On International Women's Day, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary underscored the vital role female leaders play in the fight against climate change.

In a virtual forum on Tuesday, March 8, DOST Secretary Fortunato "Boy" de la Peña stressed the role of women in dealing with disasters and mobilizing communities during the different phases of the risk management cycle.

"Women's voices, responsibilities, and knowledge on the environment and the challenges they face will need to be a central part of the adaptive response to a rapidly changing climate," he added.

"We need to ensure that women from all economic and social standings need to be included in the conversation on climate change policy and resilience plan," he furthered.

Citing research, de la Peña said women are most likely to be considered about the climate change, however, only a few world leaders are women.

"Recent studies show that only seven percent of world leaders and 24 percent of lawmakers are female, allowing for male leaders in power to continue to call the shots," he said.

As the May election nears, de la Pena urged Filipino voters to "understand the importance of women representation in decision making."

"We need more women at the frontline of climate change because increasing women's participation would result in more environmental and productivity gains and would create mutual benefits and greater returns across the sustainable development goals," he added.

"Yes, climate change is the challenge of our time. It is our responsibility to take care of our environment and create resilient communities that are able not only to bounce back from disaster, and to do so in a way that ensures inequalities are not heightened but upholds women's rights and strengthens gender inequality," he concluded.