To highlight the consequences of the tar sands' impacts on women and their communities, a delegation led by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams begins Tuesday, touring the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline route through Alberta and British Colombia.
The Breaking Ground: Women, Oil & Climate Change delegation from the Nobel Women's Initiative aims to show the "perspectives rarely taken into account by decision makers" by gathering and amplyifying the voices of women who will suffer from tar sands and climate change impacts.
"As peacebuilders and community leaders, women around the world have been at the forefront of movements to reduce the impacts of climate change and build healthy, sustainable environments," the group writes.
Describing the importance of the campaign, Williams says that "while people look at environmental issues, people look at climate change... very few look at it from the perspective of women. And unfortunately, like in too many situations of crisis around the world, the women and their children are the ones who suffer the most when their environment is destroyed."
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