Feminist icon Gloria Steinem claimed in a recent interview that "systematically forcing women to have children they don't want" has been the "fundamental cause of climate change."

Last week, the lifestyle magazine Refinery29 published an interview with Steinem, who the publication claimed "is more than a feminist icon."

"She is an 83-year-old unicorn who has spent her life bucking the social conventions that define modern womanhood," Refinery29 wrote of the feminist leader.

Steinem was asked about a variety of topics from leadership advice to climate change.

"People argue that climate change and other issues are also feminist issues. What do we lose by broadening the meaning of the term?" the magazine's Lindsey Stanberry asked.

"Are you kidding me? Listen, what causes climate deprivation is population," Steinem responded.

The Refinery29-dubbed unicorn then appeared to link women not being able to have abortions to overpopulation and climate change.

"If we had not been systematically forcing women to have children they don't want or can't care for over the 500 years of patriarchy, we wouldn't have the climate problems that we have," Steinem said. "That's the fundamental cause of climate change. Even if the Vatican doesn't tell us that."

"In addition to that, because women are the major agricultural workers in the world, and also the carriers of water and the feeders of families and so on, it's a disproportionate burden," she added.