Podcast Summary: "Women, Nature, and 2030: A Transformational Global Climate Solution"
LSE: Public Lectures and Events | January 20, 2026
Guest: Zainab Salbi (Co-founder, Daughters for Earth)
Host: Naila Kabir (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Main Theme & Purpose
This episode features humanitarian and women’s rights leader Zainab Salbi delivering a lecture at the London School of Economics. Salbi shares her journey from illness and personal transformation to co-founding Daughters for Earth, a philanthropic fund and movement mobilizing women in environmental protection. She presents fresh research and lived experiences demonstrating how women’s leadership offers innovative, integrative pathways to address the climate crisis—emphasizing hope, local action, and a holistic relationship between humans and nature as a global solution by 2030.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Personal Experience: Nature, Illness, and Awakening
[03:18–10:58]
- Salbi recounts a life-altering illness that stripped her of cognitive abilities, forcing her to seek solace in nature.
- Nature became her refuge and healer, leading to insights about her own self-worth, joy, and nature’s wisdom.
- She realized that even as a humanitarian, she’d measured her worth by metrics—shifting instead to the power of simply being and listening.
Quote:
"Without the ability to think or write, I kept on asking, 'Who am I? Who am I if I can't produce, speak, or do things?'...Joy is actually always in the heart. We just need to awaken it. And the third: nature saved me." — Zainab Salbi [06:30]
2. Global Context: Disintegration, Militarization, and Environmental Crisis
[10:58–19:40]
- Salbi highlights deteriorating international collaboration: U.S. withdrawal from major climate treaties and cuts in global aid, primarily to redirect funds to defense and security.
- Ironically, as planetary crisis demands unprecedented cooperation, global responses trend toward increased militarization.
- The environmental toll of war: soil contamination from weapons poisons ecosystems for generations.
Quote:
"It is deeply ironic that at the time our planetary health demands unprecedented cooperation, nations are retreating into internationalism and militarization." — Zainab Salbi [12:56]
3. Planetary Health: Current Realities & Points of Hope
[19:40–29:55]
- The planet is in the “high risk zone”—seven of nine planetary boundaries have already been crossed.
- Examples include ocean acidification and massive biodiversity loss (one in three species could be lost by 2070).
- Yet, past global collaborations (e.g., Montreal Protocol healing the ozone layer) demonstrate the possibility for positive collective action.
Quote:
"If you look closer, you always, always see the best acts of humanity as well as the worst during crises." — Zainab Salbi [24:10]
4. Nature as Climate Ally & the Problem of Disconnection
[29:55–36:40]
- Nature (forests, wetlands, coral reefs) offers up to 37% of needed greenhouse gas reductions by 2030.
- Economic systems extract from nature without reciprocity; ecosystem services worth $150T/year, yet only 18% of private investments support “nature-positive” initiatives.
- Emotional and psychological disconnect: research shows a 60% decline in human connection to nature since 1800s, especially among youth.
Quote:
"Nature is referred to as 'she'—just like a mother, you take and take, she gives and gives, and rarely do we say thank you." — Zainab Salbi [32:15]
5. Women’s Lived Experience and Leadership in Climate Solutions
[36:40–51:18]
- Popular narratives focus on women as victims (e.g., 80% of climate-displaced are women/children), but overlook agency.
- Salbi details how women lead environmental resilience—anchored in listening, trust-building, pragmatism, and weaving local knowledge with new science.
- Daughters for Earth identified and funded 800+ women-led initiatives in biodiversity hotspots, providing $5M in grants to 229 projects globally.
Notable Examples:
- Winona LaDuke (Minnesota, US): Revived hemp agriculture for economic and social renewal in her indigenous community.
- Zulfa (Kenya): Mobilized island women to defend, monitor, and replant mangroves, shifting community profits from extraction to regeneration.
- Parweeza Farhan (Indonesia): Engaged religious Muslim women in forest protection using Islamic teachings and tech tools.
- Pangolin Project (Africa): Women leaders foster land rights conversations and gender norm change by ensuring women understand benefitting from conservation deals.
- Ecuador/Peru: Women employ soft diplomacy—and, at times, creative nonviolent tactics—to negotiate with governments or oil companies.
Quote:
"The first act that is common in all of them is that they stand and listen and gain community trust because they are listening, not preaching." — Zainab Salbi [45:10]
6. Integrative, Holistic Solutions—Beyond Technology
[51:18–54:00]
- Global funding (~98%) goes to technological climate solutions such as bioengineering, while behavior and systems change are underfunded.
- A truly transformational climate response integrates economic, scientific, social, cultural, and emotional dimensions—mirroring “integrative medicine.”
Quote:
"It is cheaper and easier and faster to protect nature and have nature do its work of deflecting the heat... But it requires us to shift." — Zainab Salbi [49:38]
Q&A Highlights
Q1: Youth, Generations, and Influencing the Powerful
[53:06–58:05]
- How can older (often powerful) generations be made to care about climate change, given their time horizon?
- Salbi urges: focus energy on tangible, grassroots solutions—don’t wait for or attempt to persuade resistant powerholders; instead, invest in local “greeneries”—resilient community pockets that inspire wider change.
Quote:
"We can't wait for superpowers to change... Right now we need to look at where these pockets of greenery are and help them expand." — Zainab Salbi [54:20]
Q2: Money, Sustainability, and Philanthropy
[58:11–69:30]
- Opportunities in defense funding? Salbi is deeply skeptical, emphasizing war’s destructive legacy.
- Funding women's action: Groups express urgent need for local funding sources and financially sustainable models, as international aid recedes.
- Philanthropy: Wealth transfer to women will create new opportunities for collective action, but trust-building and data on impact remain key to mobilizing resources.
Q3: Environmental Defenders, Risks, and Hope
[59:58–69:30]
- In countries like the Philippines, environmental defenders face violence and death.
- Salbi: Deciding to resist is a deeply personal call, but history shows truth and hope eventually prevail, even when progress is slow.
Q4: Local Ownership, Metrics, and Power-Shifting in Conservation
[72:26–81:55]
- Daughters for Earth prioritizes local leadership: grant decisions are made by a Wise Daughters Council of local women, shifting power and ensuring nuanced, context-specific decisions.
- Building networks among isolated women scientists and activists is as important as funding—collective learning and support reduces burnout and increases resilience.
Q5: Non-Monetary Support for Women Leaders
[82:01–84:40]
- Aside from money, key supports include wellness resources, leadership sustainability, peer exchange, and recognition—all crucial to maintaining momentum.
Q6: Systems Change & Data for Policy
[74:23–81:55]
- For women’s locally-led actions to gain global traction, more data—quantitative and qualitative—must inform policy debates, influencing multilateral institutions and post-2030 frameworks.
Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes
-
On gratitude and integration:
"I came out with simple truths: How dare I ask 'Who am I?'—I am, I am. Joy is in the heart. And nature saved me." — Zainab Salbi [06:30]
-
On humanity and hope:
"Crises always show you the worst acts of humanity, but also the best acts if you look closer... there's always hope, no matter what." — Zainab Salbi [24:10]
-
On changing gender norms through conservation:
"Pangolin Project leaders made sure the women understood what money was being exchanged... Suddenly women rolled up their sleeves and said, 'I want my rights.'" — Zainab Salbi [47:20]
-
On women’s unique wayfinding:
"In being ignored, underfunded, excluded from decision-making, these women have become the wayfinders of not one way, but many ways... one that reconciles human well-being with ecological health." — Zainab Salbi [50:56]
-
On hope and action:
"Look for the points of hope. I hope it is the beginning, that we continue the study... because the Earth does have a song. I believe we can all hear it, but we have to activate new points of knowledge in us." — Zainab Salbi [51:18]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [03:18] Zainab Salbi’s story of illness and awakening in nature
- [10:58] Global context of climate crisis and aid/militarization shifts
- [19:40] Planetary boundaries and evidence of ecological unraveling
- [29:55] Nature-based solutions and the missing emotional dimension
- [36:40] Impact of the climate crisis on women & narrative of agency
- [42:00] Stories and lessons from Daughters for Earth grantmaking
- [49:38] Integrative (holistic) approaches vs. technocratic fixes
- [53:06] Q&A: Generational divides and strategies for action
- [58:11] Q&A: Funding models, risk, philanthropy, and local activism
- [72:26] Q&A: Metrics, decision-making, power sharing in philanthropy
Tone and Language
The tone throughout is passionate, candid, story-driven, and infused with hope—balancing the gravity of the ecological moment with the realities of grassroots resilience and the power of human connection to nature and each other.
Conclusion
Salbi and host Kabir close by urging the audience to spread the message of transformative, locally-led, integrative climate action—not just as a counter to despair or technocratic frustration, but as an invitation to build collective, positive change from the ground up before 2030.