THOUSANDS of people marched through central London today to mark International Women’s Day (IWD), emphasising the impact of the climate crisis on women.

Women were joined by famous faces and male allies including singer Emeli Sande, actors Natalie Dormer and George MacKay, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. 

Labour’s outgoing leader Jeremy Corbyn marched alongside his wife from within the crowd.

The annual march this year was dedicated to a call for gender equality and climate justice. 

Demonstrators carried signs reading “sisters not strangers,” “reject hate, reclaim politics” and “no climate justice without gender justice.”

Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, said she hoped 2020 could be a tipping point that brings about real change.

“I feel right now this resistance is louder and noisier than it has been for a long time and for me it feels like the fifth wave of feminism, you have this demand, you have this build up of an issue and then things happen,” she told the rally at Parliament Square.

Youth activist and climate striker Scarlett Westbrook said that climate and gender justice were inexplicably linked.

The 15-year-old said: “Climate change is not only a pressing ecological issue, but a political and ethical labyrinth.

“The historical legacy of colonialism has resulted in the decreased economic capacity of the global south, meaning that their ability to deal with the impacts of climate change will be prevented. 

“Climate justice means that we fix this. It’s about making up for the disasters of the past in order to make way for a better future.”

Ms Westbrook warned that climate change was also a sexist issue. 

She said: “Just like society, it discriminates. And just like inequality the legislation currently in place to combat it is inadequate. 

“It is women who are disproportionately affected more so than men. Women are 14 times more likely to die during a natural disaster. 

“On average women are more likely to face domestic violence, sexual exploitation and human trafficking after a natural disaster.

“And there’s the lack of affordable, safe living spaces.”

Despite women and girls leading the fight against climate change, Ms Westbrook warned that women are still “drastically under-represented at every stage of the decision-making process.” 

She said: “Our current sitting cabinet is only 29 per cent female.

“The total population of the UK is 51 per cent female. 

“This can’t go on. Women are traditionally the ones who pick up the pieces after natural disasters. Rebuilding communities. But every brick that we lay gets thrown back in our face.

“As the government doesn’t act, the time we have left to change things decreases or worse, the death toll increases. 

“When there are human lives at stake, it becomes a political issue and we don’t want politicians’ words, we want their deeds.”

Mr Khan said: “It’s so important that at a time when around the world we have regressive and repressive forces, at a time when we have the rise of nativist, populist movements, trying to turn back the clock around equality and feminism, us men stand shoulder-to-shoulder with women and girls.”

He said London was a “beacon for the rest of the world” on IWD, but warned that City Hall needed the people’s help to tackle climate change. 

Mr Khan said: “We know there is a consequence to climate change and it impacts women and girls more than everyone else. 

“Our government is not listening. With COP26 taking place in Glasgow, we have to make sure we’re there to make sure the world hears: climate justice is an issue of gender justice [which] is an issue of social justice.”

Ms Dormer said she was frustrated by the pace of change despite laws being in place to ensure equality.

Mr MacKay, who recently appeared in the Oscar-nominated film 1917, told the rally the importance of collective action against climate destruction, with successes including against a Heathrow airport expansion.