By Kate Metcalf, Co-Director, Wen
Welcome to 2026.
I hope the year has begun gently for you, even as so much in the world feels anything but. War and genocide continue. People are being detained, displaced, pushed to hunger strikes. The scale of injustice can feel relentless, and overwhelming.
For me, the start of a year is always a moment to pause. To plan, yes, but also to restate my commitment to the year, to justice, and to learning. Because none of us arrives fully formed. We are all on a journey, shaped by the systems we live and work within, and if we are serious about justice, we have to keep examining our own assumptions and biases, individually and collectively.
This matters deeply for climate justice and action.
A decolonial feminist approach has shaped my work for a long time, from my earlier years supporting women, girls and communities through the Reflect-Action network at ActionAid to my role at Wen. But I’m increasingly clear that familiarity isn’t enough. None of us can assume we’re “doing it already”. This work is never finished. If not me, then who? If not now, then when?
At Wen, we’re building that ongoing learning and reflection into how we operate. We want to be challenged by our partners, by the women and communities we work alongside, and by each other. That’s why we’re embedding decolonial feminist thinking into our staff and trustee structures, and into our campaigns and programmes. Undoubtedly, we’ll get some things wrong but we’ll learn and grow through our mistakes.
One example I’m particularly proud of is our Climate Sisters work as it grows into new hubs in Manchester and the North West and Scotland. From the outset, we’ve been honest about something that is too often ignored: the burden of unpaid care that falls disproportionately on women. We don’t take women’s time for granted, we value it. We pay Climate Sisters for their time and commitment, and we cover childcare costs, because participation should never rely on personal sacrifice or be defined by the barriers that exist.
The Just FACT programme used participatory grant-making, recognising that local Tower Hamlets residents are best placed to decide what will work in their communities.
Across Wen’s work, the focus is on co-creation, mutual learning and shared power – not defining problems or solutions from the top down.
These choices aren’t perfect solutions. But they are deliberate ones. They reflect a belief that climate justice has to be rooted in care and fairness and that how we work matters as much as what we do.
This month, we’re sharing a new Wen briefing on ‘Decolonial feminism and climate action’. It brings together thinking that has been shaped by our practice, by our partners, and by ongoing internal reflection.
This work would not exist without the care and thinking of Nnenna Onwuka, our Feminist Climate Justice Policy Campaigner, whose feminist, decolonial analysis continues to challenge and strengthen Wen’s work, and the wider Wen team who contributed their insights and time, including Co-Director Zarina Ahmad, and Roshini Thamotheram, Head of Movements.
It’s an invitation to pause and ask harder questions about power, knowledge and responsibility, especially for those of us working within UK charities and institutions.
As we move further into 2026, my hope is that we can resist the urge for quick fixes. Instead, let’s stay curious. Let’s stay open to being challenged. Let’s support each other on this journey working in solidarity together. And let’s commit to climate justice and action that doesn’t just respond to crisis, but actively works to undo the injustices that created it.
This is ongoing work. I’m glad you’re part of it with us.
Kate
What you can do next
If this resonates, there are many ways to act:
- Read and share the briefing with colleagues, partners and funders, especially in spaces where climate decisions are being made.
- Reflect on power in your own work: whose knowledge is centred, who holds decision-making power, and who is being asked to give time, stories or labour without control or recognition.
- Support and get involved in Wen’s campaigns and programmes, including Environmenstrual, Green Baby, Climate Sisters and Climate Siblings, which put decolonial feminist principles into practice.
- Advocate for decolonial feminist commitments in climate policies, funding frameworks and organisational strategies.
- Organise together, because lasting climate justice is built through solidarity.
This is ongoing work and we invite you to be part of that process with us.
Kate Metcalf, Co-director, Wen
Kate has over 20 years’ experience developing community and international networks within international development and environmental organisations with a focus on gender and social justice. Kate leads Wen’s Feminist Green New Deal project aiming to ensure that women, racialised and marginalised groups are central to the green economy.
