100 Women come together for Climate action & Women Empowerment

​On March 22, 2018 HER Planet Earth and '100 Women Doing Good' co-organised an event entitled 'Women in Exploration' in celebration of International Women's Day. The event, held a the ParkRoyal on Pickering Singapore, was sponsored by Philanthropist Brian Gillies, VP of Globaleye Financial Advisory, and aimed to raise awareness and funds for charities focused on Climate Action and Women Empowerment.

Lisa Montford, Events Director for 100 Women Doing Good shared “The overall aim of our events is to increase awareness of local charities, whilst raising funds for their vital work, and making meaningful connections, not only with the charities but with all the great women who take the time to come out and show their support. Most importantly, we want to establish a better understanding of the reality of vulnerable people in Singapore and in the region and help make a positive impact on their lives.”

The event beneficiaries were charities that champion underprivileged and abused women as well as environmental conservation initiatives. The non-profit entities that were invited and highlighted on the night were: 

• Zero Waste Singapore
• The Singapore Committee for UN Women
• AWARE Singapore 
• The UN's #WomenLeadClimateAction programme in Cambodia - an initiative that educates underprivileged women in rural Cambodia and engages them in environmental issues and conservation activities, ultimately helping them build longer-term climate change resilience. 

A passionate supporter of empowering women for a healthier planet, Christine Amour-Levar, Founder of HER Planet Earth, stated "We organise challenging self-funded expeditions around the world to raise awareness and funds for underprivileged women affected by climate change. This is because women are among the most vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation. While climate change is a global phenomenon, its effects are felt locally, and poor people suffer the most. Among the world’s 1.3 billion poor people, the majority are women."  

All in all the event raised over 17,000 SGD for the charities present. This is in addition to the 15,000 SGD raise by HER Planet Earth's Antarctic team via their recent climbing expedition to the frozen continent.

In January 2018, HER Planet Earth's self-funded team of six women from Asia, Europe, Africa and North America successfully claimed the first ascent of two unnamed mountains in Antarctica’s Heritage Range. The mountains were named ‘Mount Gaia’ - ‘Gaia' is ancient Greek for the Goddess Earth - and ‘Mount Malala’ in honour of the Nobel Peace prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, who embodies courage and women empowerment in the face of injustice. 

The women chose Antarctica because it is a powerful symbol of what is happening to the environment since it is also fighting for its own survival. In fact, Antarctica, the world’s largest desert, which is 98% covered in ice, is melting at an alarming rate. The continent is losing large chunks of ice the size of cities from its coastline as a result of global warming, and when these icebergs melt and increase sea levels, this could have catastrophic consequences for our planet. 

​A short film about their expedition was premiered at the Women in Exploration event. You can watch the clip below: