In 2008, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) formally recognized that climate change and its results impact men and women differently. In addition, UNFPA’s 2009 State of the World Report focusing on women, population, and climate change projects that climate change will continue to increase poverty, and therefore negatively affect the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized populations: “As greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, droughts, severe storms and rising seas threaten to take an especially heavy toll on women, who make up a large share of the world’s poor.” According to the UNFPA report, climate change has caused fluctuations in natural weather patterns (drought, flooding, extreme periods of heat and cold) and a rise in sea levels (devastating coastal plains regions), thereby increasing the prevalence of natural disasters and the spread of infectious disease and illness.
Because the world’s poor are climate change’s largest victims, and 70% of the world’s poor are women, the consequences of climate change for women can be devastating. For example:
- Women depend more heavily on the environment for work, food, resources, income, and completing daily chores, including gathering firewood and finding/carrying clean water. As the environment becomes more unpredictable, completing routine work or chores strains households, negatively impacting women and girls – who may be removed from education programs, or not permitted to attend in the first place, in order to help with household responsibilities.
- Female-headed households* are particularly stressed during times of climate change and natural disaster. Given the greater impact of environmental-related problems on women, they have less time to care for families and participate in household decision-making, maintain proper health, obtain adequate health care, and secure access to resources. All of these routine tasks are becoming increasingly difficult for women worldwide; however, they are particularly difficult for women who are running a household alone, without the help of a second parent, or an extended family.
- Women–who, along with children are the majority of the world’s refugees–may be displaced or forced to migrate, reducing access to education and negatively impacting their ability to find work. For example, as agricultural work becomes more difficult and food shortages increase due to atypical climate changes for a particular region, many women who had maintained their livelihoods by working the land are forced to find new ways of earning money. Women may look to migration as a means for finding new jobs, for example as domestic workers or child care professionals overseas. In addition, women are additionally stressed when husbands and other male relatives migrate, leaving traditionally male household responsibilities and jobs to be completed by the women and children remaining at home. The most vulnerable women and girls may become victims of sex and labor trafficking.
- Natural disasters increase the spread of disease, infection, and death rates. Children and pregnant women are more susceptible to diseases spread through mosquitoes, other animals, or water—some of the most common types of illnesses found following natural disasters. Women and girls are more likely to be expected to care for the sick, increasing their own risk of infection and possibly death. In addition, as women and girls may have to travel additional distances to secure food, drinkable water, and other resources for their families and communities, they become more prone to developing stress-related illnesses, mental illness, and exhaustion.
For additional examples of ways that climate change disproportionately impacts women, take a look at a 2008 study by BRIDGE called, “Gender and climate change: mapping the linkages. A scoping study on knowledge and gaps.”
With the start of the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from December 7-18, discussions of climate change, the environment, and “being green” are garnering new, more mainstream media attention. Climate change is serious issue affecting the world’s women yesterday, today, and tomorrow—and feminists must be involved in the discussion. The future of the world’s women is at stake.
*For example, 12.5% of households in the US (2006-2008 Census), an estimated 15% of households in Iran (2003), and an estimated 50%-60% of households in Botswana (2006) are female-headed.
by Merissa Silk
Merissa Silk is Online Outreach & Communications Coordinator for The Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI). Before coming to SIGI, Merissa worked with the National Council for Research on Women and as Project Manager at Project House, Inc. Merissa also taught English literature, research writing, and public speaking in Monterrey, Mexico, where she developed workshops on social activism and gender-based hate speech. Merissa received her BA in Women’s & Gender Studies from Amherst College and recently completed an MSc in Gender, Development & Globalization from the London School of Economics & Political Science.
Tags: climate change, COP15, environment, UNFPA, women
This is fascinating and I’m curious to learn how much attention during the Conference will be focused on impact on women. How many women are leaders or speakers at the Conference, and are they bringing any more attention to these issues than their male counterparts?
This is a well written & fascinating article. Thanks for posting!
Global Warming and Climate Change is the biggest environmental issue that we face these days. the long term effects of these environmental changes to a nations economy is quite damaging. there would be a shortage in food supply as well as on water supply too ….