by Rena Levin, AWC Oslo
Many hearts were warmed by photos like this from Davos 2019. How could they not be? Looking at each other with mutual respect and admiration, young climate change activist Greta Thunberg and scientist and conservation advocate Jane Goodall spoke to the ongoing struggle to care for our planet.
The picture was also gratifying because it illustrated the leading role women have been and are playing in this struggle. Or maybe I should specify women of all ages. The movement Thunberg started is being led around the world by people like her: teenage girls. Vanessa Nakate (Uganda), Autumn Peltier (Canada), Ridhima Pandey (India), Nina Gualinga (Ecuador) and Ralyn Satidtanasan (Thailand) are some of the many who refuse to accept the environmental destruction they see.
The media has taken notice of teenage girls at the helm. It is interesting and encouraging to see. It may also be novel due to their young age, but in advancing the cause, these girls are continuing a long-standing, sometimes unrecognized and often underappreciated history of female environmental advocacy.
In the Beginning: Forgotten Contributions
Chances are that regardless of whether or not you read Walden (1854) in school, you have probably heard of Henry David Thoreau. 
Susan Fenimore Cooper c.1855 Venerated for this and other works about nature and philosophy, this renowned father of the conservation movement had, in fact, taken a page from Susan Fenimore Cooper. Her book Rural Hours (1850) was one the first works of nature writing in the US. It was a diary of observations of plants, animals, weather and rural life in Cooperstown, New York that also called for forest conservation. According to an article about the re-discovery of this “forgotten naturalist,” in addition to inspiring Thoreau, Cooper’s work impressed Charles Darwin.
It needs but a few short minutes to bring one of these trees to the ground; the rudest boor passing along the highway may easily do the deed; but how many years must pass ere its equal stand on the same spot!
- Susan Fenimore Cooper on deforestation.
Rural Hours was a bestseller in its day. Within five years after it first came out, the book went through seven American publications and one in Britain. Additional versions were published in 1868 and 1876. This suggests that the forgetting of this mother of the conservation movement and her seminal work did not happen until later.
Shortly after Susan Fenimore Cooper published Rural Hours, another woman conducted experiments on how different gases were affected by sunlight. Does this line of thinking ring a bell? It should, because upon finding that CO² trapped the most heat, Eunice Foote became the first scientist to theorize about what is now called the greenhouse effect. Despite her important finding and some recognition of it in scientific circles at the time – including the reading of her article “Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays” at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science – Foote’s contribution has also been forgotten.
John Tyndall, who published his paper on the same topic three years after Foote, is generally credited with the discovery. It is not known whether Tyndall had heard of Foote’s work or not, but as the author of an article about her in Time wrote, “What might Foote have achieved if she had Tyndall’s access to training and resources? We can only imagine. Perhaps we can understand, if not abide, that Foote was hobbled by the conventions and limitations of her day.”
Taking Action: Access to Nature, Environmental Issues and Social Change
Starting in the second half of the nineteenth century, industrialization and urbanization led to an era of social reform. Similar to today’s environmental justice movement, advocates for change
Octavia Hill painting by John Singer Sargent 1898 recognized the connection between the environment and quality of life, especially for those at the margins. Octavia Hill is one example. A driving force for housing for the poor, she set up her first housing project in London in 1864. Ten years later, there were 15 projects providing shelter and services to approximately 3,000 people. Note the word “services.” More than just places to live, her housing projects were designed to help and empower residents. Rent collection was carried out in person by women who acted as social workers There were organized activities and tenant associations. Her housing projects also featured playgrounds and gardens.
Rooted in her belief that access to natural spaces was vital for well-being, Hill led campaigns to prevent development in areas ranging from suburban London woodlands to the Lake District. As she put it in an article urging London landowners to provide places for the poor to sit, play, stroll and spend a day in, the fields around London were, “…valuable in the deepest sense of the word; health-giving, joy-inspiring, peace-bringing.” Unsurprisingly, Hill was part of a trio that established the National Trust – it is through this organization that her legacy is best remembered today.
Jane Addams, 1915 Chicago Daily NewsOn a similar note, across the pond, Jane Addams helped uncover environmental health concerns such as lead poisoning a
Jane Addams stamp 1940nd industrial smoke. Addressing them was a key part of her pioneering Settlement House Movement on Chicago’s South Side.
There are more women to be found in the advancement of environmental causes in the US around the turn of the twentieth century, including the founding of the Audubon Society to save birds from the lucrative but destructive feather trade, and the establishment of National Parks. Though I lack time and space to do more research, I have no doubt that there are many more important stories of women around the world making environmental efforts during this pivotal period.
A woman whose work was recognized more recently is Wangarĩ Maathai, (photo left: Maathai and Obama in Nairobi photo by Fredrick Onyango Creative Commons 2.0 Generic License). She was the first African woman and the
Gro Harlem Brundtland 2007 Photo: Harry Wad first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The 2004 prize recognized her for founding and building the Green Belt Movement (GBM). GBM is a Kenyan grassroots conservation organization that encourages rural women to grow seedlings and plant trees. Maathai started GBM in response to local consequences of environmental degradation like lack of clean water and firewood. It was a community action organization born of lived experience that promoted sustainable development 10 years before the term was introduced to the world by another woman, Gro Harlem Brundtland (former prime minister of Norway and Director-General of the World Health Organization). In 1989, GBM expanded its focus to urban environments and started wading into advocacy to stop major construction in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Maathai passed away in 2011, but the important and successful work of the Green Belt Movement continues.
Appreciate History and Make Women Visible
In 1962, Rachel Carson published her groundbreaking book Silent Spring. This thoroughly researched and alarming account of the harmful side effects of pesticide use on nature became the clarion call of the modern environmental movement. Carson’s efforts and what they led to are venerated today, but what may not be well recalled are the incredible challenges she faced. Her work put her squarely at odds with the chemical companies and a government that used their products with little concern about the long-lasting effects of doing so. As if that weren’t enough, being a woman meant that the media, which Carson needed to further call attention to the issue at hand, liked to focus on her as a person. She felt this type of attention distracted from the cause and tried to discourage it. Five decades later, teenage climate activists face similar issues.
Be they activists, scientists, or artists, women have made and are making invaluable contributions to understanding and protecting our precious planet. Where do your interests lie? Whatever they may be, take time to do some research. Find women who have contributed to that issue, learn about their work. and do what you can to make them visible. Chances are that you’ll be inspired, and that by sharing their stories, you will encourage others who share that interest.
