Carole Theobald, from Perth in Australia, leads Zonta’s climate justice campaign ‘Zonta Says NOW’, which focuses on the impact of climate change on girls and women around the world. Did you know that a 1-degree rise in the average annual temperature can lead to a 5 per cent increase in violence against women? Heat triggers higher stress levels, food crises, and more fights and arguments. Carole was born in Scotland, grew up in a military family, attended numerous schools in different countries and has lived in many cultures. These experiences have made her aware of her own privilege. A key moment in her career was working in Indonesia, where she experienced gender equality in the work context for the first time. Carole tells us about her extraordinary life and provides interesting insights into the work of Zonta Says NOW. She highlights the importance of taking gender-equal climate action to build a better world for women and girls such as Dabor, a 9-year-old girl from drought-ridden Sudan who has to walk further every day to fetch water, leaving her no time to attend school; Aayan, an 11-year-old girl from Mozambique, who was forced into child marriage after her family lost everything in a flood; and Maria a 79-year-old woman in Australia whose heart condition is exacerbated by extreme heat, who cannot afford air conditioning and must walk to the local library each day to sit in the cool.
