WOMEN led a 24-hour vigil for climate justice outside the Scottish Parliament today ahead of an International Women’s Day rally.

Activists from Women’s Climate Strike and other groups began the drop-in vigil on Monday evening to highlight how climate change disproportionately affects women.

They demanded action over gender inequality to harness the power of women in the fight against climate change, including through proper representation of women and others most affected in negotiations on the issue.

Today speakers, storytellers and poets took to the stage in the afternoon and, as the Morning Star went to press, alarm bells were due to ring to signal how little time remains to avert climate catastrophe.

Women’s Climate Strike founder Dr Sandy Winterbottom said: “Women carry the weight of the climate crisis and the burden of waiting for the world to act, not just in the Global South but also here in Britain.

“Because more women live below or close to the poverty line, they are now bearing the brunt of fuel poverty.

“This could have been avoided if we had transitioned away from fossil fuels earlier.”

An estimated 80 per cent of the people displaced by climate change are women and girls, according to the United Nations.

Community development worker Rachel Winter, from Moray, said: “Climate breakdown is accelerating rapidly and we have only a few years left to take the necessary action.

“Delays in transitioning away from fossil fuels has cost us precious time and left us at the mercy of those who control supplies, as we now see in Ukraine.

“Women make up nearly 50 per cent of the population, but it is only when we stand together in complete solidarity that we can realise our true power.”