b"It's time tomother natureWORDS // LARA STEVENSO n a global scale, women andPrior to becoming pregnant, I children have a much smallerpondered hard the question: Is it ecological footprint comparedethical to bring more children into to men.a climate changing world? I worried about my childrens carbon footprint Yet women and those in their care areas Australians, given that Australia is suffering most acutely the detrimentalone of the worlds highest emitters of effects of the environmental changescarbon dioxide per capita in the world. I occurring around us today. Womenworried about their future quality of life are 14 times more likely to die in aon a planet that is warming, outlawing catastrophic climate event and arecrop diversity, ignoring vital Indigenous more vulnerable to violence andknowledge, running short of fresh water. disease during and after such an event.As I lay in bed one sleepless night, 30 Following environmental change, theyweeks pregnant with my daughter are more prone to reduced income orkicking from within, I wrote Not Now, Not impoverishment, unequal access toEver. resources, constraints on movement and freedom, and loss of security forOn 10 and 11 May 2019 Not Now, themselves and their children. In otherNot Ever was staged as part of the words, climate change is not genderART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019 festival. neutral. The show explored the nature of These realities prompted me to writethe human-animal and the political and perform an autobiographical workanimal through the live performance of performance art that brought toof breastfeeding my baby daughter light some of the connections betweenon stage. The performance included the abuse of our planet and thecameo performances from my two mistreatment of women and vulnerablechildren, Zari, then 11 months old, and minority groups. Raffaello, then 2 years old. 12| Essence | Australian Breastfeeding Association December 2019"