Cool: Women Leaders Reversing Global Warming

Description

Women and girl leaders around the world are guiding organizations that are reducing - and over time reversing - the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming. Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney, Australia, who's vowed to reduce city government emissions by 70% by 2030. Already, she's made Sydney the first Australian city to be declared carbon neutral. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Inuit activist, who sees her indigenous people as climate change sentinels for the world, and levers their observations, experience, and knowledge of the Arctic to benefit people everywhere. Fifteen thousand Sri Lankan women who raise and plant "miracle trees," mangroves, which sequester five times more carbon dioxide than tropical trees in the Amazon Rain Forest. Nelleke van der Puil, Vice President of Materials at LEGO, who is developing plastic made with plants instead of oil, which is transforming her company's products. Women are especially effective leaders when it comes to combating global warming. Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, architects of the 2015 Paris Agreement, report that "Nations with greater female representation in positions of power have smaller climate footprints. Companies with women on their executive boards are more likely to invest in renewable energy and develop products that help solve the climate crisis. Women legislators vote for environmental protections almost twice as frequently as men, and women who lead investment firms are twice as likely to make investment decisions based on how companies treat their employees and the environment." For this book, Paola Gianturco and her 12-year-old granddaughter and co-author, Avery Sangster, interviewed and photographed heads of grassroots organizations, activists, politicians, corporate executives, scholars, and presidents of nonprofits in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Tanzania, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Canada and Hong Kong. All of them are using intelligence, creativity, and courage. COOL: Women Leaders Reversing Global Warming tells their important, inspiring stories in their own words and suggests action steps so you can join them on this existential journey.

Paola Gianturco, author-photographer, has documented women's issues in 62 countries for six powerHouse Books. Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon (2012) won four first place literary awards in categories as diverse as multicultural nonfiction and women's studies. Wonder Girls: Changing Our World is third in a triptych. Women Who Light the Dark described women activists; Grandmother Power told about grandmother activists. Paola's images have been exhibited at the United Nations, UNESCO, The US Senate, The Field Museum/Chicago, The Museum of the African Diaspora/San Francisco, The Norton Simon Museum/Pasadena, The Grand Rapids Public Museum and more. She lectures internationally, presented a TED talk in Dubai, and has been a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR and Voice of America programs among others. Paola serves on the advisory boards of two nonprofits: Rise Up/Let Girls Lead (which empowers girls to advocate for policy change) and Global Grandmothers (who support children in need internationally). In 2013 Paola was listed among "40 Women to Watch Over 40," and in 2014, Women's e-News named her one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century. Avery Sangster is Paola's granddaughter and co-author. Avery interviewed and photographed women leaders across the United States and Tanzania. She is used to thinking about global issues; she and her sister created a children's program at an annual international poverty conference, and led it for seven years. Passionate about reversing global warming, she mobilized her classmates to create an environmental website. Avery's Invitation to Action, the final chapter of the book, is a powerful call for all of us to engage with the issue.

"Paola Gianturco has done it again! Her newest book, COOL, written with her granddaughter, Avery Sangster, documents the contributions of women saving the planet, this time addressing global warming. Diverse women are the most powerful force on Earth to create a better future for all, and COOL tells their compelling stories with a beauty that gives hope. -- Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland, Founder, The WISE Fund (Women Invested to Save Earth) "What a timely and welcome book! The women and girls portrayed in COOL are making a difference in combating climate change and we all need to learn about and from them. Once again Paola Gianturco has beautifully surveyed everyday activism across the globe, this time in partnership with her granddaughter Avery Sangster, whose generation inherits this challenge." -- Estelle Freedman, Co-founder of the Program in Feminis "For decades, Paola has been bringing us incredible images and stories from around the world about women, change and the power of grannies. True to form, she now pairs up with her granddaughter about the climate emergency. And the results? An utterly gorgeous playful scrapbook filled with heroine stories and recipes, every day solutions and bold new ideas. As someone working at the frontlines of the climate crisis and human rights I know just how many people are asking 'what else can I do?' In this essential and hopeful book, you'll be inspired and activated to make change for sustainable living with your family and community in honestly joyful ways because these ordinary and extraordinary women show us how." -- Joanna Kerr, Former Executive Director of Greenpeace, Canada "According to new research, Paola says women are especially effective at changing the environment for the better. So she - along with her granddaughter Avery Sangster - compiled COOL, the first photographic book to chronicle the work of female climate leaders globally and show us the way to a livable planet." -- Stacey Gualandi * The Women's Eye * "COOL highlights new perspectives coupled with the energy and wisdom of female leaders. The book's action orientation distinguishes it from other climate books. Fresh perspectives and new vantage points make COOL a page turner." -- Cynthia Eisenberg, World Wildlife Fund's Northern Great Plains Advisory Committee