Ahead of International Women’s Day, the Global Landscapes Forum highlights women driving change from the Andes to Indonesia – from Indigenous leaders, policymakers and financial experts to artists, digital anthropologists and footballers
Ahead of International Women’s Day, the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), a leading knowledge-led platform and community on sustainable land use, unveils its seventh list representing the tenacity and diversity of women from Africa, Latin America and Asia.
In 2026, the GLF highlights women with passion and purpose who are speaking out and instilling action in a world where funding cuts threaten the availability of gender data for policymaking.
What’s more, women’s perspectives are generally missing from national climate plans, despite the greater risks women would face in a more severe climate crisis scenario, as reported in UN Women’s latest gender snapshot.
Two Nigerians among the 8 Women with a New Vision for Earth 2026
Asisat Oshoala, footballer with Al Hilal, is one of Africa’s most decorated women footballers, as well as a philanthropist and climate advocate. She began making history playing in her native country, Nigeria, then in England, China, Spain, the United States and now Saudi Arabia. Through her foundation, the Asisat Oshoala Academy, girls across Africa are breaking barriers and encouraged to become visionary leaders while playing football and taking vocational courses in areas such as digital literacy.
Tariye Gbadegesin, CEO of the Climate Investment Funds, is a member of the leadership councils of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and the Industrial Transition Accelerator’s Mission Possible Partnership. A citizen of Nigeria and the United States, she learned firsthand how degraded wetlands and severe floods affect communities while growing up in the Niger Delta. Her work in finance taught her the power of investment to shift economies and how lasting change is built from the ground up.
“I believe in livelihoods rooted in dignity – low‑carbon, resilient and fair. We have the tools to get there: smarter farming, restored ecosystems, clean energy, resilient infrastructure. The challenge now is to act boldly and scale what works.” – Tariye Gbadegesin
Other visionary leaders included in the 2026 list are Alessandra Yupanqui, co-founder and editorial director of Sapiens.lat, from Peru; Billie Eilish, singer-songwriter from the United States; Francia Márquez Mina, Vice President of Colombia; Kristel C. Quierrez, 2025 GLF Mountain Restoration Steward and co-founder of UGBON in the Philippines; Payal Arora, Professor at Utrecht University and founder of the Inclusive AI Lab, from India; and Retno Marsudi, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Water, from Indonesia.
“I want the world we live in to have unity between people and nature, with respect and balance. I want it to be treated as a living home; not to be owned, but to be cared for. As our ancestors taught us: the land, water, forests, and mountains are not just natural resources but sacred parts of our identity.” – Kristel C. Quierrez
Learn more about these eight women’s stories at bit.ly/8Women2026
