The Guardian

Meet the inspiring, hopeful women fighting for climate justice | Maeve Higgins

I’m a comedian. Working on a podcast with the ex-president of Ireland I learned how women around the world are working to save the planet – and unlearned my ‘west knows best’ attitude
Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, left, shares a joke with Maeve Higgins, her fellow presenter of the Mothers of Invention podcast. Photograph: Ruth Medjber

In March this year I started to care about the planet. Like, in a big way. Before that, I fretted about it and treated it like an extremely beautiful but very sick creature I was afraid to get too attached to. If you want to know how my change of heart started, I’ll tell you the same thing I told the poor old Texan man sitting beside me on a flight out of JFK. “I’m going for a chemistry test with the first woman president of Ireland so I could potentially be her co-host for this climate justice podcast she’s about to make.” He stayed quiet after that.

The following morning, jet-lagged and disoriented on a winding London street, I couldn’t find the restaurant where I was supposed to meet Mary

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