Study Shows: More Women Leaders = Cleaner Environment A recent
study published in the journal Social Science Research has
confirmed what those involved in Earth Day Network’s Women and
the Green Economy (WAGE)® campaign have been saying for a long
time: Getting more women into leadership positions is good for
the environment. Specifically, the study says that it lowers a
country’s CO2 emissions. The study was authored by sociologists
Christina Ergas and Richard York of the University of Oregon,
Eugene. They write: We find that CO2 emissions per capita are
lower in nations where women have higher political status,
controlling for GDP per capita, urbanization, industrialization,
militarization, world-system position, foreign direct
investment, the age dependency ratio, and level of democracy.
This finding suggests that efforts to improve gender equality
around the world may work synergistically with efforts to
curtail global climate change and environmental degradation more
generally. The authors say they don’t