--- title: Women's Climate Leadership Is More Important Than Ever description: In her new book, Catherine McKenna talks about the power of women to drive change. canonical: https://time.com/7320420/women-climate-leadership-catherine-mckenna-excerpt/ author: Catherine McKenna article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-09-25T15:20:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:19:12.103Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Women's Climate Leadership Is More Important Than Ever og:description: In her new book, Catherine McKenna talks about the power of women to drive change. og:url: https://time.com/7320420/women-climate-leadership-catherine-mckenna-excerpt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a1cb7c60d856c9/6998ca0fa97fc0dc1da74b23/women-girls-climate-action-leadership.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Australians Gather As Part Of Global Climate Strike og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Women's Climate Leadership Is More Important Than Ever twitter:description: In her new book, Catherine McKenna talks about the power of women to drive change. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a1cb7c60d856c9/6998ca0fa97fc0dc1da74b23/women-girls-climate-action-leadership.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Women's Climate Leadership Is More Important Than Ever Right Now > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Catherine McKenna](https://time.com/author/catherine-mckenna/) ## Catherine McKenna Sep 25, 2025 3:20 PM UTC  Girls protest ahead of a climate strike rally on Sept. 20, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. Girls protest ahead of a climate strike rally on Sept. 20, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. Jenny Evans—Getty Images by [Catherine McKenna](https://time.com/author/catherine-mckenna/) ## Catherine McKenna Sep 25, 2025 3:20 PM UTC After a decade of working on climate, I’m more convinced than ever that empowering women is one of the most effective ways to make real change. From boardrooms to classrooms, negotiating rooms to communities, and on the streets, women are stepping up to demand urgent action and push for change. They speak hard truths, challenge the status quo, and refuse to back down. And while the journey is often lonely and the work is incredibly hard, women are pushing us forward, one step at a time. The facts are undeniable: women are two and a half times more likely to demand government action on climate. They’re 60% more likely to use their voices to advocate for change and twice as likely to engage civically on the issue. Companies with more women in leadership roles are more likely to take decisive climate action, including disclosing their emissions. Women leaders in government, business, and civil society are driving progress. As Ugandan climate activist [Vanessa Nakate](https://time.com/collection/earth-awards-2023/6272883/climate-questions-answered-by-vanessa-nakate/) said: “The most powerful force against climate change is a woman.” Look at [Greta Thunberg](https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/). What started as one young woman’s solitary protest in front of the Swedish Parliament grew into a global movement that mobilized millions of people and pushed governments—including Canada, which I was part of—to take stronger climate action. Reflecting on the U.N. COP21 climate negotiations, it’s clear that women played a pivotal role in the success of the Paris Agreement. The women I met in Paris weren’t just there to participate—they were leading, negotiating, and shaping the course of those critical discussions at every level. Their leadership was integral to the deal we struck. I also saw the power of women firsthand again in 2018 when I hosted the "Women Kicking it on Climate Summit" as Canada’s minister of environment and climate change. Women from around the world came together to ensure that the Paris Agreement’s goals were met and to push for ambitious solutions. The energy in that room was electric. The connections we made helped move the global climate agenda forward, reinforcing that women’s leadership is not just important, it’s essential. After leaving politics, I founded “Women Leading on Climate,” a global network of women leaders committed to driving climate action. In 2024, with the We Mean Business Coalition, we launched a global network at Climate Week in New York. Our event was a resounding success. We set a clear agenda: to demand global leaders triple renewable energy, phase out fossil fuels, and develop new, bold climate plans. Leading climate champions, including [Laurence Tubiana](https://time.com/author/lawrence-tubiana/) from France, Patricia Espinosa from Mexico, and Jennifer Morgan from Germany, delivered powerful messages about the urgency of collective action. Ana Toni from Brazil spoke about the leadership of Brazilian women on climate and announced the formation of a local network ahead of this year’s COP30 in Brazil. One of our victories came when women leaders, led by Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, successfully called out the Azerbaijani government for excluding women from the COP29 organizing committee. It was absurd, given that women make up half the population and are at the forefront of advocating for more ambitious climate action. Following our push, women were appointed. It was a small but important victory. At COP29 last year, we presented an advocacy letter to U.N. Secretary-General [António Guterres](https://time.com/collection/earth-awards-2023/6272884/antonio-guterres-climate-change-apology-great-great-granddaughter/), signed by women leaders from business, politics, and civil society, urging bolder climate action and committing to support his efforts. We also launched the #WomenLeadingonClimate social media campaign, reaching 14.6 million people led by voices from leaders such as Nakate, Sophia Kianni, Arizona Muse, and Tori Tsui. This campaign empowered women around the world to share their stories, call for more ambitious climate leadership, and demand policies that prioritize climate justice. Today, our network spans the globe with over 500 members and chapters in Canada, the E.U., Australia, and Brazil delivering practical action. Looking ahead, [Women Leading on Climate](http://womenleadingonclimate.org) will continue to grow and push for bold and transformative change. At a time when many countries are backtracking on climate commitments, women’s leadership is more crucial than ever. With so much green hushing today, where country leaders and CEOs fail to even mention the words “climate change,” women understand that we need to stand up, speak out, and keep going. _Adapted from_ Run Like A Girl: A Memoir of Ambition, Resilience and Fighting for Change. _Copyright © 2025_ [_Catherine McKenna_](https://www.catherinemckenna.ca/)_. Reprinted by permission of_ [_Sutherland House Books_](https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/product/run-like-a-girl/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7320420/women-climate-leadership-catherine-mckenna-excerpt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7320420/women-climate-leadership-catherine-mckenna-excerpt/"},"headline":"Women's Climate Leadership Is More Important Than Ever Right Now","datePublished":"2025-09-25T15:20:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:19:12.103Z","description":"In her new book, Catherine McKenna talks about the power of women to drive change.","url":"https://time.com/7320420/women-climate-leadership-catherine-mckenna-excerpt/","keywords":["climate","climate change","Excerpt"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a1cb7c60d856c9/6998ca0fa97fc0dc1da74b23/women-girls-climate-action-leadership.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Catherine McKenna","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/catherine-mckenna/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0a1cb7c60d856c9/6998ca0fa97fc0dc1da74b23/women-girls-climate-action-leadership.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Australians Gather As Part Of Global Climate Strike","caption":"Girls protest ahead of a climate strike rally on Sept. 20, 2019 in Sydney, Australia.","creditText":"Jenny Evans—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate/","name":"climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7320420/women-climate-leadership-catherine-mckenna-excerpt/","name":"Women's Climate Leadership Is More Important Than Ever Right Now"}}]}] ```