By Jess McCabe | 22 April 2008, 16:21

Today is Earth Day. I feel like I bang on all the time about the interconnectedness of environment and gender oppression (most recently here).

And only yesterday, the UN released a report warning that large-scale production of biofuels (substituting petrol with vegetable oil and ethanol alternatives) “may increase marginalization of women”:

“Unless policies are adopted in developing countries to strengthen the participation of small farmers, especially women in biofuel production by increasing their access to land, capital and technology - gender inequalities are likely to become more marked and women’s vulnerability to hunger and poverty further exacerbated,” said Yianna Lambrou, co-author of the paper entitled Gender and Equity Issues in Liquid Biofuels Production - Minimizing the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities. “Biofuel production certainly offers opportunities for farmers - but they will only trickle down to the farm level, especially to women, if pro-poor policies are put in place that also empower women.”

Check out the Women’s Environment & Development Organisation, this post at F-email Fightback and this explanation of ecofeminism, for more info. And Ask Umbra at Grist for practical tips on greening your life.

For those wanting to get deeper into this area, I just recently discovered this Yahoo! group for people active on both gender and climate change issues.

Photo by Gilbert R., shared under a Creative Commons license