1 Million Women's focus is specific. We engage women from the developed world – women who live privileged lives by global standards - to act on dangerous climate change through the way we live, through our everyday consumer choices and through how we spend our money.
Australia is a large and wealthy country of only 23 million people, yet we are consuming at a current rate that is 150% more than the planet can cope with and there is a misguided belief that more and more stuff will somehow make us happy. If everyone lived like we do in Australia we would need 4 planets, not just the one we have.
How we live, the choices we make and what we do with absolutely every dollar we spend directly affects the planet, the climate and future generations.
And women of the developed world have enormous power to make a difference. In Australia we make an estimated 85% of the purchasing decisions that affect our household carbon footprints. We are over half of the Australian electorate. We are powerful natural networkers and have huge influence in the consumer market place.
When you join 1MW you can chose from a variety of measurable programs that directly cut waste and pollution, and that save money in the process. We focus on key areas of daily life – to reduce overconsumption, food waste, wasted household electricity, transport to get us from A to B, sharing, and above all of this the economic power of women.
Our website shows you how to cut a tonne of pollution out of your life. There are over 50 ways to do this. You chose activities that work for you and there is a place to update your progress and stay connected.
And the 1 tonne is just the catalyst to do more and we have a variety of measurable programs that our members can follow.
Women feel proud and empowered to be part of 1 Million Women.
We are a connected community through our social media, our communications and all of our community programs that focus on cutting waste and pollution in our daily lives. Our whole approach is about the difference we make as a collective, by acting as individuals.
It’s practical action in our daily lives that leads to power, that leads to finding your voice and leads to putting pressure on governments and corporations, and it’s this kind of real practical everyday action that ultimately leads to a new way of living.
And it’s crucial that profound behaviour change starts in developed economies. It’s a key piece in solving the climate crisis and 1 Million Women is aiming to be a key player.
Our goal over the next 3 years is to become a global movement of women ushering in a new way of living. In 2014 we are launching our 1 Million Women empowerment program – enlisting an army of women to be change agents in their communities giving them the measureable tools and support they need to engage and mobilise women everywhere to act on climate change through their economic power and their everyday choices.
We’re not waiting for governments. We rise above politics and we are reaching women way beyond the green belt.
Just imagine the impact we could make if we could take 1 Million Women to the households of the United States and Canada, to Europe, to Japan and so on.
Our model is simple and the possibilities of what we can do in engaging women and households in the developed world are endless.
There is no time to waste and we need your help. We need your connections, we need financial assistance and we need support.
We are hoping to meet people here at this COP who can help us to grow our community and take 1 Million Women out across the globe.
Thank you so very much to Christiana Figueres and the United Nations for this incredible honour and opportunity.