This Women’s History Month, we celebrate the countless women whose groundbreaking contributions have shaped history. Yet, many brilliant stories remain overlooked. Among them are the trailblazing Muslim women, particularly those from South Asia, whose contributions to environmental justice deserve much more recognition. These women have consistently defied the odds and pioneered paths in conservation and sustainability, leaving a profound impact on the planet. It is time we give them their due.
1. Yasmeen Lari
As Pakistan’s first female architect, Yasmeen Lari’s prolific career, remarkable accolades, and unwavering commitment to humanitarian work earn her a rightful place as one of the foremost environmentalists of our time. Born in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan, in 1941, she spent her initial years in Lahore before moving to London with her family, where she graduated from the Oxford Brooks School of Architecture. She returned to Pakistan at the age of 23 with her husband and established her architecture firm, Lari Associates. For 36 years, she worked on prestigious corporate and state-commissioned projects, from Karachi’s finance and trade center to hotels.
She retired in 2000 to focus on writing and founded the Heritage Foundation. The devastating earthquake of 2005 and the recurring floods that plague the country every few years, resulting from climate change, profoundly impacted her. This experience sparked a deep sense of urgency to aid those in need.
Lari moved on to work closely with displaced families, helping them rebuild their homes with materials like mud, stone, lime, and wood salvaged from the surrounding debris. Working with volunteers, she trained local people on how to use locally sourced materials to rebuild, following the principles of low cost, zero carbon, and zero waste. She criticizes the ‘international colonial charity model’ and believes that making people co-creators of their homes and lives after a disaster is both healing and economical.
She has built more than 45,000 zero-carbon shelters in areas affected by natural disasters, developed ‘barefoot social architecture’ for impoverished communities in Sindh province, trained the craftsmen and women of Makli in Sindh, and built over 60,000 uniquely designed chulahs, smokeless earthen ovens for the community. She has numerous accolades to her name, from the Jane Drew Prize to the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, but not at the cost of her conscientiousness. Just this March, she rejected the Israeli Wolf Foundation Prize in Architecture with its $100,000 prize money, citing the genocide in Gaza, stating: “I’ve spent much of my life helping refugees, albeit climate migrants, and Gaza is unfortunately now one of the worst situations in terms of displacement.”
2. Sumaira Abdulali
With India’s rich biodiversity and legacy of environmental stewardship under threat from climate change and capitalism, many Indians are actively fighting to protect it. Hailing from a family of environmentalists and anti-colonial activists, Sumaira Abdulali stands as one of the foremost of these activists. Born in 1961 in Mumbai, Sumaira chose to learn from her life experiences instead of a typical college experience. It was the issue of noise pollution that first ignited her passion.
Dubbed the ‘Minister of Noise’, Sumaira founded the Awaaz Foundation and raised awareness about the damaging effects of the ever-increasing urban noise pollution. She lobbied for the demarcation of silence zones, control of noise from vehicles, and stricter enforcement of Noise Pollution Rules.
Image Credit: Sachinvenga via Wikimedia Commons
Her relentless fight against illegal sand mining made her stand out as a fearless justice-driven advocate. Sand, often seen as an abundant resource, is one of the most extracted natural materials after water. Yet, for years, its extraction went unchecked, particularly along the coastal areas of Maharashtra, where powerful sand mafias operated with impunity.
Sumaira was the first to recognize the environmental and social dangers posed by illegal sand mining and campaigned to end it. It was a brutal physical assault by the sand miners, resulting in her hospitalization, that became her turning point. With a stronger resolve, she founded the Movement against Intimidation, Threat and Revenge against Activists (MITRA) to protect activists against unchecked violence. She continued gathering evidence against the wealthy capitalists and politicians who controlled the sand-mining companies, eventually filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Bombay High Court, resulting in the first-ever court order against sand mining in the region.
Her opponents retaliated by attempting to drive her car down a cliff, an assassination attempt she miraculously survived. Her tireless work bore fruition when she successfully brought this issue on the UNEP’s radar through the 2012 Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, and contributed to the production of Sand Wars, a documentary film on the global sand crisis, which won numerous awards and inspired the UNEP to to publish a Global Environmental Alert in March 2014 titled “Sand: Rarer Than One Thinks.”
Sumaira herself has been awarded the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice and the Olive Crown Award. She is also an Ashoka Fellow, alongside serving in different capacities with various organizations.
3. Syeda Rizwana Hasan
As the Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and the advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh, Rizwana Hasan has had an extraordinary career which has earned her recognition as Bangladesh’s environmental champion. Born in 1968 in Habiganj, modern-day Bangladesh, Rizwana graduated from the University of Dhaka, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law. Dedicated to environmental and societal justice, she rose to prominence by spearheading a legal battle against the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh.
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
She filed a case against the import of toxin-laden ships, mostly from developed countries, destined to be broken down for parts in Bangladesh — an industry that exploits its workers through low pay and hazardous conditions and poisons the surroundings. This resulted in government regulation of the industry and marked the first time that a polluting company was fined in Bangladesh.
Apart from the ship-breaking industry, Rizwana has continued to tackle other sectors that exploit their workers and the environment, filing lawsuits against organizations responsible for filling lakes to construct real estate, misusing polythene, cutting hills, deforestation, shrimp farming, and illegal construction.
She joined the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) in 1993, eventually serving as Chief Executive, leading it to win the Global 500 Roll of Honor in 2003 from the United Nations Environment Program. She has been awarded many honors and recognitions, including the Goldman Environmental Prize 2009 and the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2012.
4. Afia Salam
Image Credit: TEDx
Afia Salam is a Pakistani journalist, notable for being the country’s first female cricket journalist and an outspoken proponent of women’s rights and climate activism. She graduated with a master’s degree in Geography from the University of Karachi in 1982 and went on to have a prolific career spanning four decades of experience in print, electronic, and web journalism. She joined the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Pakistan in 2008, which impressed on her the gravity of the environmental challenges that Pakistan faced.
She has played an instrumental role in the designation of Marine Protected Areas along Pakistan’s coasts, including Astola Island, which is now the country’s first such area. This initiative has been crucial in safeguarding marine biodiversity in a region that is vulnerable to the devastating effects of climate change.
Beyond this, Afia’s leadership extends to her work with the Indus Earth Trust, where she serves as President of the Board. The organization focuses on ‘green construction,’ water replenishment, wastewater treatment, and sustainable energy solutions.
She also serves as the current elected President of the Executive Committee of Baanhn Beli, an NGO dedicated to striving for a gender equitable education and women empowerment. She works to deliver water through wells, reservoirs, and dams, along with educational programmes in the destitute district of Tharparkar. Afia is also a member of the working group formed by the National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning to draft climate change and security recommendations.
5. Fawzia Tarannum
A dedicated force in the fight for water sustainability and climate action in India, Dr. Fawzia Tarannum exemplifies the power of education and research in driving environmental activism. With over 24 years of experience, her work spans research, education, and direct community engagement.
Having held diverse roles, including Assistant Professor at TERI School of Advanced Studies and General Manager-Sales at Cleantec Infra Private Limited, Dr. Fawzia’s experience extends across academia and industry. As the National Coordinator for Water at The Climate Reality Project, India, she has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and build solutions around India’s water challenges.
Her efforts have reached thousands of people through delivering over 5,000 training programs on water governance, climate change, and gender equality. A Fulbright Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow, Dr. Fawzia’s global perspective on water issues has shaped her impactful work at the WforW Foundation, where she co-founded a platform for people to come together to address water concerns.
She is also the founder of her own company, Earthwise Environment and Sustainability Solutions. Honored as one of the 17 SDG Women Changemakers by Sayfty Trust and Twitter India, Dr. Fawzia’s work is a testament to the power of perseverance and passion.
In a world often overshadowed by the grim realities of climate change, the stories of these women offer much hope. As we draw inspiration from their collective commitment that transcends borders, we must recognize that climate justice is a responsibility shared by individuals and communities alike. Many women in climate-vulnerable nations are courageously leading the way in the fight for climate justice.
