PICTURES: Forres Women's Climate Strike hold vigil to mark International Women’s Day

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners in Moray have held a special vigil this afternoon mark International Women's Day.

Forres Women’s Climate Strike held the event today (Wednesday March 8) to draw attention to how women are affected by climate change.

Environmental Campaigner Rachel Winter said: “Since we started our regular Friday lunchtime vigils, we’ve talked a lot about how women and girls, particularly in countries least responsible for human induced climate change, are often disproportionately impacted by it. Their voices are often effectively silenced in negotiations about what to do about it.

"But what we haven’t talked about so much is how the crisis offers humanity a chance to make positive changes that will allow us to share resources more fairly and live more healthily and happily. That is what our vigil is about today.

"The Chinese word for crisis beautifully encapsulates this, being comprised of two characters, one meaning ‘danger’ and one meaning ‘change point’. The head of the UN, António Guterres, has said that the climate crisis poses an ‘existential threat’ to humanity. But it also presents an opportunity for us to transition to a way of life that is more in harmony with the natural world upon which we depend.”

Forres Women’s Climate Strike are part of the Women's Climate Strike movement who will be holding vigils across the country to mark the day. Members of the group have also joined with Christian Climate Action to hold a banner bearing the message 'Women Rise Up for a Liveable Planet' from Stirling Castle’s battlements after an early morning projection onto the Wallace Monument.

Women who cannot make the in-person events across the country have also been tweeting pictures of themselves holding placards saying what a future liveable planet should include. Photos on twitter show women holding signs saying ‘Women Rise Up for Biodiversity’, ‘Women Rise Up for Climate Justice’ among others.

Group member Julia Tucknott said: “Climate chaos is absolutely a women’s issue and that’s why we wanted to bring more attention to it on International Women’s Day.

"Women around the world are already suffering from the impact of climate change and because women are more likely to live below or close to the poverty line, they are bearing the brunt of the cost of living crisis. This is driven in part by high global gas prices, which we would not be so vulnerable to if we had ended our dependency on fossil fuels earlier.

"And yet our government is still dragging its heels when it comes to taking the level of action required and UK cabinet ministers have been warned that they face court action because of their catastrophic failure to develop policies for tackling climate change.”