A guest post by Connie Cramp, Project Support Officer for Energy Aware Communities
Today is Gender Day at COP26. It is a day to recognise and celebrate gender equality and the importance of women and girls’ involvement in climate policy and action. But why is gender important in the context of the climate crisis? How are the two issues connected and why should we be thinking about gender and the climate synchronously?
Evidence shows that climate change has a greater impact on those people who are more reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods, have less capacity for resilience to natural disasters such as extreme weather events, and those who are living in poverty and financial insecurity. Women fall into all these categories at a higher rate than men.
The majority of the world’s poor are women, which is a key starting point for the connection between climate change and gender. Climate change will not affect everyone equally, and women, particularly indigenous women and women living in the Global South, will be disproportionately impacted by the crisis. In the European heatwave of 2003, for example, 75% more women died than men, due to the higher rate of women living in poverty and deprivation, living alone, and the increased difficulty that women over the age of 50 have in regulating their internal temperature, making them more vulnerable to dehydration. According to the UN, around 80% of those displaced by climate change are women.
As stress on ecosystems increases and environments continue to degrade at an alarming rate, food shortages, water scarcity, and other resource crises are becoming more and more common. Evidence shows that as these environmental pressures increase, so to does the rate of gender-based violence, which includes domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, forced prostitution, forced marriage and child marriage, as well as other forms of the exploitation of women.
Weather related disasters, for example, have been shown to increase the sexual trafficking of women by 20-30%. Women and girls in poor communities around the world are more likely to be responsible for gathering resources such as water and firewood, which are becoming scarce in some areas due to climate change. This scramble for resources exposes women to further dangers of violence.
In the UK, as elsewhere in the world, women are more likely to be poor, to be in precarious employment, and to suffer from financial instability. This means that women are more likely to be adversely affected by, for example, rising food prices caused by the climate crisis. Studies have also shown that women are more likely to suffer psychological distress from having their homes flooded than men. This is a significant issue, given that one in six properties in England are now at risk of flooding, in large part due to the impact of climate change.
It’s also important to remember that the word ‘gender’ doesn’t just mean women. People who identify outside the gender binary of male/female are some of the most marginalised people in the world and will also be adversely affected by climate change. In the UK, for example, 1 in 4 transgender people have experienced homeless at some point in their lives, a staggeringly high rate compared to the national average of 1 in 200 people. Precarious housing or homelessness increases vulnerability to extreme weather events and rising temperatures, as well as increasing the risk posed by exposure to poor air quality.
So, clearly, gender and climate change are intimately connected and it’s really important to consider these issues from an intersectional perspective. But what can be done to improve the situation? Luckily, there are already many amazing people and projects addressing gender and climate change…
In September 2021, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International organised the ‘Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Solutions from the Frontlines and the Protection and Defense of Human Rights and Nature’, a free, gender-diverse, public forum where environmental activists from around the world could speak out against environmental and social injustice and present their visions for change and development. Opportunities like these are incredibly valuable and are evidence of the positive change that women and other gender-diverse people can make for the environment.
She Changes Climate are campaigning for leadership on the climate crisis to be increased to 50% women, outlining the value of diversity in leadership. GiveOut, an international LGBTQI community foundation, launched the world’s first LGBTQI climate fund in March this year, aiming to ‘ensure that the voices and expertise of LGBTQI communities are heard in the climate justice space.’
The Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) works alongside communities and collaborates with organisations, academics and policy makers to fight local and global problems around gender, health, and the environment. Green influencers such as Tori Tsui, Aja Barber, and Tolly Gregory (who hails from just around the corner from the Severn Wye office!) are using their voices to create change and lead the way in the fight for climate justice.
By getting involved in these movements and campaigns, to whatever extent we’re able, we can all make a difference on this important issue. On COP26’s Gender Day, tune in to the day’s coverage, do some research, and think about how you can get involved in making the planet a safer, more sustainable place for everyone.
Photo Credit: Kunal Gupta / Climate Visuals Countdown
A passionate Social Designer & Photographer, with focus on the upliftment of society. My expertise includes visual documentation and presenting key insights that add to ethnographic research and understanding of society. With over 7 years of work experience in engineering sales, customer service and design, pursued postgraduate in M.Des Communication Design from DA-IICT and I hold a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics & Instrumentation.
Photographer name: Kunal Gupta
Photographer based in: India
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/Kunalgupta5689
Photos: https://gurushots.com/kunalgupta_ei/photos
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalgupta5689/
