Girl Scout Thin Mints Are Putting Our Planet on Thin Ice

In an effort to squeeze profits from cookie sales, the Girl Scouts national headquarters has opted for cheap ingredients, cheap packaging and cheap prizes to incentivize sales. The real cost of these decisions comes at a high price—and in the end, we will all pay for the environmental damages.

The unsustainable choices of today’s Cookie Program undermine the purpose of a beloved, long-standing American custom.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: U.N. Report Shows How Far We Are From Gender Equality; the Intersection of Gender Parity and Climate Change

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: a new U.N. report warns it will take 300 years to achieve gender equality at the current rate of progress; the need to fast track gender parity as a climate solution; Burlington, Vty., expands its use of ranked-choice voting; and more.

The Ms. Q&A: Jenny Odell on ‘Saving Time’ and Escaping the Clock

When Jenny Odell talks about “saving time,” she doesn’t mean what you might think—finding ways to live more “efficiently,” to optimize your life, to fit more hours into every day. 

In her new book, ‘Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock,’ the ‘How to do Nothing’ author explores the clock as a tool of domination from the earliest days of global conquest and colonization to the modern-day work week which seeks to colonize our minds and attention spans, in search of a conception of time that isn’t painful—but rather, liberatory. 

Ms. Global: Nigerian Elections; Spain Gains on Abortion and Trans Rights; Earthquake in Turkey and Syria Jeopardizes Pregnant Women

The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.

This time with news from Spain, Nigeria, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey and more.

Landmark Global Biodiversity Agreement Enshrines Rights of Indigenous Peoples—Providing Hope for Bolivia’s Guarani

After more than four years of negotiations, on Dec.19, 2022, nearly 200 nations adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework—a binding agreement to protect at least 30 percent of the world’s biodiversity within 2030. The agreement represents a significant step forward towards rights-based, gender just and socially equitable biodiversity conservation.

There is hope that the agreement will help to return stolen lands to communities and ensure the rights of Indigenous peoples—like the Guaraní of Laguna Chica, Bolivia, located in the Yaku Agüa territory by Bolivia’s southern border with Argentina.

War on Women Report: Abortion Unavailable in 14 States; Harvey Weinstein Is Guilty; Tucker Carlson Named ‘Misinformer of the Year’

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This month: WNBA star Brittney Griner is home; abortion is unavailable in 14 states, the number of women experiencing police force is rising; Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of sexual assault; Fox News star Tucker Carlson was named ‘Misinformer of the Year;’ and more.

COP27’s Newest Headliner: Environmental Justice

As the U.N.’s COP27 conference wraps up, we encourage decision-makers to shift their focus to equity-centered solutions such as local clean energy workforce development and training. Governments and businesses can then financially invest in local communities of color after years of colonialism and environmental racism. In this way, those most likely to be impacted will see financial benefits from climate policy. The same way corporations do.

Environmental justice must be at the forefront of every conversation about climate change.

What’s Wrong With This Picture? (COP27 Edition!)

Running from Nov. 6-18, the United Nations COP27 conference brings together political leaders and representatives from 190 countries to discuss climate-related topics including climate change adaptation, climate finance, decarbonization, agriculture and biodiversity.

And from the looks of the photos emerging already from day one, women’s representation at COP27 is practically nonexistent.