Climate Change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner.
Involvement of gender in Climate Change
Across societies, the impacts of climate change affect women and men differently. Women are often responsible for gathering and producing food, collecting water, sourcing fuel for heating and cooking. With climate change, these tasks are becoming more difficult. Extreme weather events such as droughts and floods have a greater impact on the poor/ the most vulnerable – 70% of the world’s poor are women.
Similarly, a gendered socio-culture does not encourage girls to learn skills such as swimming and tree climbing that help people to survive during floods. Additionally, women tend to possess fewer assets and depend more on natural resources for their livelihoods. 103 of 141 countries (25 of 35 economies in sub-Saharan Africa) have legal distinctions between men and women that are likely to hinder women’s economic opportunities.
Why Women Need to Be Involved
Studies demonstrate that gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to development, environmental sustainability and achievement of the developmental goals of the UN. For example, a study of 25 developed and 65 developing countries revealed that countries with higher female parliamentary representation are more likely to set aside protected land areas. In the past, Nigerian women mobilized themselves at the community level into a social movement to protest against transnational oil companies as part of a world movement to stop ecological destruction. In 2006, these protests led to a ruling by the Nigerian courts that gas flaring violated the constitutional rights of citizens to life and dignity, and the courts ordered an end to the practice.
Help Women in the Fight for Climate Change
Ensure female involvement, including indigenous women and grassroots groups, in climate change negotiations and resource management.
Include women in the creation of policies and strategies around environmental protection including disaster response; building resilience; securing land and inheritance rights, food, and resources; and ending energy poverty.
Develop policies to address climate change that recognize gender-sensitive impacts, provide women with access to resources, and give them opportunities to participate in mitigation and adaptation processes.
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