Rising Tides, Falling Equality: Exploring Gender Inequality in the Face of Climate Change
Summary
Unmasking Climate’s Health Crisis: The UN declares climate change as humanity’s top health threat, with a humanitarian crisis looming large.
Applying the Gender Lens: It’s imperative to recognize that its effects are not distributed uniformly across society. Women are the ones facing the worst brunt of this catasriphe.
A Grim Reality: Shocking figures highlight the injustice: women are 14 times more likely than men to die during natural disasters. They also face the bigger brint when it comes to food security, water shortage, displacement and more.
A Call to Action: Addressing climate change requires tailored strategies, women empowerment, and collaboration. This includes skill development, guaranteeing food security, increasing women’s representation in decision making bodies amongst other measures.
Steps Taken in the Right Direction: Many organizations across the country including Project Naveli, Break. The. Ice, Cequin India are taking decisive steps to address this deep-rooted injustice and you can be a part of this too!
Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, says UN. That’s right, we are facing a huge humanitarian crisis, however, a lot of us including many decision-makers are completely in denial about this. We often think about human-induced climate change as something that will happen in the future, but the truth is, it is an ongoing process that is impacting ecosystems and communities around the world.
Statistics underline this unfortunate reality. According to UNICEF, close to 90% of the global burden of disease attributed to climate change falls on children under five, predominantly from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Rising temperatures have amplified the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, with low-income communities often bearing the brunt. UNHCR also reports that between 2008 and 2019, an average of 22.5 million people were displaced annually due to climate-related disasters. This phenomenon further strains resources and disrupts the livelihoods of marginalized populations.
Gendered Vulnerability in a Changing Climate: The Plight of Marginalized Women
In the realm of climate change, it’s imperative to recognize that its effects are not distributed uniformly across society. Statistics lay bare the gendered impact of climate change. The United Nations reports that women constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are often more reliant on sectors vulnerable to climate fluctuations, such as agriculture and fisheries. Consequently, UNDP reveals that women are 14 times more likely than men to die during natural disasters—a grim statistic that underscores the dire consequences women face when disaster strikes.
As climate change disrupts weather patterns, communities dependent on agriculture are thrust into uncertainty. Women, who provide 43% of the global agricultural labor, are left grappling with altered growing seasons and unpredictable yields. The UN also notes that women in rural areas of developing countries face reduced access to resources, exacerbating food insecurity and undermining the health of their families.
Climate-induced displacement further magnifies gender disparities. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre underscores that women and girls often bear the brunt of displacement, facing heightened risks of violence, exploitation, and disruption to their education and livelihoods. In the context of climate-induced migration, women’s voices and needs are frequently overlooked, perpetuating their vulnerability.
Water scarcity, intensified by climate change, also burdens women disproportionately. UNICEF estimates that women and girls spend 200 million hours daily collecting water—a task exacerbated by dwindling water sources due to changing precipitation patterns. This hampers their ability to engage in income-generating activities and further contributes to gender inequality.
Bridging the Gap: Addressing the Disparate Impact of Climate Change on Women
In the face of climate change’s disproportionate impact on women, it is imperative that we adopt comprehensive strategies to mitigate these disparities.
- First, integrating a gender lens into policy frameworks is essential. This involves recognizing and addressing the distinct challenges women face, from water scarcity to food insecurity, within climate adaptation and mitigation plans.
- Second, empowering women through education and skill-building enhances their resilience. Providing access to training and resources enables women to actively participate in decision-making and lead sustainable initiatives within their communities.
- Third, promoting women’s representation in climate-related governance and leadership roles amplifies their influence in shaping policies that affect them.
- Lastly, fostering collaboration between governments, NGOs, and grassroots organizations can create a holistic approach that leverages diverse expertise to tackle this complex challenge.
The ones Standing up: Organisations and Indivisuals championing the cause of women
By prioritizing women’s empowerment and inclusion, we not only create more just and resilient societies but also strengthen our collective response to the global climate crisis. We are seeing an increasing trend of individuals and NGOs taking actions to address this crisis which often gets overlooked. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Project Naveli: Started by Navya Naveli Nanda, Project Naveli which is fighting for a gender-equal world providing women with access to resources & opportunities that will allow for economic and social development. It focuses on areas where women are impacted the most in India including domestic abuse, healthcare, education & financial independence.
Break. The. Ice: Be the change you want to see. Palak Khanna, the CEO of Break.The.Ice truly is an example of that. Her organization works on destigmatizing problems and issues that are a real taboo in our society including environmental issues, women’s health and rights amongst others.
CEQUIN India: Founded by Sara Abdullah Pilot and Lora Prabhu, CEQUIN India was established with a core focus on grassroots initiatives spanning education, healthcare, gender-based violence, leadership, and livelihood enhancement. The organization has maintained a sustained collaborative engagement with the United Nations, particularly UNESCO, and has nurtured a durable alliance with the Australian High Commission, exemplified through its direct aid program.
Wondering how can you help in overcoming this gender inequality? By working alongside The Green Pillar and our impact partner Prasiddhi Forest Foundation. We are ardently working at the grassroots level with women farmers, growing trees, educating them on nature-based solutions and making them self sufficient by teaching modern farming techniques. To become a TGP Member register today at thegreenpillar.com.
