3 Questions To Ponder On, About Gender and Climate Change Responses
- bhavyasands
- Sep 3, 2020
- 3 min read
Effective climate change adaptation recognizes that women, men and children experience impacts differently depending on where they live, how they sustain their livelihoods, and the roles they play in their families and communities. Gender-responsive climate change adaptation goes beyond consideration of women and men—it explores how views about gender and social norms influence vulnerability to climate change and how they intersect with other factors, such as age, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
The Paris Agreement of 2015 and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) have undertaken the goal for adaptation to climate change, highlighting the links to human rights, sustainable development, and capacity building for a better Earth. They have also taken into account the inequitable impacts of the climate crisis. But how do policymakers craft policies to target inequalities? How are responses to phenomenon constructed such that they ensure targeted positive impacts? Here are a few questions to ponder on, that delve into the behind the scenes of gender-sensitive climate change responses, and which can further answer the construction of targeted policy frameworks;
How can we consider who matters?
Over the next decades, billions of people, particularly those in developing countries, are expected to face shortages of water and food and risks to health and life as a result of climate change (UNFCCC 2007). The 2011 Human Development Report observed that climate change continues to threaten livelihoods in low human development index nations and that climate change may also worsen the most lingering environmental threats such as deforestation, water scarcity and land degradation, which often hit the poorest the most. Women in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood. Women charged with securing water, food and fuel for cooking and heating face the greatest challenges. Women experience unequal access to resources and decision-making processes, with limited mobility in rural areas. It is thus important to identify gender-sensitive strategies that respond to these crises for women.
Consideration of gender differences and marginalized groups in decision making promotes climate change adaptation investments that are used effectively and targeted where they are needed most. In many countries, there are still considerable gender gaps in access to education, literacy and income-generating opportunities, placing many women and girls at a disadvantage, particularly when it comes to accessing information and investing in adaptation actions. For women and girls to realize their potential as agents of change in adaptation, these gaps must be overcome.
How can we factor in the marginalised voices?
A World Bank survey in 141 countries showed that 103 countries continue to impose legal differences on the basis of gender that may hinder women’s economic opportunities. In addition, two thirds of the world’s 743 million illiterate adults are women. The cumulative effects of poverty and social, economic and political barriers is that women will often be disadvantaged in coping with the adverse impacts of the changing climate -- such as in the case of dealing with natural disaster such as floods and crops failures (globally, women also form the majority of the workforce), and having access to facilities and alternatives in the face of such instances.
Equitable participation and influence by women and men, including representatives of marginalized groups, in climate change adaptation decision making builds capacities and creates the conditions for inclusive implementation.Women remain under-represented in decision making in climate-vulnerable sectors, from the local to the national level, with marginalized groups facing additional barriers to participation. This has implications for how gender-responsive adaptation action in these sectors will be.
How can we ensure equitable distribution of targets?
During the past decade in the Asia-pacific region, an annual average of more than 200 million people was affected and more than 70,000 people were killed by natural disasters (90 percent and 65 percent respectively of global totals for natural disasters). Women and children make up the majority of deaths resulting from water-related disasters.
Assessing climate change adaptation results for women, men and marginalized groups promotes equitable benefits and brings unintended consequences to the surface. Too much focus on quantitative measures of success is also unhelpful, because it may obscure social dynamics and processes of change and how these do or do not reduce vulnerability to climate change. Consideration of who is benefiting from adaptation investments, as well as why some people are left out, can help to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities and improve equity in outcomes.
“Gender inequalities intersect with climate risks and vulnerabilities. Women’s historic disadvantages—their limited access to resources, restricted rights, and a muted voice in shaping decisions—make them highly vulnerable to climate change. The nature of that vulnerability varies widely cautioning against generalization. But climate change is likely to magnify existing patterns of gender disadvantage.”
References and Further Readings:
Featured image credits: UN Women
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