Saving the Environment Women at the Wheel.

The occurrence of what we now refer to as the "industrial revolution" was unprecedented in human history. With the compartmentalization and specialization of knowledge came exciting scientific discoveries and rapid technological advancements. The development of the steam and internal combustion engines, and the discovery of bacteria and viruses, led to extraordinary improvements in the well-being of a significant proportion of world's population.

From the very start, the rise of modern industry and science had its dark side, but the true extent of that dark side did not become evident until the latter half of this century. Localized pollution and the disappearance of animal habitat in the late eighteenth century have given way to environmental problems on a global scale: the thinning of the ozone layer; depletion of fish stocks; the pervasive presence of persistent organic pollutants in human and animal populations; the loss of biodiversity; and the rapid shifts in the earth's climate. While localized environmental problems can, to an extent, be solved by media-specific legislation and technology, problems that are planetary in scale require a sweeping shift in the way we legislate, govern, produce and learn.

This shift has already begun. The collapse of the Berlin Wall brought with it the collapse of a world view dominated by the exigencies of a nuclear balance and an East-West stand-off. With a rapidity that astounded politicians, academics and citizens alike, the world stage was turned on its head. The script was rewritten to include the environment, refugees and women. Even the actors changed; global citizens began to steal the spotlight from national leaders and demand that a broad range of issues finally be dealt with.

The challenge now is to push that shift forward to keep the environment and people in the spotlight. To do so will require an holistic vision of the problems facing humankind and of the solutions necessary to address them. Rising flows of refugees cannot be stemmed without addressing the political and population pressures that often underpin them. These pressures, in turn, require attention to the position of women in their societies and families, to the burdens humans place on the environment, and to the uneven and unsustainable manner in which natural resources are consumed. An approach that recognizes the linkages between the myriad of social and environmental problems facing us today is the only approach that can offer lasting solutions.

In both thinking about and responding to the many challenges that face us, women have much to offer as both scriptwriters and actors on the world stage. While women do not have a monopoly on holistic thinking, theirs and their children's vulnerability to environmental degradation and pollution often result in a greater awareness of the links between the environment and human health. By virtue of their powerful position as consumers and educators, and their rising strength as business and political leaders, women have the opportunity, now more than ever, to implement holistic solutions.

Women in both developing and industrialized countries have proven particularly vulnerable to the dark legacy of the "industrial revolution" and are, as a result, in a position to promote holistic, interdisciplinary responses to that legacy. The experience of Japanese women with environmental pollution, though severe, is typical. The most tragic and infamous case is that of methyl mercury poisoning in the southern coastal city of Minamata. Mercury compounds were used in the production of acetaldehyde and PVC and released untreated into the waters of Minamata Bay. Many women who ate fish contaminated with this mercury became ill or gave birth to severely handicapped children.

The vulnerability of women to environmental pollution has not ended even with the multitude of media-specific laws regulating water, air and soil pollution. With 1,000 new chemicals being marketed each year, many of them inadequately tested, human health continues to suffer. Of increasing concern are endocrine disrupting chemicals, like dioxins, which can impair the neurological and reproductive development of fetuses and young children. Many women who live near garbage incineration facilities - the source of most dioxins in industrialized countries like Japan - worry about the health of the children they already have or wish to have in the future. These experiences qualify women to speak and write about the linkages between the wasteful way in which resources are consumed, the pollutants that contaminate soil and water, and the decline of both ecological integrity and human health.

Women are also in a strong position to develop integrated responses to the environmental problems surrounding them. First, as consumers, women can and do make powerful product choices. In Japan, it is women's demands for environmentally-sound household products and safe food that have led to the rising availability of organic food and reduced packaging.

Greater awareness of the links between climate change and product choices is also leading women to choose more energy efficient appliances. If tax and other incentives are put in place to encourage green consumerism, the positive impact of women's purchasing decisions is sure to rise.

As taxpayers, women can and should demand that their tax contributions are used in environmentally sustainable ways. With rising concern about carbon dioxide emissions, for instance, attention in Japan is beginning to focus on energy consumption in public construction projects. Taxpayers can push for energy assessments of these projects and increased investment in renewable energy. Though the source of energy often appears irrelevant to final consumers, a quick review of the linkages reveals not only climate change, but also air and water pollution, and human rights implications.

The implementation of tax and other policies to encourage environmentally sound decision-making requires political leadership. While there are notable exceptions, this leadership tends to be lacking. In part, this failure of leadership could be remedied by increasing the number of women in positions of political authority. The number of female parliamentarians worldwide stands at approximately 15 per cent. In Japan, the figure is even lower, a mere 8 per cent. This is a serious problem indeed, as it tends to be women parliamentarians who serve as the channel through which citizen groups dealing with women and environment can make their concerns heard by the Government.

To respond to and work with the Government and citizens, business leaders who recognize that good environmental and social corporate policies are profitable in the long run are needed. Again, greater female representation in business could contribute to better leadership in this area. At present, there is a dearth of women in the upper echelons of business. In the United States, only 11.1 per cent of corporate directors are women; in Japan, it is a minuscule 0.2 per cent. Women in politics and business have a special responsibility to encourage other women to follow in their footsteps.

Fortunately, there are many examples at the local, national and international levels where women have made important contributions to the development of holistic thinking and policy-making. It is instructive to recall that it was women who fought for and won the inclusion of a section on women in Agenda 21 - the primary document to come out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Prior to the 1991 Women's World Congress for a Healthy Planet and the United Nations Environment Programme's Global Assembly for Women and the Environment, Agenda 21 was a technocratic document, essentially ignoring the role of people in ensuring a healthy environment and sustainable development.

As a result of the demands at these 1991 conferences that women's voices be heard, a third section was added in Agenda 21 that included not only women but also young and indigenous people, non-governmental organizations, labour unions and other groups. At the preparatory conference in New York, to decide on the content of Section III of Agenda 21, people were divided not by country but by these groupings. In this, I saw the future of the world, where it is not countries but people - women and men, young and old, from every race and creed and continent - who decide what kind of world it is that we want to live in.

The same kind of leadership that moved the United Nations in 1992 to dramatically alter the content of Agenda 21 continues to be necessary, at all levels of society, business and government. Given that 1999 will see the five-year review of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, it is worth making special mention of the need for women to show leadership in the area of population policy. While it was a great achievement on the part of women that the Programme of Action - the main document to result from the 1994 Conference - recognized the importance of reproductive health and rights, it was a great failure that the document did not examine in detail where the environment fit in. Surely, if women are to have the right to reproductive health and if human beings as a whole are to have their most basic needs met, a healthy environment must be a primary concern. Women need to ensure these links are made.

While many barriers remain, more and more women are educators, scientists, doctors, politicians and business leaders. These women have a special responsibility to ensure: that agricultural chemicals and genetic engineering do not endanger the health of the food supply or the environment as a whole; that high quality reproductive health services are made available to those who need them; that girls receive a decent education; that business decisions are made with a firm eye on their environmental and social consequences; and that this planet, our only home, is fit for human habitation.

A paradigm shift is under way in which the environment is beginning to be recognized once again for what it really is - not something to remediate and restore after damage has been done, not something to pillage for short-term gain, but an indispensable life support system for all creatures. Its well-being, therefore, is a prerequisite to human well-being, both physical and social. What is called for is a true "green revolution" which is not premised on manipulating or unsustainably using the environment, but on living within its limits. A true green revolution necessitates the drafting and implementation of holistic legislation, the creation of accounting systems that account for the environment, and the inclusion of people across the social spectrum. Women, as consumers and educators, politicians and business leaders, doctors and scientists, will need to play a major role in bringing this revolution about.