Sisters on the Planet is an initiative sponsored by Oxfam International, a confederation of 14 organizations working with over 3,000 partners in 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.

 In March, for International Women's Day, Sisters Nancy Audette and Mary Pendergast joined 150 women from around the world for an intimate look at climate change. We met with leaders and ambassadors from government, global women's groups, environmental protection offices, and adaptation and mitigation policy directors -- women who know first hand that climate change is a reality that affects us all, but disproportionately affects women in poor communities throughout the world.

We learned several facts about women in developing communities:

• Women are the key providers for the family and the community. They often stay behind in harm's way when disaster strikes. Their safety and resilience in the face of catastrophe largely defines the entire community's ability to adapt or recover from tragedy.
• Women produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most developing countries. Their work, such as working in the fields and collecting water and fuel, is greatly affected by climate change.
• Women make up roughly 70 percent of the world's poor. They are disproportionately represented among those living below the poverty line and therefore have less access to resources and services.
• Women's empowerment is critical to finding climate solutions. Given their central role in the family and community, women have invaluable knowledge about creating and implementing innovative solutions to address resource constraints and adaptive strategies to respond to disasters. They are more likely to try new methods and technologies, are more prone to working in groups, and take the lead in response to environmental degradation, even while their voices continue to be marginalized.

Many in the U.S. are unaware that our national security relies on human security abroad. Climate-exacerbated impacts will increase poverty, hunger, migration and conflict over scarce natural resources.

As drought increases and food production declines, many people will be forced to move from rural to urban areas, leading to more people crossing national borders, including those of the U.S. and Europe. Meanwhile, U.S. agencies, including state and local governments and the military, will be called upon to respond to more severe natural disasters here and abroad.

On our second day in Washington, we learned how to lobby in the Senate and the House. In an hour we learned about "asking and closing points" and formed teams to address the legislators of every state. Then all 150 of us went off to every office on Capitol Hill with our key messages:

• Helping communities to adapt is a moral imperative and demonstrates U.S. leadership in avoiding the unmanageable and managing the unavoidable;
• International adaptation is a matter of national and global security;
• International adaptation creates economic opportunities for U.S. businesses and workers.

To people of faith, and to Sisters of Mercy in particular, this is a kairos moment. Decisions made now will have consequences for all life, for all time. We who are "impelled to act in harmony and interdependence with all creation" have several options. We can educate ourselves, our students and co-workers, and our legislators, and we can speak to our elected officials.

Contact your local, state and national policymakers and ask them to take urgent action on comprehensive climate change and energy legislation. Ask your senators to support and co-sponsor S2835, the International Climate Change Investment Act, which creates a framework for action. Ask your representative to co-sponsor House Resolution 98, which recognizes the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and their efforts globally to implement solutions.

The global 350 movement has many individual actions for reducing our carbon footprints. Go to www.350.org/oct10 to join the international "Global Work Party" scheduled for 10/10/10.

By Sister Mary Pendergast

From left, Claudine Schneider, former Rhode Island Representative; Nancy Audette, RSM; Mary Pendergast