phase out of existing fossil fuel financing and adherence to Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and human rights. To implement steps forward, the report also advocates for a Just Transition to a renewable and regenerative future that uplifts communities most impacted by environmental degradation, pollution, and the climate crisis.

Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN and co-author of the report, states: “The fossil fuel industry, and their financiers, are leading us further down the path of irreparable climate disaster, and we need to understand who is being harmed first and worst by their actions. If we want to address the climate crisis truly, we must lead with climate justice, and that means understanding the gendered and racial impacts of the fossil fuel industry. We are calling on financial institutions to be leaders by taking action to halt the financing of fossil fuels and instead invest in a Just Transition. We want no more sacrifice women, no more sacrifice zones, and no more sacrifice zip codes. The fossil fuel era is over, and the time is now to transition to renewable, regenerative energy and a healthy and equitable future for all.”

If you are interested in learning more about the report or speaking with affected frontline women, please contact Katherine Quaid, katherine@wecaninternational.org