logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2021
52m 23s

How Gender Equality Can Save The Planet

Dr. Leah Stokes, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson
About this episode

This episode is a collaboration between A Matter Of Degrees and the Gimlet podcast How To Save A Planet.

Take a look at many of the spaces where climate-related decisions are being made — from government to business to media — and you'll notice a numbers problem. Despite being roughly half the people on the planet, women rarely have equal representation in critical climate decision-making spaces. This isn’t just bad for women. It’s bad for everyone. 

In this episode, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson (our host) and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (host of Spotify's How To Save A Planet)  take a deep dive into the data behind this idea. They speak with two sociologists about how gender inequality in climate leadership can deepen the harmful impacts of climate change, and also hinder policy changes. 

They also speak with someone who has seen firsthand how women can transform an entire nation when they lead on climate.

This episode features Dr. Christina Ergas, Anne Karpf, and Wanjira Mathai.

Resources:

Follow our co-hosts and production team:

A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio. For more episodes, visit our website.

Up next
Sep 9
The Sun Is Having Its Day
”In the midst of a lot of big, bad things happening, there's one big good thing happening on planet Earth right now.” Today on A Matter of Degrees, we’re bringing back the podcast’s very first guest — legendary activist and author Bill McKibben. Bill’s latest book, Here Comes the ... Show More
48m 22s
Aug 26
Cash In On Clean Tech Incentives (Before It's Too Late)
Donald Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” took a sledgehammer to U.S. climate policy, including tax credits for clean cars and appliances. These incentives were helping people cut pollution, lower their energy bills, and make their homes more comfortable. Trump’s bill ... Show More
37m 8s
Apr 2025
The Climate Crisis Is Breaking Insurance
Thousands of people lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires. Now, they’re looking to their insurance companies to help them rebuild. But as the world warms, disasters like these are becoming more frequent and more severe, exposing an insurance system that isn’t equipped to ... Show More
35m 50s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
Women in Climate: Gender gap
While climate change affects us all, it doesn’t affect us equally. Women, particularly those in marginalised communities, are disproportionately impacted by climate change through the exacerbation of existing inequalities. Across the world, women depend more on, yet have less acc ... Show More
33m 36s
Feb 2025
Women in Climate: Maintaining momentum
AI was the talk of the town at Davos 2025, which focused on ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’. At last year's summit climate change held centre stage, but significant headwinds now threaten the progress that’s been made. A climate-sceptic president has been elected in the U ... Show More
42m 54s
Apr 2025
We Proved Trans Women are Men - Maya Forstater
Maya Forstater is a British gender-critical activist and co-founder of the organization Sex Matters | SPONSOR. We use Ground News to escape the echo chamber and stay fully informed. Go to https://ground.news/triggernometry to save 40% on the Ground News unlimited access Vantage p ... Show More
1h 10m
Apr 2024
Naomi Cahn, et al., "Fair Shake: Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy" (Simon & Schuster, 2023)
A stirring, comprehensive look at the state of women in the workforce--why women's progress has stalled, how our economy fosters unproductive competition, and how we can fix the system that holds women back.In an era of supposed great equality, women are still falling behind in t ... Show More
1h 7m
Apr 2024
87 | The Politics of Left-Wing Climate Realism w/ Dr. Ajay Singh Chaudhary
In this episode, we are joined by Ajay Chaudhary to discuss his book The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World and the political, economic, and affective sites of exhaustion reproduced through climate degradation. We examine the expanding colonial relations of what ... Show More
1h 14m
Sep 22
The sun will save us
Bill McKibben has spent four decades warning us about climate change. Much of what he predicted has come true. And yet, his new book Here Comes the Sun is more hopeful than you might expect. That’s because, for the first time, we have a genuine alternative: Solar and wind energy ... Show More
47m 8s
Jul 2024
What's The Biden Administration Doing For The Environment?
White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi is here to tell us all about the major policy efforts that are making historic gains in the fight against climate change. Jonathan and Ali cover it all: from Ali’s journey to this work, to environmental justice concerns, to the many ... Show More
47m 10s
Mar 2024
No Offence, But... by Gina Martin
How to have difficult conversations, for meaningful change.We break down Gina Martin's book addressing how to navigate some of the worst conversation-stoppers and poor thinking in our culture today.It also features chapters from other widely recognized speakers on the topics of e ... Show More
44m 9s
Dec 2024
Sara Cantillon et al., "Feminist Political Economy: A Global Perspective" (Agenda, 2023)
Challenging mainstream narratives in political economy, the new book Feminist Political Economy: A Global Perspective (Agenda Publishing, 2023) serves as an introduction to a new era of critical research. It is written by Prof. Sara Cantillon, Dr. Sara Stevano and Prof. Odile Mac ... Show More
32m 5s
Jun 2025
552. The Feminism Debate: Can Women Have It All? | Megyn Kelly
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and journalist Megyn Kelly dissect the cultural and psychological forces reshaping modern gender dynamics—particularly the rising unhappiness among young women, the suppression of traditional masculinity, and the consequences of empathy-driven institutions. ... Show More
1h 15m