As South Africa prepares for the upcoming climate talks in Durban, the country is also trying to improve its own climate profile by making South Africa a more environmentally-friendly place. And Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the country’s minister of international relations, says women will need to lead the way.

It’s not the first time women have been described as the key to fighting climate change – and other global issues, for that matter. The UN says women make up the biggest share of the poor across the world. And it’s most often women who are dependent on natural resources to find food, water and energy to take care of their families. So naturally, they end up taking the brunt of the effects of climate change, which makes it harder to get those resources.

Yet women in many parts of the world have little power to effect social, political or economic change. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane says we need to empower the world’s women to make those changes, by giving them the support needed to cope with climate change and listening to their voices. And she says any climate agreement has to take women into account.