The climate crisis is not only a technological or policy challenge — it is also a crisis of worldview.
In this powerful conversation, Corinna Bellizzi speaks with Osprey Orielle Lake, founder and executive director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), about how climate justice movements around the world are working to transform our relationship with nature, power, and community.
Osprey’s work bridges grassroots activism, Indigenous leadership, international climate negotiations, and legal innovations like the Rights of Nature movement. Drawing from her book The Story Is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis, she explores how systems like colonization, extractive economics, and patriarchy have shaped today’s ecological crises — and how new stories rooted in reciprocity, justice, and stewardship can guide the path forward.
This conversation explores the role of Indigenous knowledge in climate solutions, the fight against fossil fuel expansion, the growing global push for legal protections for ecosystems, and the importance of community-led restoration efforts around the world.
Originally recorded in 2024, this episode remains deeply relevant today as movements for climate justice, land stewardship, and ecological restoration continue to gain momentum globally.
Key Topics in This Episode
Why the climate crisis is fundamentally a crisis of worldview
The role of Indigenous knowledge and leadership in climate solutions
The Rights of Nature movement and legal frameworks that protect ecosystems
The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative
Climate justice and the risks faced by frontline land defenders
Reforestation projects led by women restoring ecosystems and communities
Why global transformation requires both systemic change and cultural shifts
About Osprey Orielle Lake
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), an international organization that works with grassroots, Indigenous, and frontline communities to advance climate justice and a just transition to renewable energy.
She serves on the Executive Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the Steering Committee for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. Osprey is the author of The Story Is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis and the award-winning book Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature.
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Her work has been featured in publications including The Guardian, Earth Island Journal, The Ecologist, and Ms. Magazine.
Resources & Organizations Mentioned
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
The Story Is in Our Bones – Osprey Orielle Lake
Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative
Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature
Movement Rights
Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation – Paul Hawken
Green Amendments – Maya van Rossum
Guest Links
Website:
https://ospreyoriellelake.earth
WECAN International:
https://www.wecaninternational.org
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ospreyoriellelake
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/osprey-orielle-lake-4286bb12
Related Episodes
Stand Up With The Earth: Fighting Fossil Fuels with Tzeporah Berman
Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation with Paul Hawken
Green Amendments and Environmental Rights with Maya van Rossum
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