Where leaders have reached just little progress in fighting climate change, global warming may seem a merely theoretical problem, too far in the future. On the other hand, in remote tropical forest nations and islands, local leaders are working to undertake concrete and effective solutions to address climate change in their communities. Experts show that women are playing a key role in this path with the aim to face global warming. Local leaders do not consider environmental issues as a matter of politics, but as a matter of survival. Recent reports have revealed that from the rainforests of Guatemala to the islands of Papua New Guinea, rural communities are losing their homes and livelihoods: their regions face extreme weather and new cycles of drought and flooding that threaten their survival. In this context, women are key actors, experts outline. For women on the frontline of these changing landscapes, the devastating effects of climate change are not merely abstract elements. They can see a future marked by disease, malnutrition and loss of income. Experts stress that the women are taking action to safeguard the environment with concrete instruments that include stopping deforestation in Indonesia to promoting clean energy in Nigeria. Despite the severe impact of climate change, local communities drive their projects forward because their lives depend on them. Local leaders have already reached important and significant results with their climate projects, experts say. However, they receive little attention from funders and climate finance programs. Experts describe that in West Timor, Indonesia, for example, carbon-sequestering forests are burned and plundered for mining and palm oil plantation. In this framework, one courageous indigenous woman risked her life to shut down destructive mining projects. To make another significant example, “Mama” Aleta Baun, a mother of three, staging sit-ins at four local mines, has helped to save the homes and ancestral forests of 130 indigenous families, becoming a figurehead for other indigenous Mollo women. Describing situation like these, experts highlight the importance of the actions of women such as those in West Timor. These actions are bolder, cheaper and more effective than those of large-scale international initiatives, experts have strongly suggested. Solutions to climate change already exist, but not only in the halls of buildings that host international climate meetings, but also on the frontline of the battle to save the environmental safety of our planet, where local leaders are working to overcome the challenges posed by climate change. For local communities, climate change represents an urgent issue. In this context, experts stress that the international funders must invest in the people who have the most to lose, and who are acting now to address environmental issues. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Friday, 28 November 2014 (Source: The Guardian)