anna maria tarantola : women nurturing sustainable development remarks by ms anna maria tarantola, deputy director general of the bank of italy, at the 58th world forum for women entrepreneurs ( femmes chefs d ’ entreprises mondiales – fcem ) world congress, florence, 22 october 2010. * * * i would like to thank the president of aidda, laura frati gucci, for inviting me to the 58th fcem world congress in this conference entitled “ how women face the new economy and ecology ”. the goal of the conference, to assess women ’ s contribution in balancing economic growth and natural resource conservation, is both topical and challenging. this is not the first time i find myself considering human - ecosystem interaction : natural resources are a fundamental input for production and consumption ; the environment is the receptacle for the waste generated by these processes. 1 the fundamental question we must address today is how to increase and spread wealth and wellbeing while respecting and protecting the environment. the role of women is central. throughout history, women and nature have been closely linked : in ayurvedic philosophy, prakriti – nature – is symbolized by a woman ; similarly, the idea of “ mother earth ” is common to many indo - european cultures. perhaps it is no accident that so many of those who have contributed to raising our environmental consciousness have been – and are – women. let me mention four of these outstanding women. the biologist rachel carlson was the first to study the harmful effects of ddt in the early nineteen - sixties. she can be considered the founder of the modern environmental movement. she was a scientist who stood behind her findings despite fierce attacks from the chemical industry lobby. 2 the environmental scientist donella meadows co - authored the book limits to growth 3 which laid the foundations for an analysis of the earth ’ s limited capacity to support economic and demographic growth. this report was criticized – in particular by economists 4 – but without doubt it had a profound impact on the analytical method used to study environmental problems. meadows used computer technology to apply the theory of complex systems to the economic analysis of the reciprocal effects of growth and the environment ; this is now the standard method to analyse the economic effects of climate change ( integrated assessment modelling ). the nobel peace prize winner wangari maathai, an activist and founder of the environmental movement green belt, contributed importantly to the reforestation of vast areas of kenya. 5 reforestation not only

evidence that women are more sensitive to environmental matters. according to oecd research, the most environmentally - aware consumers are women. they are more likely than men to recycle domestic waste, buy organic food and green products, and place greater value on fuel - efficient means of transport. 12 these results are confirmed by other studies. a survey conducted by eurobarometro found that in 2007 the share of women who said they had done something to improve the environment was six percentage points higher than for men ; the international social survey programme ’ s 1993 study of attitudes to the environment found, in the sample of countries surveyed, a large gap between women and men in terms of willingness to pay more for ecofriendly consumer goods, particularly in italy, australia and norway. 13 recent behavioural studies give further support to these results. 14 can this greater willingness to consider the effects of one ’ s actions on the environment be integrated in the transformation process that is “ greening ” our economies? in brief, does the green economy represent an opportunity to capitalize on the strong bond between women and nature? the answer is yes – but only if the necessary policies are implemented to ensure that this opportunity is realizable and we can reap the dual dividends of more sustainable, less discriminatory, economic growth. for this to happen, actions must be taken to increase women ’ s presence in the work force in general and in the green economy in particular. the lisbon agenda indicated the affirmative action that should be taken to prevent discrimination against women in their professional development. among these, those making it easier for women to combine career and family are particularly important. for example, a study of the development of the photovoltaic sector in southern italy underlines the fact that despite very high female employment potential ( among recent architecture graduates, women outnumber men ), the realization of this potential could be blocked by the lack of preschool facilities for young children. 15 other measures relate specifically to the possibilities offered by the new green sectors with the greatest growth potential ( renewable energy, construction techniques, and agricultural biomass ). in these sectors, women represent a very small part of the total work force and they rarely hold the top positions. 16 this is due primarily to cultural factors, which have perpetuated a high level of segregation in these industries. even in traditional energy sectors, female participation is extremely low – 14 per cent according to the latest survey of firms. oecd, survey on household environmental